MARTIN ARCHER / ANTHROPOLOGY BAND
DISCUS: 90CD/DL
CD1 - Martin Archer: saxophones; Charlotte Keeffe: trumpet; Chris Sharkey: guitar; Corey Mwamba: vibraphone; Pat Thomas: keyboards; Dave Sturt: bass guitar; Peter Fairclough: drums
CD2 - Martin Archer: sopranino, tenor and baritone saxophones, bass clarinet; James Mainwaring: soprano saxophone; Hannah Brady: alto saxophone; Riley Stone-Lonergan: tenor saxophone; Alicia Gardener-Trejo: baritone saxophone, bass clarinet; Mick Somerset: flutes, piccolo; Nathan Bettany: oboe, cor anglais; Charlotte Keeffe: trumpet, flugelhorn; Kim Macari: trumpet; George Murray: trombone; Ben Higham: tuba
Recorded September 2018 and April 2019 by David Watts at Chairworks,Castleford.
On this double CD, the Anthropology Band is both a septet (on CD1) and an ensemble (on CD2). In both configurations, the band play through a set of fifteen compositions. The whole set is inspired by electric Miles. On the opening track, ‘Fiction Fraction’, I thought I could hear refrains from ‘In a silent way’, ‘Pharaohs Dance, and ‘Bitches Brew’ running through it. Some of these were clear stated by trumpet, others implied and immediately over-written by the electronic effects and other instruments. As the pieces develop, so the Sharkey’s wonderfully discordant guitar buzzes across the themes and the rhythm section drive a solid funk. This is reimagined electric Miles that captures the excitement of the 1970s recordings but never becomes too beholden to the quest to reproduce the ‘sound’. Archer is too subtle a player and band-leader to do anything that simple. Indeed, in collaboration with Keeffe, he approached the ensemble versions of these compositions with the question ‘what might Bitches Brew have sounded like if Gil Evans had arranged it?’ Well, one answer to that might have sounded like the Evans various cover versions of Jimi Hendrix songs; which I feel often show how much of the electric sound Evans didn’t quite get – for me, Evans tended to hear ‘rock’ where Miles played funk (albeit heavy, electric, out-there funk). What Archer understands is that space between (indie) rock and funk – and to which he brings his own approach to electronica. This creates a sound that is both contemporary and true to the sounds that Miles (and Teo Macero) were working towards. If this was a single album, the effect would be impressive and, for anyone with an interest in ‘70s Miles, well worth a listen.
On the second CD, the bar is raised further, with Keeffe and Archer taking the tunes from the septet and reworking them with a brass and woodwind ensemble. For the first few tracks, the scale of the ensemble is used sparingly, almost as an echo of the saxophone lines or a means of adding spice to the keyboards as they accompany some searing guitar playing and bouncing bass lines (which are played again on the ensemble versions). This gives a different flavour to the pieces, as if they are being played in a hall of mirrors, with the brass and woodwind reflecting and distorting the sax lines. These pieces have a feel of contemporary classical compositions, with subtle shifting of key and careful balancing of sound between the instruments. With tracks like ‘Why so?’ or ‘Snap call / Back wall’ the power of the ensemble comes to the fore and the feeling is of a big band playing post-bop.
I like much of what Archer has been releasing in recent years, but this recording stands head and shoulders above his other recordings. This really deserves a wide and enthusiastic audience and is highly recommended. There is an eight piece concert band that will be touring this set early next year, and that will definitely worth seeking out.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
DISCUS: 90CD/DL
CD1 - Martin Archer: saxophones; Charlotte Keeffe: trumpet; Chris Sharkey: guitar; Corey Mwamba: vibraphone; Pat Thomas: keyboards; Dave Sturt: bass guitar; Peter Fairclough: drums
CD2 - Martin Archer: sopranino, tenor and baritone saxophones, bass clarinet; James Mainwaring: soprano saxophone; Hannah Brady: alto saxophone; Riley Stone-Lonergan: tenor saxophone; Alicia Gardener-Trejo: baritone saxophone, bass clarinet; Mick Somerset: flutes, piccolo; Nathan Bettany: oboe, cor anglais; Charlotte Keeffe: trumpet, flugelhorn; Kim Macari: trumpet; George Murray: trombone; Ben Higham: tuba
Recorded September 2018 and April 2019 by David Watts at Chairworks,Castleford.
On this double CD, the Anthropology Band is both a septet (on CD1) and an ensemble (on CD2). In both configurations, the band play through a set of fifteen compositions. The whole set is inspired by electric Miles. On the opening track, ‘Fiction Fraction’, I thought I could hear refrains from ‘In a silent way’, ‘Pharaohs Dance, and ‘Bitches Brew’ running through it. Some of these were clear stated by trumpet, others implied and immediately over-written by the electronic effects and other instruments. As the pieces develop, so the Sharkey’s wonderfully discordant guitar buzzes across the themes and the rhythm section drive a solid funk. This is reimagined electric Miles that captures the excitement of the 1970s recordings but never becomes too beholden to the quest to reproduce the ‘sound’. Archer is too subtle a player and band-leader to do anything that simple. Indeed, in collaboration with Keeffe, he approached the ensemble versions of these compositions with the question ‘what might Bitches Brew have sounded like if Gil Evans had arranged it?’ Well, one answer to that might have sounded like the Evans various cover versions of Jimi Hendrix songs; which I feel often show how much of the electric sound Evans didn’t quite get – for me, Evans tended to hear ‘rock’ where Miles played funk (albeit heavy, electric, out-there funk). What Archer understands is that space between (indie) rock and funk – and to which he brings his own approach to electronica. This creates a sound that is both contemporary and true to the sounds that Miles (and Teo Macero) were working towards. If this was a single album, the effect would be impressive and, for anyone with an interest in ‘70s Miles, well worth a listen.
On the second CD, the bar is raised further, with Keeffe and Archer taking the tunes from the septet and reworking them with a brass and woodwind ensemble. For the first few tracks, the scale of the ensemble is used sparingly, almost as an echo of the saxophone lines or a means of adding spice to the keyboards as they accompany some searing guitar playing and bouncing bass lines (which are played again on the ensemble versions). This gives a different flavour to the pieces, as if they are being played in a hall of mirrors, with the brass and woodwind reflecting and distorting the sax lines. These pieces have a feel of contemporary classical compositions, with subtle shifting of key and careful balancing of sound between the instruments. With tracks like ‘Why so?’ or ‘Snap call / Back wall’ the power of the ensemble comes to the fore and the feeling is of a big band playing post-bop.
I like much of what Archer has been releasing in recent years, but this recording stands head and shoulders above his other recordings. This really deserves a wide and enthusiastic audience and is highly recommended. There is an eight piece concert band that will be touring this set early next year, and that will definitely worth seeking out.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
