Song of the Day: Jim Funnell’s Word Out, Umberto Echo – Lesser Vice

A piano trio Jim Funnell's Word Out collaborates with Umberto Echo on a fantastic new dub jazz single Lesser Vice.

Lesser Vice is a Jamaican-inspired psychedelic ode to what 20th-century philosopher Alan Watts coined the "element of irreducible rascality". As the band describes it: It's in you, it's in me, it's in all of us, whether we like it/accept it or not. Like a pinch of salt in a stew, it brings out our humanness. And as Carl Jung would certainly warn us, particularly in this day and age: watch the repressed seed of a philanthropist's shadow self... It may grow into the most noxious of weeds!

Led by pianist Jim Funnell, Word Out offers a repertoire of jazz compositions/improvisations that are attuned to the global soundscape. Reveling in mixed breeds and playfully blossoming through constant dialogue, the band’s music draws from diverse traditions from around the world in a true spirit of celebration.

With Word Out, Jim has released two albums (Word Out and Spirit of the Snail),  won the Composition Prize in 2011 at the “Trophées du Sunside” (Paris), and toured internationally, appearing at festivals and venues such as ShapeShifter Lab, Rockwood Music Hall (NY), Paris Music Festival, Sunset-Sunside, Improphile, Baiser Salé, Jazz à Vanves, Jazz de Mars, Jazz en Touraine (France), SOMETIME Kichijōji, JZ Brat, Royal Horse (Japan), and the Malta Jazz Festival.

Listen to Jim Funnell's Word Out and Umberto Echo on a fantastic new dub jazz single Lesser Vice: