When the name of the game is improvisation there’s a special connection that occurs between musicians who are truly listening to each other; a non-verbal communication ruled by the harmonic environment which they create for themselves. A connection that’s not hard to miss when the musical decisions made by the band are completely intentional, and even more so when they are indeed listening to each other. Bueno, a five piece band from Staten Island we had the pleasure to see at a Deli issue launch party last winter, has that connection, something distinctly present in the live recordings that they have sprinkled all over the web. Their music is mostly improvised, with song structures based and existing loosely within a post-punk influence (Talking Heads, Parquet Courts, The Bad Hand to name a few), but Bueno implements much more than that, ranging from jazz fusion, to blues, indie rock and funk in one tight and neatly packaged experiment. The inclusion of the saxophone combined with Luke Chiaruttini’s drawling vocals (which sound like a perfect cross between Lou Reed, Andrew Savage of Parquet Courts and Matt Schultz of Cage the Elephant) only adds to the odd assortment of elements that enter the Bueno vibes. You can see them live on July 10th at Death By Audio as well as on July 22nd at The Silent Barn. – Jake Saunders
