Song of the Day: “Prove You Are Not a Robot” by the Alex Skolnick Trio
The Alex Skolnick Trio’s latest offering, Prove You Are Not a Robot, cheekily addresses the pervasive anxiety of our CAPTCHA-laden existence by insisting on a deeply human, often delightfully messy, interaction between guitar, bass, and drums. It’s an album that sounds less like a jazz record and more like a jazz-rock laboratory where the test subject is Testament guitarist Alex Skolnick. Gone are the thrash riffs of his past life (mostly), replaced by intricate chord-melody work and improvisational acrobatics that demand your full attention—lest you miss the precise moment a Tom Petty cover (Breakdown) morphs into a 5/4 mind-bender.
Bassist Nathan Peck and drummer Matt Zebroski deliver rhythmic complexity that’s less backing band and more co-conspirators, lending their heavy-music background to the arrangements without ever sounding like they’re trying to sneak a power chord past the jazz police. This record is a high-wire act of technical virtuosity mixed with compositional charm, reminding us that true musical genius can’t be outsourced to an algorithm, no matter how many vintage Archtops or Fender Jazz Chorus amps are in the room with the computer.
Where does Alex Skolnick fit into the sacred roster of jazz guitarists? He doesn’t. He stands off to the side, wearing a leather jacket and politely holding the door open while the purists argue over the proper use of the dominant seventh flat nine. Skolnick’s strength isn’t in replicating the smooth, reverent cool of a Wes Montgomery; it’s in bringing a metalhead’s discipline and a fusion player’s intensity to the table, carving out a space next to genre-defying heavyweights like Allan Holdsworth and John McLaughlin, though perhaps with a better sense of humor about it all.
My favorite track is the album opener and title track “Prove You Are Not A Robot,” because it’s one of those rare instances where they say what they’re going to do, and effectively do what they say. The musical communication between the trio is undeniable and provides the best example of what real human music-making is all about. The rarely heard “fade in” approach to the song start suggests that this take happened spontaneously and was only captured as an after-thought once the band already started playing. It’s the ultimate “prove you’re not a robot” test for the listener’s brain. Runner up selection for Song of the Day would have been the cover of Tom Petty’s “Breakdown” which is not only four minutes longer than the original, and whose main riff provides an excellent carrier for the kind of virtuosic guitar meandering you would expect from any fusion jazz outfit of this caliber. Check them out below.
The Song
“Prove You Are Not a Robot”
Spotify:
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/song/prove-you-are-not-a-robot/1847501918
The Album
Prove You Are Not a Robot
Spotify:
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/prove-you-are-not-a-robot/1847501917