IVO NEAME - Moksha
Edition EDN1108
Ivo Neame acoustic piano, fender rhodes, mellotron, hammond organ, nord lead; George Crowley tenor saxophone; Tom Farmer acoustic bass; James Maddren drums
The search for an identity is a quest that is common amongst younger jazz musicians. To be working and trying to emerge out of the shadows of potent giants from the past must at times be not only dispiriting but destructive. One way of moving forward is to bring in the Fender Rhodes, the mellotron, the hammond organ, the nord lead in the hope that the different sounds will obscure the invention and convince the listener that they are hearing something new, even if they aren’t!
On the other hand, George Crowley just has the tenor saxophone to hide behind. In his search for identity he has chosen simplicity. His tone is plain and it is the improvisational choices that he makes that distinguish him. In many ways he carries the record.
The bass is the most important instrument in a group of this size, welding the music together and giving it all an internal shape. Tom Farmer manages to do this and, like Crowley, he is a natural grounded player.
‘Vegetarians’ makes the group sound much larger than a quartet. Neame’s peripheral sounds do not inhibit the improvisation from George Crowley. He seems to be the point of the whole piece.
‘Moksha Music’ has a bland feel until Neame starts to improvise against the edgy drumming from Maddren. Neame unleashed gives a glimpse of what a Neame album could sound like if there was not the obsession with alternative keyboards. Crowley finishes the piece with abstract improvising beautifully supported by the rest of the group.
‘Pala’ is one of those wandering rootless pieces that sounds as if it does not know where it is going. Fortunately, Crowley guides us through the piece, improvising over sounds from Neame that Keith Jarrett rejected over forty years ago.
There is a curiously dated sound about the introduction to ‘Laika’. Fortunately, George Crowley introduces his authoritative sound as he teases with notes the keyboards, the bass and the drums.
Tom Farmer’s bass is briefly featured on ‘Outsider’. He has a beautiful, fluid muscular sound and he blends sympathetically with Neame’s piano. On ‘Ghost Shadow’ there is a good composition trying to emerge. It is as if Neame does not trust himself either as a composer or pianist. It is good to hear the depth of the piano notes as Crowley improvises over them.
‘Blimp’ opens with straightforward piano before providing the accompaniment for Crowley. This whole piece shows what this album could have been as Neame and Crowley work sympathetically together gradually bringing in Maddren and Farmer for a glorious acoustic finish.
George Orwell had six rules for writing, one of them was ‘Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent’. George Crowley plays the tenor in the way Orwell wrote: straight forward, unadorned and shorn of abstraction.
Reviwed by Jack Kenny
Edition EDN1108
Ivo Neame acoustic piano, fender rhodes, mellotron, hammond organ, nord lead; George Crowley tenor saxophone; Tom Farmer acoustic bass; James Maddren drums
The search for an identity is a quest that is common amongst younger jazz musicians. To be working and trying to emerge out of the shadows of potent giants from the past must at times be not only dispiriting but destructive. One way of moving forward is to bring in the Fender Rhodes, the mellotron, the hammond organ, the nord lead in the hope that the different sounds will obscure the invention and convince the listener that they are hearing something new, even if they aren’t!
On the other hand, George Crowley just has the tenor saxophone to hide behind. In his search for identity he has chosen simplicity. His tone is plain and it is the improvisational choices that he makes that distinguish him. In many ways he carries the record.
The bass is the most important instrument in a group of this size, welding the music together and giving it all an internal shape. Tom Farmer manages to do this and, like Crowley, he is a natural grounded player.
‘Vegetarians’ makes the group sound much larger than a quartet. Neame’s peripheral sounds do not inhibit the improvisation from George Crowley. He seems to be the point of the whole piece.
‘Moksha Music’ has a bland feel until Neame starts to improvise against the edgy drumming from Maddren. Neame unleashed gives a glimpse of what a Neame album could sound like if there was not the obsession with alternative keyboards. Crowley finishes the piece with abstract improvising beautifully supported by the rest of the group.
‘Pala’ is one of those wandering rootless pieces that sounds as if it does not know where it is going. Fortunately, Crowley guides us through the piece, improvising over sounds from Neame that Keith Jarrett rejected over forty years ago.
There is a curiously dated sound about the introduction to ‘Laika’. Fortunately, George Crowley introduces his authoritative sound as he teases with notes the keyboards, the bass and the drums.
Tom Farmer’s bass is briefly featured on ‘Outsider’. He has a beautiful, fluid muscular sound and he blends sympathetically with Neame’s piano. On ‘Ghost Shadow’ there is a good composition trying to emerge. It is as if Neame does not trust himself either as a composer or pianist. It is good to hear the depth of the piano notes as Crowley improvises over them.
‘Blimp’ opens with straightforward piano before providing the accompaniment for Crowley. This whole piece shows what this album could have been as Neame and Crowley work sympathetically together gradually bringing in Maddren and Farmer for a glorious acoustic finish.
George Orwell had six rules for writing, one of them was ‘Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent’. George Crowley plays the tenor in the way Orwell wrote: straight forward, unadorned and shorn of abstraction.
Reviwed by Jack Kenny
