GAZ HUGHES SEXTET Plays Art Blakey
Self Release
Alan Barnes (alto & baritone saxophones); Dean Masser (tenor saxophone); Bruce Adams (trumpet); Andrzej Baranek (piano); Ed Harrison (double bass); Gaz Hughes (drums)
Recorded 11 & 12 July, 1918
Gaz Hughes will perhaps be best known as the original drummer n the Matthew Halsall Band, but over the last decade or so has built a steady reputation behind the kit having played with Scott Hamilton, Harry Allen, Gilad Atzmon, Art Themen, Tina May, among others. He has also been a long standing member of the Tom Kincaid Trio with whom he has toured and recorded.
An extremely tasteful and swinging straight ahead player, Hughes exhibits a no nonsense approach to his playing. Not one to pepper his playing with excessive fills or displays of pyrotechnics, he is content to sit behind the drums and serve the music as best he can. In doing so the influence of Max Roach and Alan Dawson are discernible, an innate sense of melody and keeping things neat and tidy. For this his debut album as leader, the young drummer is keen to acknowledge another major influence, Art Blakey and to do so has assembled a cast of some of the best UK players in the hard bop genre in Alan Barnes, Bruce Adams and Dean Masser in the front line.
In an imaginatively programmed set, Hughes presents a selection of tunes that were a staple of Blakey's repertoire with compositions from the golden era of hard bop from the pens of Wayne Shorter, Curtis Fuller and Freddie Hubbard, and also tipping his hat off to later Messenger line ups by featuring two pieces by altoist, Bobby Watson. As one would expect the sextet handle the material with great aplomb. The arrangements sound fresh and current, and when the horns step out to solo, the rhythm section gather themselves up to provide some top level support.
Alan Barnes has been playing this kind of music for much of his career, and one can tell in an instant that this is definitely his bag. His solos are always brimful of ideas, soundly constructed and melodically and harmonically interesting. His enthusiasm for the music never wanes and this ensures his playing and feeling for the idiom is infectious, pulling the audience along in his wake. Wielding the hefty baritone saxophone on Freddie Hubbard's 'Crisis' and 'Ping Pong' by Wayne Shorter à la Pepper Adams and Cecil Payne; but it is his alto playing that steals the limelight. His playing on the opening 'A Bitter Dose' is superb, as is Bruce Adams on trumpet who is again no stranger to this mode of expression. Adams also excels on Curtis Fuller's 'Arabia' in a delightfully fluid solo, and Barne's again on baritone taking the tune out with his offering. Of the other front line horns, it was perhaps Dean Masser that was most impressive and surprising. He displayed a calm and relaxed assurance at any tempo, and came out with all guns blazing on 'Ping Pong' and was unafraid to exert his presence on the wonderful ballad medley taking on 'Lover Man' with a lyrical and warm toned reading.
Throughout this impressive set, the rhythm section keep things swinging. There is no sense of pushing too hard, just driving the music at just the right tempo, and leaving plenty of space. A modest man, Hughes seems content to sit back and steer his ship with a confidence and easy swing that pays homage to Blakey without seeking to emulate. The result is an album that will please any devotee of the hard bop school of playing, and with the band out on the road over the coming months will win them many more admirers.
Reviewed by Nick Lea
Self Release
Alan Barnes (alto & baritone saxophones); Dean Masser (tenor saxophone); Bruce Adams (trumpet); Andrzej Baranek (piano); Ed Harrison (double bass); Gaz Hughes (drums)
Recorded 11 & 12 July, 1918
Gaz Hughes will perhaps be best known as the original drummer n the Matthew Halsall Band, but over the last decade or so has built a steady reputation behind the kit having played with Scott Hamilton, Harry Allen, Gilad Atzmon, Art Themen, Tina May, among others. He has also been a long standing member of the Tom Kincaid Trio with whom he has toured and recorded.
An extremely tasteful and swinging straight ahead player, Hughes exhibits a no nonsense approach to his playing. Not one to pepper his playing with excessive fills or displays of pyrotechnics, he is content to sit behind the drums and serve the music as best he can. In doing so the influence of Max Roach and Alan Dawson are discernible, an innate sense of melody and keeping things neat and tidy. For this his debut album as leader, the young drummer is keen to acknowledge another major influence, Art Blakey and to do so has assembled a cast of some of the best UK players in the hard bop genre in Alan Barnes, Bruce Adams and Dean Masser in the front line.
In an imaginatively programmed set, Hughes presents a selection of tunes that were a staple of Blakey's repertoire with compositions from the golden era of hard bop from the pens of Wayne Shorter, Curtis Fuller and Freddie Hubbard, and also tipping his hat off to later Messenger line ups by featuring two pieces by altoist, Bobby Watson. As one would expect the sextet handle the material with great aplomb. The arrangements sound fresh and current, and when the horns step out to solo, the rhythm section gather themselves up to provide some top level support.
Alan Barnes has been playing this kind of music for much of his career, and one can tell in an instant that this is definitely his bag. His solos are always brimful of ideas, soundly constructed and melodically and harmonically interesting. His enthusiasm for the music never wanes and this ensures his playing and feeling for the idiom is infectious, pulling the audience along in his wake. Wielding the hefty baritone saxophone on Freddie Hubbard's 'Crisis' and 'Ping Pong' by Wayne Shorter à la Pepper Adams and Cecil Payne; but it is his alto playing that steals the limelight. His playing on the opening 'A Bitter Dose' is superb, as is Bruce Adams on trumpet who is again no stranger to this mode of expression. Adams also excels on Curtis Fuller's 'Arabia' in a delightfully fluid solo, and Barne's again on baritone taking the tune out with his offering. Of the other front line horns, it was perhaps Dean Masser that was most impressive and surprising. He displayed a calm and relaxed assurance at any tempo, and came out with all guns blazing on 'Ping Pong' and was unafraid to exert his presence on the wonderful ballad medley taking on 'Lover Man' with a lyrical and warm toned reading.
Throughout this impressive set, the rhythm section keep things swinging. There is no sense of pushing too hard, just driving the music at just the right tempo, and leaving plenty of space. A modest man, Hughes seems content to sit back and steer his ship with a confidence and easy swing that pays homage to Blakey without seeking to emulate. The result is an album that will please any devotee of the hard bop school of playing, and with the band out on the road over the coming months will win them many more admirers.
Reviewed by Nick Lea
