BECK HUNTERS - Has It Been Found?
Discus: Discus78CD
Mick Beck: tenor saxophone, bassoon, whistles; Anton Hunter: bass; Johnny Hunter: drums
Recorded 10th March 2016 by Anton Hunter in Sheffield
Even a cursory knowledge of the UK free jazz scene over the past forty years would have to include acquaintance with Feet Packets or Gated Community – two of Beck’s improvising ensembles that have influenced the free scene (as well, of course, as his role as co-founder of Discus). More recently, he has turned his attention to smaller units. Here is brings his wealth of experience and sense of humour to working with much younger drum and guitar duo. Across these tracks, the trio sustains a tremendous level of energy and creativity. This is collective improvisation of a very high order; with each player picking up the baton to drive forward the musical ideas, and all three seeking to find spaces in which they offer maximum support to their band-mates. The liner notes offer some suggestions as to what is happening in the playing – I particularly like the suggestion that the track 2 (‘what is it?’) “finds the sax messing about with some 12-tone patterns that most listeners would not interpret as such…”. There is, in this phrase, a neat encapsulation of the complexity of the music on offer, and the modesty with which it is developed and delivered.
Given that their debut release was called ‘The hunt is on’, it makes sense for the follow-up to ask if the hunt continues. The track titles, ‘yes and no’, ‘what is it?’, ‘the guardians of truth’, and ‘paradox and confusion’, suggest that the ‘hunt’ itself has become redefined in the intervening years, perhaps becoming a quest for something deeper and more meaningful (or, perhaps, simply placing with the theme of a ‘hunt’ as a philosophical exercise). Whatever they are seeking, I very much hope that the hunt continues, and that it continues to generate such exciting playing.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
Discus: Discus78CD
Mick Beck: tenor saxophone, bassoon, whistles; Anton Hunter: bass; Johnny Hunter: drums
Recorded 10th March 2016 by Anton Hunter in Sheffield
Even a cursory knowledge of the UK free jazz scene over the past forty years would have to include acquaintance with Feet Packets or Gated Community – two of Beck’s improvising ensembles that have influenced the free scene (as well, of course, as his role as co-founder of Discus). More recently, he has turned his attention to smaller units. Here is brings his wealth of experience and sense of humour to working with much younger drum and guitar duo. Across these tracks, the trio sustains a tremendous level of energy and creativity. This is collective improvisation of a very high order; with each player picking up the baton to drive forward the musical ideas, and all three seeking to find spaces in which they offer maximum support to their band-mates. The liner notes offer some suggestions as to what is happening in the playing – I particularly like the suggestion that the track 2 (‘what is it?’) “finds the sax messing about with some 12-tone patterns that most listeners would not interpret as such…”. There is, in this phrase, a neat encapsulation of the complexity of the music on offer, and the modesty with which it is developed and delivered.
Given that their debut release was called ‘The hunt is on’, it makes sense for the follow-up to ask if the hunt continues. The track titles, ‘yes and no’, ‘what is it?’, ‘the guardians of truth’, and ‘paradox and confusion’, suggest that the ‘hunt’ itself has become redefined in the intervening years, perhaps becoming a quest for something deeper and more meaningful (or, perhaps, simply placing with the theme of a ‘hunt’ as a philosophical exercise). Whatever they are seeking, I very much hope that the hunt continues, and that it continues to generate such exciting playing.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
