FAT-SUIT - Waifs And Strays
Equinox Records
Mark Scobbie: drums; Stephen Henderson: percussion; Grant Cassidy: percussion; Martyn Hodge: percussion; Gus Stirrat: bass guitar; Dorian Cloudsley: guitars; Fraser Jackson: guitars; Craig McMahon: keyboards; Alan Benzie: keyboards; Moss Taylor: keyboards; Ciaran McEneny: keyboards; Murray McFarlane: trumpet, flugelhorn; Alex Sharples: trumpet, flugelhorn; Mateusz Sobieski: tenor saxophone; Liam Shortall: trobnoe, tuba; Mhairi Marwick: violin; Laura Wilkie: violin; Katie Rush: vilolin; Rhona MacFarlane: violin; Lissa Robertson: violin; Colin McKee: violin; Sarah Leonard: viola; Nicola Boag: viola; Rachel Wilson: cello; David Munn: cello – guest soloists: Johnny Woodham: trumpet; Corrina Hewat: harp; Davie Dunsmuir: guitar
Recorded January 2019 by Iain Hutchison at Drygate Brewery, Glasgow.
This is a jazz-funk big band with anything up to 30 members blasting out some highly effective foot-stomping tunes with panache and precision. The compositions are inspired by an eclectic mixture of styles, ranging from the sort of music that Gilles Peterson releases on his Brownswood label to electric funk and taking in a variety of traditional and folk styles. Many of the tracks make full use of the guitar- and keyboard-heavy line-up building walls of sound that burst into fuzz-drenched guitar soloing before some finely balanced tenor sax solos (on tracks 2, ‘Keo’ (another brewery, perhaps?), and 7, ‘Uh-oh’) create contrast. On tracks 4, ‘Countryside quiet’, and 6, ‘Caretaker’, the compositions work from a simple folk-like airs and gradually build these into bigger and bolder tunes. The former piece, a composition by US harpist Rachel Clemente gives ample space for Corrina Hewat to conjure the Scottish highlands in her playing.
As with previous outings, like ‘Atlas’ from 2016, the modus operandi of the group is to play live over three days and then mix this down to the recording. It is not obvious whether this means mixing and over-dubbing, but the music certainly retains the verve of live playing. There will be obvious comparisons drawn with Snarky Puppy, but these ought to be to in Fat-Suit’s favour because the music here has more depth of expression and a greater range of styles.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
Equinox Records
Mark Scobbie: drums; Stephen Henderson: percussion; Grant Cassidy: percussion; Martyn Hodge: percussion; Gus Stirrat: bass guitar; Dorian Cloudsley: guitars; Fraser Jackson: guitars; Craig McMahon: keyboards; Alan Benzie: keyboards; Moss Taylor: keyboards; Ciaran McEneny: keyboards; Murray McFarlane: trumpet, flugelhorn; Alex Sharples: trumpet, flugelhorn; Mateusz Sobieski: tenor saxophone; Liam Shortall: trobnoe, tuba; Mhairi Marwick: violin; Laura Wilkie: violin; Katie Rush: vilolin; Rhona MacFarlane: violin; Lissa Robertson: violin; Colin McKee: violin; Sarah Leonard: viola; Nicola Boag: viola; Rachel Wilson: cello; David Munn: cello – guest soloists: Johnny Woodham: trumpet; Corrina Hewat: harp; Davie Dunsmuir: guitar
Recorded January 2019 by Iain Hutchison at Drygate Brewery, Glasgow.
This is a jazz-funk big band with anything up to 30 members blasting out some highly effective foot-stomping tunes with panache and precision. The compositions are inspired by an eclectic mixture of styles, ranging from the sort of music that Gilles Peterson releases on his Brownswood label to electric funk and taking in a variety of traditional and folk styles. Many of the tracks make full use of the guitar- and keyboard-heavy line-up building walls of sound that burst into fuzz-drenched guitar soloing before some finely balanced tenor sax solos (on tracks 2, ‘Keo’ (another brewery, perhaps?), and 7, ‘Uh-oh’) create contrast. On tracks 4, ‘Countryside quiet’, and 6, ‘Caretaker’, the compositions work from a simple folk-like airs and gradually build these into bigger and bolder tunes. The former piece, a composition by US harpist Rachel Clemente gives ample space for Corrina Hewat to conjure the Scottish highlands in her playing.
As with previous outings, like ‘Atlas’ from 2016, the modus operandi of the group is to play live over three days and then mix this down to the recording. It is not obvious whether this means mixing and over-dubbing, but the music certainly retains the verve of live playing. There will be obvious comparisons drawn with Snarky Puppy, but these ought to be to in Fat-Suit’s favour because the music here has more depth of expression and a greater range of styles.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
