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JEFF WILLIAMS - Road Tales (Live at London Jazz Festival)
Whirlwind Recordings: WR4768
Jeff Williams: drums; John O’Gallagher: alto saxophone; Josh Arcoleo: tenor saxophone; Sam Lasserson: double bass
Recorded November 25th 2019 by Luc Saint-Martin at Pizza Express Jazz Club
Reviewing this album, exactly two years from its recording date, is quite an odd experience. The crispness of the recording reminds you of what joy it is to listen to jazz played well to an enthusiastic audience.
Jeff Williams’ drumming owes much to his stints with Stan Getz and Dave Liebman in the 1970s New York. And if that sounds a somewhat odd pairing, they represent to two poles between which his compositions veer: from a lush bop to startling experimentation. Next has the term ‘free bop’ felt so apposite. These twin poles also define the merging of the historical and contemporary.
Williams' band had a pianist (I saw them with Kit Downes). The opening track, plus two others, come from 2016’s ‘Outlier’ (which features piano and guitar with Arcoleo’s tenor), four of the tracks come from the 2018 album ‘Lifelike’, with ‘She can’t be a spy’ is from 2019’s ‘Bloom’. On this set, their incarnation as a quartet does not obviously create a space for a chordal instrument. Rather, Williams drumming finds all available spaces to push and shape the playing so that his compositions are clear and vibrant.
The opening track, ‘New and Old’, has what sounds to me like a quotation from Sun Ra’s ‘Enlightenment’ which recurs through the piece (plus a couple of other quotes that made me smile but I can’t quite place) and this sets the theme for improvisations from both saxes. The piece is driven by a majestic bass (including a bass solo worth the price of the CD alone) and the drums swing with panache. The twin saxophone attack plus rhythm section are, as you’d expect from the personnel, on fire.
Given the familiarity of the players with the tunes, they still explore new dimensions and angles on them. Come to think of it, ‘New and Old’ wouldn’t be a bad title for the album.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
Whirlwind Recordings: WR4768
Jeff Williams: drums; John O’Gallagher: alto saxophone; Josh Arcoleo: tenor saxophone; Sam Lasserson: double bass
Recorded November 25th 2019 by Luc Saint-Martin at Pizza Express Jazz Club
Reviewing this album, exactly two years from its recording date, is quite an odd experience. The crispness of the recording reminds you of what joy it is to listen to jazz played well to an enthusiastic audience.
Jeff Williams’ drumming owes much to his stints with Stan Getz and Dave Liebman in the 1970s New York. And if that sounds a somewhat odd pairing, they represent to two poles between which his compositions veer: from a lush bop to startling experimentation. Next has the term ‘free bop’ felt so apposite. These twin poles also define the merging of the historical and contemporary.
Williams' band had a pianist (I saw them with Kit Downes). The opening track, plus two others, come from 2016’s ‘Outlier’ (which features piano and guitar with Arcoleo’s tenor), four of the tracks come from the 2018 album ‘Lifelike’, with ‘She can’t be a spy’ is from 2019’s ‘Bloom’. On this set, their incarnation as a quartet does not obviously create a space for a chordal instrument. Rather, Williams drumming finds all available spaces to push and shape the playing so that his compositions are clear and vibrant.
The opening track, ‘New and Old’, has what sounds to me like a quotation from Sun Ra’s ‘Enlightenment’ which recurs through the piece (plus a couple of other quotes that made me smile but I can’t quite place) and this sets the theme for improvisations from both saxes. The piece is driven by a majestic bass (including a bass solo worth the price of the CD alone) and the drums swing with panache. The twin saxophone attack plus rhythm section are, as you’d expect from the personnel, on fire.
Given the familiarity of the players with the tunes, they still explore new dimensions and angles on them. Come to think of it, ‘New and Old’ wouldn’t be a bad title for the album.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
