Four clicks of the stick to set the beat, and then it’s four-on-the-floor. *Oddly Even*, the debut album by the jazz-fusion band Some Times, starts off familiar, only to then dive into the vastness of musical possibilities.

Some Times is the band project of keyboardist Mikk Kaasik and drummer Marten Männa. For *Oddly Even*, the two Estonians were joined by Märten Letho on bass, Jaagup Jürgel on electric guitar, and Nikita Korzoun on alto saxophone.

Kaasik and Männa met at the Estonian State Music and Ballet School (MUBA) in the rhythm music department. Just for fun, they recorded the song “Oddly Even” and submitted it to a contest.

To their own surprise, they promptly won the contest—and that was the starting point for everything now featured on the album named after their winning song: ten tracks that explore the possibilities and boundaries of jazz and related genres without ever losing sight of musicality.

What Some Times avoids is slipping into clichés. Of course, their combined influences—jazz, fusion, rock, …—are clearly discernible and well-defined. But this doesn’t come at the expense of musicality or innovation. Little surprises lurk everywhere, and in some places there are even bigger shifts—and since you never know when it’s going to happen, *Oddly Even* is consistently entertaining and exciting.

Definitely a recommendation for these evenings that are getting longer again! (Thomas Semmler, HighResMac)

Mikk Kaasik, keyboards
Marten Männa, drums
Märten Lehto, bass
Jaagup Jürgel, electric guitar
Nikita Korzoun, alto saxophone