Formed in the spring of 2020, Hot Mustard is the recording duo of producer Jack Powell (guitar, keys, bells, and whistles) and Nick Carusos (bass), whose dynamic low end anchors the project. Powell’s production style combines his love of assemblage art and collage into his musical approach, in which improvised sessions are recorded and then chopped and assembled into compositions. These compositions are then passed off to Jordan Mclean (Antibalas) who writes brass parts and records them with Dave ‘Smoota” Smith (TV on the Radio) in Brooklyn, NY before heading back to South Carolina to be molded into final form by Powell, often times incorporating sessions with local musicians and collaborators who work remotely.
Hot Mustard is slowly becoming an undeniable force in the modern jazz pantheon, and on “Melt The Wind,” the band solidifies its rising star. The band’s new single is subtle, infectious, and overall, simply stunning jazz. Hot Mustard found the freeing nuances that made jazz so exciting to begin with and shaped them to fit the modern mold, creating a mini-universe to get lost in. In Hot Mustard’s universe, the night skies are dotted with criminally smooth drum patterns that illuminate the intimate dance between the sleek guitars and hypnotic bass lines, painting a scene of serenity and relaxation. There is a quaint charm to the scene depicted in “Melt The Wind” that is welcoming and warm, and Hot Mustard invites us all to their place of bliss. On their latest single, the jazz giants showcase their softer side with a potent single that lingers in the room far after the song ends.
“I try to interpret my life experiences into small, digestible narratives that people can relate to in meaningful ways,” explains Powell. “I was thrilled to use local painter and muralist Kate Barattini’s art to bring this story to life; her playful, oceanic-themed art was a perfect fit to tell this bittersweet love story, a piece that symbolizes grief and also pays tribute to an influential couple from my childhood.”
