BETTER THAN TV - Song From No Man's Land
Betterthantv.co.uk
Alastair Appleton: sax; Ben Comeau: piano; Cassie Gorman: voice; Daniel Duffy: guitar; Gabriel Bliard: trumpet; Joe Davighi: drums; Louis Day: trumpet; Luke Congdon: piano; Rowan Haslam: cello, voice; Sergio Contrino: bass; Simon Fothergill: trombone
Recorded September 14th 2016 and April 30th 2017 by John Ward and Jes Kerr at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge.
All of the tunes here are composed by Sergio Contrino. As an associate composer of London Symphony Orchestra’s soundhub project, you’d expect him to bring a broad range of classical musical styles the tunes; as the bass player, you’d expect some thumping basslines; and coming from Italy you’d expect some of the song lyrics to be in Italian. And, of course, he delivers on all of these. But what you might not expect is, for example, lyrics of one of the songs to be in Latin – track 5, ‘Latin Song’, uses words from an Ovid poem, or musical influences that stray into klezmer (even with a vamped line or two from Have Nagila on track 7, ‘Für Louis’) or even, at times, operatta. So, the opening track 'Before I go' has two vocalists and a Dixieland trumpet vibe, but a rhythm that is constantly shifting. The mixing of old-time jazz is used again in 'Da lontano' (track 4), with a bouncing piano introducing the tune.
The line-up is somewhat different to that on the group’s debut (‘Late’) and they revisit a couple of the tunes from that set (track 3, ‘Standing with Sally’, track 9 ‘Samba per mi’). One of things that they’ve nailed here is the band’s sound – which is much clearer than last time out – and the role of the solo instruments, particularly Comeau’s piano and Fothergill’s trombone solo work has the crystal clarity of classically trained players. Indeed, the whole band has an assuredness and confidence in their playing. I’d imagine that, live, they’d be a lot of fun, particularly in the way that Gorman delivers her songs with a mix of sardonic wit and ennui, although, as she shows on 'Samba per mi' (track 9) she can also turn in a moving and heartfelt performance. This mix of emotions in the way the songs are sung, the mix of languages and the mix of musical styles all add up to creates an inventive, off-kilter experience that sets up the listener only to wrong foot you by switching directions.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
Betterthantv.co.uk
Alastair Appleton: sax; Ben Comeau: piano; Cassie Gorman: voice; Daniel Duffy: guitar; Gabriel Bliard: trumpet; Joe Davighi: drums; Louis Day: trumpet; Luke Congdon: piano; Rowan Haslam: cello, voice; Sergio Contrino: bass; Simon Fothergill: trombone
Recorded September 14th 2016 and April 30th 2017 by John Ward and Jes Kerr at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge.
All of the tunes here are composed by Sergio Contrino. As an associate composer of London Symphony Orchestra’s soundhub project, you’d expect him to bring a broad range of classical musical styles the tunes; as the bass player, you’d expect some thumping basslines; and coming from Italy you’d expect some of the song lyrics to be in Italian. And, of course, he delivers on all of these. But what you might not expect is, for example, lyrics of one of the songs to be in Latin – track 5, ‘Latin Song’, uses words from an Ovid poem, or musical influences that stray into klezmer (even with a vamped line or two from Have Nagila on track 7, ‘Für Louis’) or even, at times, operatta. So, the opening track 'Before I go' has two vocalists and a Dixieland trumpet vibe, but a rhythm that is constantly shifting. The mixing of old-time jazz is used again in 'Da lontano' (track 4), with a bouncing piano introducing the tune.
The line-up is somewhat different to that on the group’s debut (‘Late’) and they revisit a couple of the tunes from that set (track 3, ‘Standing with Sally’, track 9 ‘Samba per mi’). One of things that they’ve nailed here is the band’s sound – which is much clearer than last time out – and the role of the solo instruments, particularly Comeau’s piano and Fothergill’s trombone solo work has the crystal clarity of classically trained players. Indeed, the whole band has an assuredness and confidence in their playing. I’d imagine that, live, they’d be a lot of fun, particularly in the way that Gorman delivers her songs with a mix of sardonic wit and ennui, although, as she shows on 'Samba per mi' (track 9) she can also turn in a moving and heartfelt performance. This mix of emotions in the way the songs are sung, the mix of languages and the mix of musical styles all add up to creates an inventive, off-kilter experience that sets up the listener only to wrong foot you by switching directions.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
