The jam band scene continues to attract a not-inconsiderable following, and one of the more popular and busier bands on the touring circuit these days is the Chicago-based group Umphrey's McGee, who have just released their eighth CD called Mantis.

While most jam bands, by definition, spend a lot of their time spotlighting their improvisation, Umphrey's McGee is distinctive in that while they can jam with the best, they are also known for their tendencies toward elaborate compositions and arrangements in the old-fashioned art-rock tradition. And that latter aspect is what is emphasized on Mantis.

Umphrey's McGee formed in 1997 in South Bend, Indiana from the merger of two area bands. The group's members cited the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, King Crimson, early Genesis, Yes and the Mahavishu Orchestra as some of their main influences. That has always been evident in their music, while other popular groups on the jam band scene looked more toward the Allman Brothers or Grateful Dead. Umphrey's McGee moved to Chicago and after a couple of personnel changes, has steadily been attracting fans for their blend of intricate musicianship and arrangements, fairly distinctive lyrics, with crowd-pleasing improvisations. They are regulars on the jam band festival scene, as well as playing over 100 performances a year in smaller venues.

The members, who have been together for the better part of the dozen years are Brendan Bayliss on guitar and vocals; Jake Cinninger, on guitar, synthesizers and vocals, Joel Cummins on keyboards and vocals, Andy Farag on percussion, Kris Myers on drums, vocals, and Ryan Stasik on bass.

Mantis is a bit of a departure for the band. It's the most elaborately arranged studio album they have done. Their last two releases were live a recording and a collection of odds and ends. Their previous all-studio album was Safety in Numbers from 2006, and I think this is even more carefully constructed. The group points out that with their constant touring schedule, they frequently debut new music on the road. This CD is the first time they have made a studio recording consisting of music they had not previously performed live. In a process similar to their previous albums, the members collected musical riffs they had come up with, and they wove them together in a manner that results in lengthy suite-like pieces that go through a lot of interesting musical changes during their length. There's a mix of experimentation, subtle tributes to the bands who served as their influences and more lighthearted material, plus a couple of short instrumental interludes.

The CD gets under way with one of its shorter pieces. Made to Measure shows the band's influence by groups from the first art rock era. <<>>

The CD's title track Mantis, is its lengthiest and most elaborate, in the great art rock tradition. Armed with the knowledge that the album was composed out of a bunch of fragments contributed by the members, one can hear the interesting fusion of these different ideas and how Umphrey's McGee melded them together. <<>>

Another of the album's elaborate multifaceted tracks is Cemetery Walk, which moves from a somewhat more aggressive rock sound <<>> to one of those classic art moments when things quiet down to an atmospheric ambience. <<>>

One of the more curious moments comes on a kind of postlude to that track called Cemetery Walk II, which breaks into a kind of disco beat. <<>>

A bit more reminiscent of some of Umphrey's McGee's previous albums is Turn and Run, which spans the band's straight-out rock facet while keeping their progressive rock complexities. <<>>

One of the most experimental tracks on the CD is also one of its shortest, piece called Prophecy Now. One wonders how a tune like this would go over on the jam band circuit. <<>>

Turning perhaps even more the retro is a piece called Red Tape, which recalls early Yes along with some mid 1960s British Invasion sound. <<>> Just for good measure they throw in a wonderfully typical art-rock baroque synthesizer solo that seemed to be part of all those records back the day. <<>>

Yet another interesting bit of revival of the past comes on Spires, another one of the more elaborate art rock works on the CD. After the various movements of the song's progressive rock phases <<>> it goes out with a Beach Boys vocal harmony moment. <<>>

On their new ninth CD Mantis, Umphrey's McGee has achieved something rather rare, and seemingly contradictory. I think they are one of the current best in both the jam band category and in 21st Century Art Rock. On stage they are known for their free-wheeling improvisations, backed by first rate musicianship, and on this CD they go for the elaborately-orchestrated, tightly arranged quasi-symphonic music that was the hallmark of the Progressive Rock scene back in the 1970s. Their art rock influence was apparent on previous albums, but Mantis is their best work yet representing that facet of their music, in the league with the some of the best of the Golden Age of Art rock, and a good deal less pretentious.

Sonically, we'll give the CD close to an "A." It's well recorded and mixed with everything in the right place. There are not a lot of fancy studio effects, which suits me fine. It better represents the band they way they are. The dynamic range is not great, as you would expect from a rock band recording, but at least the volume ebb and flow of the music is better reproduced than on many CDs these days.

Umphrey's McGee may not quite push the envelope with their music, in terms of totally unique sounds or ground-breaking compositions, but they are a talented, imaginative band who have no trouble in spanning what would seem like a musical dichotomy.

(c) Copyright 2009 George D. Graham. All rights reseved.
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