Vessel

I turned on the CD player, started hearing some disc I had left in the day before, and wondered if it was some unreleased material from The Band I forgot I had. A Grateful Dead side project? Nope, it was one of the two-disc set from Louisville’s Vessel, a septet that has molded numerous influences into its own sound. Disc One opens with “Proprioception,” blending harmony vocals into a jam/prog setting. Next, “Slide Chocolate” combines funk and country, and so it goes. Disc A starts with “Wanderings,” bringing together a folk-rock feel with saxophone and countrified slide guitar. Over the course of almost two hours, the instrumental chops and vocal harmonies create a shifting aural landscape. While none of the songs take off into extended jams, I’m betting they would really open up in concert.