This is a live filmed performance by a UK band that not only has a weird iconic name, but more significantly, sharp, minimalist music issuing from the piano keys. I would guess that they fall into the overall jazz category, they are a trio made of piano (Chris Illingworth), double bass (Nick Black), and drums (Jon Scott). I suspect they stand out with their particular sonic pathway in contrast with other jazz movements found in the UK.

Their playlist on this video performance derives from materials from their previous EP releases:

WAVE DECAY
ASCENT
FRIDAY FILM SPECIAL
EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE OK
AN UNBROKEN THREAD OF AWARENESS
YOU’RE STRONGER THAN YOU THINK PARASITE

I first discovered this British jazz trio with the funny name via the NPR Tiny Desk Concerts on YouTube back in 2020, and had been hooked on their live performances. I found them lively yet relaxing and returned many times to watch and listen. I had missed an opportunity when they performed in Brooklyn, but generally, I’m content watching their live performances captured on YouTube. In many ways, the music is very clean and pleasant, but not in the pejorative sense of being canned elevator music. Something is mesmerizing and uplifting about it that this non-musician cannot explain, and piano music fans on this website will find it different and clarifying.

While I have since seen other pianists do this (jazz pianist Emmet Cohen comes to mind), the piano player places his hands into the cabinet of the instrument to tap down on the strings. With one hand laid on the strings, the other hand's fingers striking the keys produce a plunking note that normal piano keys don’t elicit. Kindna muted low tonal.

GoGo Penguin hails from Manchester and functions collectively. While I’ve focused on the piano which has dominance and drives their music -- without doubt their bassist offers strong creative basslines and the drummer lays down straight-ahead percussions that apparently derives from electronic music. Their website doesn’t educate you where their strange name originates. However, it does describe GoGo Penguin as a “breakbeat trio.” I’m not familiar with the term describing this genre of music. And I had to look it up on Wikipedia which describes breakbeat as a “broad type of electronic music that tends to use drum breaks sampled from early recordings of funk, jazz, and R&B.”

So there you go. Check it out, and step in to do some exploration with this fresh music. Their last EP (2022) was Everything Is Going to Be OK on Sony/XXIM.