ESCALATE!
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ESCALATE!

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"ESCALATE - Grooves. Beats. Science. Soul."

Escalate
Grooves.Beats.Science.Soul.
By Tabassum Siddiqui

“Fusion” may have become a much-derided term in everything from food to music, but every now and then, when the balance of elements being melded is just right, fusion can be pretty fantastic. Toronto instrumental jazz/funk/psychedelic act Escalate might just obliterate listeners’ misgivings about the f-word with their debut album that mixes the best of several genres into a smooth blend of soulful grooves. Escalate’s mellow sound was born when a pair of musical siblings (guitarist/producer Jordan Kern, keyboardist Shandy Kern, bassist Grant Drygas and drummer Tyler Drygas) decided to get together and jam. Surprisingly, though all four had logged plenty of time in the local indie rock scene, the result was more lounge swank than garage grit. Grooves.Beats.Science.Soul., expertly produced by guitarist Kern (best known for his work in Hollowphonic and as sideman to Emm Gryner), is reminiscent of fellow Toronto groove merchants the New Deal’s more ambient material, lush and dense, perfect for headphone listening. Like TND, Escalate are clearly well-versed in older grooves, and it shows in their careful arrangements and sequencing that unfolds like a jazz suite. Where they break away from the current pack of instrumental jam bands is their refusal to take the easy route and up the bpms for the dance floor crowd. With GBSS, Escalate suggest that soul can be as much about chilling out as getting down. (Independent) - EXCLAIM!


Discography

EP The High Roller EP
LP Grooves. Beats. Science. Soul.

Entire EP and LP have been played on various College Radio Stations

Photos

Bio

Late in the year 2000… Two sets of Brampton brothers (Grant and Tyler Drygas, Shandy and Jordan Kern) united to form ESCALATE! As an experiment gone frighteningly right, Kern melodies and Drygas rhythms
combined to form a force irresistible to human ears, feet and hips alike. A four-piece instrumental outfit, ESCALATE! forsake vocals and lyrics to concentrate on blending and reconfiguring diverse genres spawning a fresh and innovative sound mosaic.

Five years later… The release of their debut full-length
GROOVES.BEATS.SCIENCE.SOUL. A record as much in the spirit of Air, Out Hud, !!! and Stereolab, as past visionaries The Meters and On The Corner-era Miles Davis, GROOVES.BEATS.SCIENCE.SOUL is a disc with a
scope wide enough to delight both party people shaking their moneymakers on the dance floor as well as chilled out beat heads sinking back into a bean bag chair strapped with headphones.

Perhaps most impressive, however, is their live show: A continuous flow of invention that seamlessly segues from one song to the next. Now, in 2007, more focused than ever, the four are once again preparing to head into the studio. Always dynamic and energetic,
ESCALATE! continue to swagger, not stagger, in hot pursuit of their unique sonic vision.

Additional ESCALATE! Information:

- Members of ESCALATE! have performed alongside Jason Collett, Nathan Larson (Shudder to Think, A Camp), Kevin March (Guided By Voices), The Junction, Al P. (MSTRKRFT), and Emm Gryner, including appearances on Gryner's Juno Award Nominated album "Asianblue", and The Junction's Universal Records self-titled 2006 debut.

- ESCALATE! captured the People's Choice Award at the 2004 Brampton Indie Arts Festival.

- "Doves Don't Cry", track ten from "Grooves. Beats. Science. Soul.", was the score music for a Greenpeace video.

- ESCALATE! have been a regular fixture over the last three years at Kensington Market's famed Pedestrian Sundays, receiving significant public acclaim.