Karina Rykman served as the test subject for Relix‘s newly assembled video and sound system on Tuesday with a fan-less performance at Jazz Standard in New York. The five-song set saw the Marco Benevento bassist joined by her solo outfit featuring guitarist Adam November and drummer Chris Corsico.
Rykman’s privilege to inaugurate the new AV setup didn’t come by chance, as she also serves as co-host of Relix’s 3 from the 7 podcast with associate editor Raffaela Kenny-Cincotta. While Rykman and Kenny-Cincotta have kept up a consistent schedule with weekly installments of 3 from the 7, the bassist’s live performance schedule has been far less regimented. Just before beginning her set, Rykman noted that “this is the first time we’ve plugged into an actual PA system or monitors since March 8th, 2020.”
With that, the trio launched into “Lagos”, one of the outfit’s many original instrumental tracks. As Rykman’s solo profile begins to rise, so too does her collection of widely-available studio material. Though “Lagos” so far only appears on audience recordings on Internet Archive, the “Dirty South” that followed was more familiar to fans who have followed the bassist’s consistent rise. The hard-pounding interaction of guitar and bass reels back at the last moment to open up a new corridor for live improvisation, expounding on the original studio recording.
The trio followed that up with “Plants”, which served as Rykman’s debut single back in 2019. Prior to then, Rykman and her eponymous band played only live, improvisational material and thus had no need for studio recordings. In the intervening years, however, the band has taken to writing and performing scripted material—though still being sure to leave the back door ajar for the jams that started the group.
Between songs, Rykamn observed, “I feel like a wild animal that’s been let out of its cage, in a good way.” With that, the clock struck “island time” as the band launched into “Goji Island”. Another song that has not yet seen the light of the studio, the track delivers what it promised with floating island vibrations, or as Rykman called it “hoedown reggae.”
The half-hour, five-song session then came to a close with the live debut of “Atom Dance”. The funky dance number centers around a coy bassline that’s vaguely reminiscent of the opening to Tame Impala‘s “The Less I Know The Better”, and serves as a jumping board for November’s lingering guitar leads which firmly establish the song’s originality.
Watch Karina Rykman and her eponymous band perform from Jazz Standard.
Karina Rykman: Live at Relix
[Video: Karina Rykman]
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