local music: A Mozaic of sorts

Muzaic is Bloomington's premier jam band, just as Umphrey's McGee was South Bend's not so long ago. Umphrey's is now playing festivals and large venues all around and is returning to play at the IU Auditorium on Friday, Oct. 9. So with all this in mind, will Muzaic be Indiana's next big jam band? Well, on its debut Hundred Acre Parlor, it surely shows the potential.\nMuzaic is a five-piece funk-rock-reggae collective that came together in its current lineup in April 2004, according to the band's MySpace page. But just as its name Muzaic suggests, it also blends a great deal of art/progressive rock into its sound. Instead of being your usual jam band influenced by the Grateful Dead or the Allman Brothers Band, Muzaic sounds much more like Frank Zappa and jazz musicians such as Herbie Hancock and John McLaughlin. Its blend of funky bass, progressive guitar rock and complex yet danceable rhythms make the band similar to Umphrey's McGee yet unique in its own right. While much of the time jam bands fail in the studio and excel in the live setting, Muzaic does a good job of working enough with the studio and making Hundred Acre Parlor experimental enough to pull off a strong debut.\nWith 16 songs and 66 minutes of music, Hundred Acre Parlor is full of great moments. With "OUT," Muzaic opens the album with simply a funky bass line to prepare you for a good time. "Reflections On Main St." is sonically advanced and nicely blends jazz, reggae and art rock. "Musical Biosphere" sounds exactly like it's named, submerging the listener in a world of music in just five minutes. "Start" is strictly instrumental and feels like an exciting race to the finish with its sped-up tempo.\nOn the other hand, tracks such as "Sexual Couch" and "Please A Tease" fall into jam-band mediocrity.\nBut while not every moment of it is great, Hundred Acre Parlor serves up more than enough good to compensate for the bad. With the musicianship of a jazz ensemble and the energy of a rock band, Muzaic could be that next big thing out of Indiana.