DJANGO BATES' BELOVÈD – The Study Of Touch
ECM 5732663
Django Bates: piano; Petter Eldh: double bass; Peter Bruun: drums
Recorded Raindow Studio, Oslo, 13th to 15th June 2016
It is a pleasure to hear Bates return to the piano – and play it straight, with no effect keyboard effects or extraneous sounds – to produce such a moving set. This piano trio have been performing, on and off, for several years now and there is an intimacy in their playing that allows them to take even their most familiar pieces and work them into new ideas and sounds. Several of the tracks here are long-time favourites from the Beloved repertoire (some from as far back as Human Chain), but there is a feeling of discovery as they play each piece. It felt as if the players were constructing the tunes anew, working from the original idea and then exploring the implications of the idea, rather than just a straight playing of each piece. Of course, you get the familiar ‘Senza bitterness (track 4), ‘We are not lost, we are simply finding our way’ (track 5), and ‘Sadness all the way down’ (track 1), but each is cast through a new lens. I liked the humour of naming the closing track ‘Happiness all the way up’ (to track 11) to reflect the title of track 1.
There is also a Charlie Parker cover, ‘Passport’ (track 8) which gives Bates the opportunity to demonstrate his knack for totally capturing the way that Bird phrased lines across bars and over different time signatures. Throughout this, the bass and drums are completely in line with the twists and turns of what sounds like a tricky piece to play. The long title track, ‘A study of touch’ (track7), has a gently insistent head that Bates plays with a disarming frankness and gentleness. It is very moving ballad and has a deceptive complexity that makes each listen more rewarding. This, and the previous track, ‘This world’, find Bates and the trio in contemplative mood, allowing the tunes to shine without interfering too much in presenting them. On other tracks, Eldh’s percussive bass carries the melody and drives the rhythm, allowing Bates to scamper enthusiastically around him, and leading Bruun to shepherd the pair of them so they don’t get too far off track.
While this is a piano trio, I like the ways in which each player is given space to play in their own way and, through this, to undermine some of the basic conventions of the format. I also like the ways in which the familiarity and companionship of this long-standing group of friends pulls together and produces such a unique sound. Highly recommended as a CD that brings novelty and edge to the piano trio format.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
ECM 5732663
Django Bates: piano; Petter Eldh: double bass; Peter Bruun: drums
Recorded Raindow Studio, Oslo, 13th to 15th June 2016
It is a pleasure to hear Bates return to the piano – and play it straight, with no effect keyboard effects or extraneous sounds – to produce such a moving set. This piano trio have been performing, on and off, for several years now and there is an intimacy in their playing that allows them to take even their most familiar pieces and work them into new ideas and sounds. Several of the tracks here are long-time favourites from the Beloved repertoire (some from as far back as Human Chain), but there is a feeling of discovery as they play each piece. It felt as if the players were constructing the tunes anew, working from the original idea and then exploring the implications of the idea, rather than just a straight playing of each piece. Of course, you get the familiar ‘Senza bitterness (track 4), ‘We are not lost, we are simply finding our way’ (track 5), and ‘Sadness all the way down’ (track 1), but each is cast through a new lens. I liked the humour of naming the closing track ‘Happiness all the way up’ (to track 11) to reflect the title of track 1.
There is also a Charlie Parker cover, ‘Passport’ (track 8) which gives Bates the opportunity to demonstrate his knack for totally capturing the way that Bird phrased lines across bars and over different time signatures. Throughout this, the bass and drums are completely in line with the twists and turns of what sounds like a tricky piece to play. The long title track, ‘A study of touch’ (track7), has a gently insistent head that Bates plays with a disarming frankness and gentleness. It is very moving ballad and has a deceptive complexity that makes each listen more rewarding. This, and the previous track, ‘This world’, find Bates and the trio in contemplative mood, allowing the tunes to shine without interfering too much in presenting them. On other tracks, Eldh’s percussive bass carries the melody and drives the rhythm, allowing Bates to scamper enthusiastically around him, and leading Bruun to shepherd the pair of them so they don’t get too far off track.
While this is a piano trio, I like the ways in which each player is given space to play in their own way and, through this, to undermine some of the basic conventions of the format. I also like the ways in which the familiarity and companionship of this long-standing group of friends pulls together and produces such a unique sound. Highly recommended as a CD that brings novelty and edge to the piano trio format.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
