Broccoli Samurai takes whack at electro-jams

By John Benson

entertainment@vindy.com

Northeast Ohio’s improv- electronic movement is on the rise of late with new Rock Hall City band Broccoli Samurai adding its unique blend to an already familiar dish. In essence, the trio’s music is built on the same tenets as the Grateful Dead’s lasting jam-band scene.

“I definitely agree — the scenes are very similar, and it’s almost like the reincarnation of the jam scene, just a different style of music,” said drummer Chris Walker. “I was never really big into that, but there’s a lot of that same environment, that festival environment. The whole electronic scene is booming in other cities now, and we’re trying to bring it to Cleveland.”

Part of bringing it to Cleveland means spreading it throughout the Buckeye State and beyond. This explains why after playing gigs in Columbus, Erie and Pittsburgh, the threesome will make its Youngstown debut Friday at the Lemon Grove.

Formed 18 months ago, Broccoli Samurai plans on releasing its debut full length this fall. The 12-track project includes the dynamic “Traffic Stop Jim” and the bass-driven “Icicle City.”

Walker describes the album as an amalgamative affair that pieces together elements of funk, hip-hop and even jazz in an effort to cross over into as many genres as possible.

So far, the group has garnered a few comparisons, but Walker doesn’t see the true connection.

“We always hear stuff all of the time along the lines of the Disco Biscuits, which I don’t necessarily agree with,” Walker said. “I think a lot of people lump live electronic groups together, rightfully so, too, a lot of them sound the same. I’d say we’d be the Medeski Martin & Wood of electronica, especially because of the improv element.

“We definitely have a few songs tracked out, and we have a lot of other jams that are structured, but essentially, we open a nice window in at least 75 percent of them. So it’ll go from an original piece to 15 minutes unstructured free-for-all, and then we’ll try to wrap back in to the original piece or lead into another song. We try to keep it free-flowing, essentially.”

Broccoli Samurai’s modus operandi is to create the perception a DJ is spinning a set, sans the actual DJ.

“It keeps people guessing at that point, too,” Walker said. “We’ll go from something heavy — drum and bass groove — to an all-acoustic little jazz piece. I think the improv element, we try to keep it as tight as possible so it just doesn’t sound like another jam band; it’s almost like it’s produced improv.”

For those wondering, the band’s moniker comes right out of “Saturday Night Live” and Dana Carvey’s improv-esque “Choppin’ Broccoli” sketch.