The mash-up aesthetic has spread everywhere from its original hip-hop context, with snippets of samples juxtaposed and overlaid to make a new, third thing. The combinatorial giddiness and the allusive zeal are now everywhere — it’s not hard to find evidence in TV, classical music and fashion.
But if the style started as something made with mechanical components, the prog-jam outfit Umphrey’s McGee has embraced the cut-and-paste musical-chairs spirit on its 2016 record “Zonky,” which was made up of live mashups, covers of tunes like Beck’s “Loser” folded together with Phil Collins’ “In The Air Tonight” and other improbable scraps.
It’s a gag that works both for its audacity and also because the songs, the phrases and the melodies somehow mesh together. There’s a strange pleasure in hearing the next musical reference emerging from the tumble of notes. But the band doesn’t need pre-existing hits to connect, as it demonstrated last year with its live dates featuring a set of improvisations made on the spot with saxophonist Joshua Redman. UM can flow loose and free. Their Connecticut show with Redman will likely include a set of near-total freeform jams with the saxophonist and one showcasing the band’s mastery of the mashup. It’s going to be wide open.
Umphrey’s McGee with guest Joshua Redman at College Street Music Hall, 238 College St., New Haven, Thursday, Jan. 26, at 8 p.m. $22-$27. collegestreetmusichall.com.
