EP REVIEW: SAMMY HAIG “CUCUMBER”
Photo credit: Dylan Garcia
“Cucumber” is infectious. In the striking, near-shoegazing stop-n-motion jazzscape, Sammy Haig charms you with a witty sense of quirkiness. A light electrified edge in his trumpet playing.“Cucumber” is one of the songs that change your perspective.
The initial sparkle of Cucumber first burst into sprout during a difficult time, which gradually grew into a multimedia project featuring more than 70 musicians and artists. Witnessing the collective force of creative minds, Cucumber has preserved the uplifting energy that transformed a time of darkness and isolation with passion and love.
Rooted in jazz vocabulary, the album travels freely between genres and times, blending different influences and collective memories into a perfect balance of pop, funk, and soul at the same time, allowing individuality and uniqueness to shine brightly. “Dreaming Of” introduces us to an immersive, carnivalistic jazz-pop fusion, swirling into landscapes and thrilling passages, psychedelic yet fully lucid. “Dasher II” leans into the funk with close voicing dissonance contrasting with a nostalgic, futuristic dazzling texture where gritty trumpet meets an equally edgy trombone (featuring Jake Handelman) bursting into creative flames.
The sound of the ocean and nature is subtly planted into the background. “Will I See You Tomorrow?” opens with an ocean-vibe ballad that drifts in waves. With tender trumpet solo and emotive strings, the warming vocal has traveled far. While “Cucumber” embraces the world of bizarre and quirkiness in its identical storytelling setting its scene at the shore.
As a recent jazz graduate from Jacobs School of Music (Indiana University), the young artist’s creative endeavor is just the beginning. Off to an ambitious start, one can only expect great things.
Written by Katrina Yang
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