Over the last couple of decades, the jam band scene has been the catalyst for a number of mostly instrumental bands to emerge and attract some degree of popular attention. The scene runs from very straight rock-oriented bands to jazz fusion-influenced groups, to something of a revival of art rock to instrumental funk bands. Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, the band Tauk, and more recently Organ Fairchild, and the Diplomats of Solid Sound are some examples of groups forging a sound without any singing.

This week, we have a new release from another vocal-free ensemble. The group is called King Llama, and their album bears the title Fata Implexis, Latin for “fate intertwined.” The Los Angeles group is basically a quartet, but the new album features a number of guest players. It’s their first new release since their debut in 2016, called Return to Ox.

The band’s principal members are founders Ryan T. Bailey on guitar and drummer-percussionist Luis Briones, who worked together on their debut album. More recent additions include bassist Anthony Crawford and additional guitarist Billy Paulsen. As was the case with so many musicians and bands, the pandemic put a hold on their careers. Bailey is quoted as saying that much of his time time during the lockdown was spent on creating new music for a planned album. Around that time, producer Dennis McKay, who has worked with Chick Corea’s Return to Forever, the British fusion band Brand X and even David Bowie, was brought in and worked with the group in refining the music, and also invited Brand X’s bassist Percy Jones to appear. Other regular guests include keyboardist Dominique Xavier, and percussionist Nate Werth.

The result is an interesting album which the band members themselves admit they have trouble categorizing, featuring elements of jam-band improvisation, plus art-rock style musical complexity, and longer compositions that tend to have musically distinct parts. The playing is first rate, but it is the compositions where the album shows a little weakness. There are lots of good musical ideas, but sometimes they seem stitched together in the course of tracks that run from 6 to 11 minutes long. It might have been better in some cases to have made separate pieces out of the different parts of the longer tunes.

The album opens with a track called Lora Ky, which sums up the King Llama sound with the group’s art-rock tendencies with tricky rhythms crispy played. <<>> The “B” section of the track as is their custom, goes in a different direction, but does fit well with the rest of the piece. <<>>

With a more rock-oriented beat interwoven with funk is the premise of Bus Stop. It has its share of interesting moments. <<>>

The album’s longest piece is Sir Isaac which goes from all out rock to acoustic moments. <<>>

The band again shows their funk side on the outset of Hamilton. <<>> But it’s one of those instances with King Llama sort of whipsawing between musical directions, going off into an acoustic swing groove. <<>>

A contrast to that is the more laid-back and largely drum-less composition called Level Z, which has the addition of some strings. <<>> But they go all-rock for the closing section. <<>>

Brand X’s Percy Jones appears on fretless bass on the closing track Vita et Mors which the band takes in a rather spacey direction. <<>>

Fata Implexis the new album from the Los Angeles instrumental band King Llama, their first in eight years, is a worthwhile recording of absorbing instrumental jam-band-fusion-art-rock. While the compositions lack the coherence and melodic acumen of groups like Tauk and Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, King Llama display their ample musical chops, which would probably be outstanding in a live setting.

Our grade for audio quality is about an “A-minus” with a well-crafted mix and an often punchy drum sound. But overall the dynamic range comes up short from the usual bugaboo of excessive volume compression.

Instrumental rock and fusion is still a niche genre, but the jam band scene has helped to elevate it, and King Llama’s Fata Implexis is a worthwhile addition to the roster.

(c) Copyright 2024 George D. Graham. All rights reserved.
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<<>> indicates audio excerpt played in produced radio review

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