JOHN POPE QUINTET - Mixed with Glass
New Jazz and Improvised Music Recordings CD NEWJAiM3
Jamie Stockbridge, alto sax; Faye MacCalman, tenor sax and clarinet; Graham Hardy, trumpet and pocket trumpet; John Pope, double bass; Johnny Hunter, drums
Recorded at Blank Studios, Newcastle Upon Tyne, England, 3rd-4th October 2020
About an hour and five minutes shared between seven tracks from the pen of bassist John Pope make up the first assembly recording from this quintet, although they have played live together for about five years, especially at festivals. The music seems to draw on influences from the Art Ensemble of Chicago, for its inclination towards 60s Avant-jazz, hard bop, free jazz and seemingly serialised solos, with animation from the work of Mingus in its improvisational assembly.
Tracks one and two kick off with a brass band sound that has a very strong swing to it and a stirring dance rhythm. This persists until about half-way through track two, Misha, A Miner, when the clarinet of Faye MacCalman suggests that you pay attention to the change in pattern and the degeneration from skin-tight control to a more tentative ambience. From here the quintet switches to a much less charged atmosphere, Mixed with Glass being effortlessly calming. The control is obvious and each player manages it perfectly well, beneath the atmospherics provided by the solo bass. This technique of the soloist being backed by a rhythm player or by one (or more) of the other horns is one of the fascinating features of the album. The title track is an enormous disparity from the others in the programme, providing an entirely at-odds differential in aether.
The album throughout deploys strategies of improvisation and structure, though the swings between them are not wild. None of the musicians is ever at a loss; each knows exactly when and where to move and they play together as an entity. Not unique, but marvellous.
Reviewed by Ken Cheetham
New Jazz and Improvised Music Recordings CD NEWJAiM3
Jamie Stockbridge, alto sax; Faye MacCalman, tenor sax and clarinet; Graham Hardy, trumpet and pocket trumpet; John Pope, double bass; Johnny Hunter, drums
Recorded at Blank Studios, Newcastle Upon Tyne, England, 3rd-4th October 2020
About an hour and five minutes shared between seven tracks from the pen of bassist John Pope make up the first assembly recording from this quintet, although they have played live together for about five years, especially at festivals. The music seems to draw on influences from the Art Ensemble of Chicago, for its inclination towards 60s Avant-jazz, hard bop, free jazz and seemingly serialised solos, with animation from the work of Mingus in its improvisational assembly.
Tracks one and two kick off with a brass band sound that has a very strong swing to it and a stirring dance rhythm. This persists until about half-way through track two, Misha, A Miner, when the clarinet of Faye MacCalman suggests that you pay attention to the change in pattern and the degeneration from skin-tight control to a more tentative ambience. From here the quintet switches to a much less charged atmosphere, Mixed with Glass being effortlessly calming. The control is obvious and each player manages it perfectly well, beneath the atmospherics provided by the solo bass. This technique of the soloist being backed by a rhythm player or by one (or more) of the other horns is one of the fascinating features of the album. The title track is an enormous disparity from the others in the programme, providing an entirely at-odds differential in aether.
The album throughout deploys strategies of improvisation and structure, though the swings between them are not wild. None of the musicians is ever at a loss; each knows exactly when and where to move and they play together as an entity. Not unique, but marvellous.
Reviewed by Ken Cheetham
