Amulet

Heels Over Head_, the debut album from Billy Martin’s pocket brass ensemble Wicked Knee, is a musical melting pot. A fun take on Frank London’s “Ghumba Zumba” opens the record like something out of a Mardi Gras second line, and “99%” finds Shelley Hirsch ruminating on Occupy Wall Street while Steven Bernstein (trumpet), Curtis Fowlkes (trombone) and Marcus Rojas (tuba) trade solos. “Chaman’s Interlude” and “Noctiluca” inject the album with an experimental flare, as sustained high and low notes, eerie chimes and miscellaneous noises coalesce into haunting cacophonies. While the album borrows from various sounds (New Orleans brass, modern jazz, world rhythms, avant-garde), the combination of these styles creates a sum that is more original than its parts would suggest.