Mad Love, Ish | The Vinyl Anachronist

Part-Time Audiophile

One of the things I’ve learned about music over the last couple of years is that there’s a difference between a hybrid genre, such as country-rock or Latin-funk, and playing one genre of music entirely through the lens of another. Mad Love, a Portland-based ensemble led by keyboardist-singer Kathleen Hollingsworth, is basically a jazz trio that delves into other genres such as Americana, rock, pop and R&B. You can hear the jazz deep in the framework of this music, but around the edges it sounds like whatever it wants to be. On their new album Ish, Mad Love often sounds like a straightforward jazz ensemble–as long as you stay with the rhythm section of drummer Brent Follis and bassist Dave Captein. It’s in the hands of Hollingsworth that Mad Love goes off on various tangents. Her piano playing can complete the trio in a traditional way, but her fondness for electric piano often switches up the feelings. Suddenly you’re back in the early ’70s when people like Joni Mitchell explored jazz, or when Santana applied layer after layer of Latin rhythms until you could barely hear the rock, or when The Byrds said yes to Gram Parsons joining the band. […]

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