Jam bands come in various flavors, with some oriented toward bluegrass, some toward straight ahead rock, or progressive rock or some combination. This week we have a new release by a venerable jam band for whom funk is a major influence. It’s Garaj Mahal, and their new release is called Rotifer.

Garaj Mahal – spelled g-a-r-a-j – was formed in the year 2000 by jazz guitarist Fareed Haque, bass player Kai Eckhardt, drummer Sean Rickman and keyboard player Eric Levy. They have primarily been a live band, and their first three albums, released in 2003, were all live recordings. They followed those with four studio albums between 2003 and 2010. Now after a 15 year recording hiatus they are out with Rotifer with a revised personnel lineup. Founders Fareed Haque and Kai Echkardt, are now joined by keyboard player Oz Ezzeldin and drummer Hassan Hurd, in an album that is varied in its influences, from funk to quirky rhythmically tricky jazz-rock fusion, along with some more straight-out jazz-style soloing. They are also joined by a guest vocalist, Angelo Moore and rapper Cautious Clay for a couple of tracks.

On Rotifer the band sticks with retro style instrumentation, with classic analog synthesizer sounds, real drums, and relatively few guitar effects. Occasionally Fareed Haque will play something that sounds acoustic like a sitar, or perhaps an oud.

The original compositions are sometimes not very melodic or are rhythmically tricky, but the album seems to get better and tamer as it goes along, settling into some jazzier material, even when the rapper makes an appearance.

Opening the generous 54 minute album is a track called 7 Minds which is one of the more musically abstruse tracks with its quirky rhythmic shifts, while keyboard man Ezzeldin sticks with the classic 1970s keyboard sounds. <<>>

Even more un-mellow is the track called Brd. Its march-like rhythm serves as a basis for the gnarly melodic line, such as it is. <<>> But things start to flow a bit better when the solos make their appearance. Fareed Haque’s guitar solo is impressive. <<>>

The first of the vocals is called Some Rules with Angelo Moore doing the singi ng in the funk-oriented beat. <<>> The relatively short rap section with Cautious Clay, has some encouraging words. <<>>

The album’s lengthiest track, Crisco Rides Again at just under eight minutes takes advantage of the time to show different facets of the band’s influences, and have opportunities for good solos, including Oz Ezzeldin on a retro-sounding synthesizer. <<>>

More jazzy is the track called Inner Vibe which manages to be rhythmically tricky but is more melodic than much of the rest of the album.<<>> Kai Eckhardt gets his only extended solo on the track, which he plays on fretless electric bass. <<>>

Doin’ It Again is one of the more interesting tracks with its frenetic pace which manages to stay funky <<>> while the Fareed Haque’s guitar solo takes place in a slightly more atmospheric setting. <<>>

Another good example of the band’s mixture of funk and fusion comes on the track Pairs which provides a vehicle for an extended solo by guitarist Fareed Haque. <<>>

The album ends with We Are the Survivors again featuring singing by Angelo Moore and rapping and turntable scratching by Cautious Clay. Otherwise, it’s a kind of classic retro-sounding funk tune that’s nicely done. <<>>

Rotifer the new album by the quarter-century old group Garaj Mahal, their first after a nearly 15-year gap, shows the band to be in great form with its revised personnel line-up featuring a new keyboard player and bassist. Their blend of funk, fusion and jam band sensibility comes together well on the new album, though sometimes their music can get a bit angular and less melodic at times. Still it’s a nice cross section, and is marked by great playing from all involved.

Our grade for audio quality is an A-minus for decent clarity, and resisting to the temptation of lo-fi audio effects, which had often marred projects like this. But as so often the case, excessive volume compression, in an effort to be loud all the time, saps a lot of the dynamic of the group’s music.

Bands like Garaj Mahal are probably best in a live setting, with a chance for more extended jams, but this studio album by the group goes a good job of capturing their strengths, which are abundant.

(c) Copyright 2025 George D. Graham. All rights reserved.
This review may not be copied to another Web site without written permission.

<<>> indicates audio excerpt played in produced radio review

Comments to George: