GROOVOLOGY, Almost Home

While the pandemic shutdown proved a financial hardship for millions of non-superstar musicians, it also opened the door for fresh creative opportunities for the usually busy ones who were kept off the road from their regular gigs and sought new forms of expression. An excellent and inspiring beneficiary of this phenomenon is the new Honolulu based quartet Groovology, comprised of storied, well-traveled veterans Aaron Aranita (piano, woodwinds), David Yamasaki (guitar), Ernie Provencher (bass) and Scott Shafer (drums).

While some who gravitate to the infectious original compositions and variety of tempos (mambo, bossa, blues, swing) on their impressive, ever adventurous and exploratory debut album Almost Home may want to Google to learn the eclectic resumes of the four groovologists, others can just enjoy a splendid journey full of lyrical melodies, snappy and sensual rhythms and colorful improvisations.

If you’re getting the idea that no two tracks are alike, that’s pretty much the blissful reality from the rambunctious, hypnotic “Mambosaki” and the sultry bossa Manoa (featuring Astrud-esque guest vocals by Sandra Tsukiyama) through the increasingly fast swinging title track and the silky, lyrical ballad “The Road Less Traveled.” While Groovology is four men, the concept of “quartet” is uniquely expanded by Arinita’s keen abilities on piano, sax, bass clarinet (on the bustling title track) and flute (on “Mambasaki”). His multitude of talents are complemented powerfully by the inventive brilliance of his cohorts.

While we might contemplate how Groovology would pull off a live presentation – unless they hired a pianist to back Aranita’s other melodic gifts – it’s clear that, whatever its origin story, this is a band with a promising future in contemporary jazz.