MARK LOCKHEART - Dreamers
Edition: EDN1195
Mark Lockheart: saxophones; Elliot Galvin: keyboards; Tom Herbert: bass guitar; Dave Smith: drums
Recorded December 35d – 5th 2020 by Sonny Johns at the Fish Factory, London.
I doubt if Mark Lockheart needs any introduction to Jazz Views readers, given his prominence in the UK jazz scene (a hint for those less well versed in UK jazz – think Loose Tubes and Polar Bear). It is from Polar Bear that he teams up with bassist Herbert. But there any similarities with that band end. On this set, there is a pleasantly trance-like mood that takes a set of alt-rock rhythms (possibly drawing a line to Lockheart’s playing on Radiohead’s Kid A album) and pushes these into new territories. On the web-page for the album, Lockheart explains that he “wanted this music to be unfussy and direct, but also unsurprising and unsettling.” This is certainly my experience in listening to the music. But also there is the surprise in the ways in which Lockheart has reinvented the sonic texture in which he plays, while remaining true to his sound. To develop the tunes, he brings in Galvin and Smith, who draw out complexities in the shifting rhythms, and plumb the depths of what seem to be innocuous melodies and chord sequences. There has always been, in Lockheart’s playing, a tendency to craft melodic lines that are immediately accessible and danceable and yet also unsettling and disturbing. It is as if he is a spider weaving a web that has a symmetry and beauty that draws in the listeners, only to trap them in a vortex of mirrors.
The band toured this album over February and if you were fortunate to catch them at one of their gigs, you know that there is a spark and delight in their playing and they bounce ideas off each other and reinvigorate these tunes with each performance. A great album and a band to catch live as often as you can.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
Edition: EDN1195
Mark Lockheart: saxophones; Elliot Galvin: keyboards; Tom Herbert: bass guitar; Dave Smith: drums
Recorded December 35d – 5th 2020 by Sonny Johns at the Fish Factory, London.
I doubt if Mark Lockheart needs any introduction to Jazz Views readers, given his prominence in the UK jazz scene (a hint for those less well versed in UK jazz – think Loose Tubes and Polar Bear). It is from Polar Bear that he teams up with bassist Herbert. But there any similarities with that band end. On this set, there is a pleasantly trance-like mood that takes a set of alt-rock rhythms (possibly drawing a line to Lockheart’s playing on Radiohead’s Kid A album) and pushes these into new territories. On the web-page for the album, Lockheart explains that he “wanted this music to be unfussy and direct, but also unsurprising and unsettling.” This is certainly my experience in listening to the music. But also there is the surprise in the ways in which Lockheart has reinvented the sonic texture in which he plays, while remaining true to his sound. To develop the tunes, he brings in Galvin and Smith, who draw out complexities in the shifting rhythms, and plumb the depths of what seem to be innocuous melodies and chord sequences. There has always been, in Lockheart’s playing, a tendency to craft melodic lines that are immediately accessible and danceable and yet also unsettling and disturbing. It is as if he is a spider weaving a web that has a symmetry and beauty that draws in the listeners, only to trap them in a vortex of mirrors.
The band toured this album over February and if you were fortunate to catch them at one of their gigs, you know that there is a spark and delight in their playing and they bounce ideas off each other and reinvigorate these tunes with each performance. A great album and a band to catch live as often as you can.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
