The Drift

The Drift originated in San Francisco during 2002 as an occasional collaboration between Tarentel guitarist/keyboardist Danny Grody and Lazarus bassist Trevor Montgomery before evolving into a primary focus once Montgomery stepped away. Grody recruited upright bassist Safa Shokrai, and alongside Rich Douthit on drums plus Jeff Jacobs on trumpet, flügelhorn, and electronics, the lineup issued its debut 12" EP, Streets/Nozomi, in summer 2005. Later that year a limited-edition CD, Travels in Constants, Vol. 19, assembled the earliest recordings featuring Montgomery and functioned as advance material for the first full-length, Noumena, which appeared in October 2005. The Drift stayed largely inactive until 2007, when it released the 12" remix EP (RMXS) together with Ceiling Sky, a CD gathering tracks previously available only on vinyl. Trumpeter/flügelhornist Jacobs succumbed to cancer on January 4, 2011. The group nevertheless carried on, delivering Blue Hour—an album deeply marked by his memory—in October of that year.