DAVID BEEBEE QUARTET
Beeboss Records
available at https://davidbeebee1.bandcamp.com/album/david-beebee-quartet
Dave Beebee - piano; Julian Nicholas - tenor sax; Jakub Cywinski - bass; Eric Ford - drums
Dave Beebee is one of those infuriating individuals who seem to excel at everything they turn their hand to. Piano is only one among the several instruments he plays professionally: he also wrote all the tunes on this album, arranged them, recorded them in his own studio, and took the striking photos adorning the cover. He’s assembled a blue-ribbon quartet for this release - Loose Tubes/Brotherhood Of Breath saxist Julian Nicholas will need no introduction to followers of top-flight UK jazz: after a period out of the spotlight his profile has been rising again of late, and it’s a real treat to hear his slightly rough-edged, unsentimentally romantic tone, and unfailing instinct for finding the surest melodic path through the most abstruse harmony, in such sympathetic settings. He’s a real original talent and this music is perfectly suited to his conception. “Strawberry Moon” sets us off, establishing the quartet’s character as firmly within the European iterations of contemporary jazz, with echoes of Jarrett’s great European Quartet in its airy pastoral mood, while ‘Model T’ shows off a darker side with a knotty melody over a moody vamp and a characteristically creative drum solo from Eric Ford.
There’s eleven original compositions here, which makes for a lot of music, but the quality and variety of the writing is high enough to carry it off - ‘Why’ is a beautiful ballad, ‘X marks the spot’ combines dark harmonies and plaintive shenai-like reed from Nicholas to stunning effect, and ‘Jay’ moves from an impressive extended solo from the excellent Cywinski into a dramatically impressionistic soundscape. ‘U-turn’ unleashes the wonderfully clear-toned Nicholas soprano sax for an afro-celtic flavoured workout, and closing track ‘Duke’ has a beautifully delivered duet between soprano sax and bass highlighting Cywinski’s precise articulation and awesome accuracy. The leader’s own piano delivers a wealth of ideas, intricately conceived harmony, fleet fingered soloing and lush arpeggiated textures. An ambitious project, impressively realised.
Reviewed by Eddie Myer
Beeboss Records
available at https://davidbeebee1.bandcamp.com/album/david-beebee-quartet
Dave Beebee - piano; Julian Nicholas - tenor sax; Jakub Cywinski - bass; Eric Ford - drums
Dave Beebee is one of those infuriating individuals who seem to excel at everything they turn their hand to. Piano is only one among the several instruments he plays professionally: he also wrote all the tunes on this album, arranged them, recorded them in his own studio, and took the striking photos adorning the cover. He’s assembled a blue-ribbon quartet for this release - Loose Tubes/Brotherhood Of Breath saxist Julian Nicholas will need no introduction to followers of top-flight UK jazz: after a period out of the spotlight his profile has been rising again of late, and it’s a real treat to hear his slightly rough-edged, unsentimentally romantic tone, and unfailing instinct for finding the surest melodic path through the most abstruse harmony, in such sympathetic settings. He’s a real original talent and this music is perfectly suited to his conception. “Strawberry Moon” sets us off, establishing the quartet’s character as firmly within the European iterations of contemporary jazz, with echoes of Jarrett’s great European Quartet in its airy pastoral mood, while ‘Model T’ shows off a darker side with a knotty melody over a moody vamp and a characteristically creative drum solo from Eric Ford.
There’s eleven original compositions here, which makes for a lot of music, but the quality and variety of the writing is high enough to carry it off - ‘Why’ is a beautiful ballad, ‘X marks the spot’ combines dark harmonies and plaintive shenai-like reed from Nicholas to stunning effect, and ‘Jay’ moves from an impressive extended solo from the excellent Cywinski into a dramatically impressionistic soundscape. ‘U-turn’ unleashes the wonderfully clear-toned Nicholas soprano sax for an afro-celtic flavoured workout, and closing track ‘Duke’ has a beautifully delivered duet between soprano sax and bass highlighting Cywinski’s precise articulation and awesome accuracy. The leader’s own piano delivers a wealth of ideas, intricately conceived harmony, fleet fingered soloing and lush arpeggiated textures. An ambitious project, impressively realised.
Reviewed by Eddie Myer
