Clay Wulbrecht - 2025 - The Clockmaster

(59:12; Instru Dash Mental Records)

Keyboard player Clay Wulbrecht has brought together a core band of Rodrigo Cotelo (guitars),  Mateo Ottonello (drums), Ramiro Flores (woodwind), Jeffrey Parker (trumpet, trombone), and Marco Messina (electric bass) plus many more additional guests to create an album which is undoubtedly very clever but not only sounds very dated but also as if it was being developed to a formula. What we have here is a combination of jazz, fusion and even some prog but also plenty of dated keyboard sounds and pop which makes me think we have gone back to the mid to late Seventies, and not the good stuff either. It is mellow, it is danceable, and perfect for late night radio as long as the listener is not driving as that is just likely to cause an accident.  

The way it commences, I thought we were heading into a concept album, but that was not to be the case, and the dance style soon made me wonder what was going on and could I listen to the whole album? I did, but when the thing I enjoyed about it most was the cover art, I knew I was in trouble. The press release mentions the likes of Return to Forever and Weather Report, but not to these ears. That the guys can really play is never in doubt, nor that they have undoubtedly achieved what they set out to do, but this is a style of bland jazz which for me never breaks through and creates any sort of excitement, and when the instruments collapse at the end of “Hit The Ground Running” I know exactly how they feel. 

Kev Rowland, August 2025

Links:
https://www.facebook.com/WulbrechtJazz/
https://www.instrudashmental.com/