Emphasizer

Released in 2003, Emphasizer marks the first full-length studio effort from the supergroup Garage A Trois, following their 1999 debut EP. The lineup features a 'who's who' of the experimental jazz and funk scene: Stanton Moore (drums), Charlie Hunter (8-string guitar), Skerik (saxophone), and Mike Dillon (percussion/vibraphone). Recorded with a focus on analog textures, the album captures the band's transition from a loose improvisational collective into a formidable studio unit. The sonic character is defined by the 'GAT' signature: Skerik's heavily processed saxophone, which often sounds more like a lead synthesizer or a distorted guitar, and the dual-percussion attack of Moore and Dillon. Hunter's unique ability to play bass and guitar lines simultaneously provides the harmonic glue. Critically, the album was praised for its 'punk-jazz' attitude and its successful integration of New Orleans second-line rhythms with outer-space psychedelia.