Royal Potato Family

Quiet as it’s kept, Seattle is where it’s at for freaky jazz. Jessica Lurie and Reggie Watts made their name there. Wayne Horvitz and Bill Frisell moved out there. And journeyman saxophonist Skerik is known to get big ideas when he’s home in the Rainy City. His biggest to date – the sax-and-brass-heavy Syncopated Taint Septet – is Live at the Triple Door. Recorded in 2003, Triple Door finds the strange and soulful band experimenting with strings and vocals to great effect. Om Johari, formerly of Hell’s Belles, sings with conviction and theatricality on Nina Simone’s “Mississippi Goddam,” a political cabaret number. The strings surface best on Eyvind Kang’s “Marriage of Days,” a gorgeous, Eastern-sounding piece fueled by John Wicks’ drum and bass sounds.