MATTHEW READ TRIO - Anecdotes Vol 2
Self Release
Arthur Newell - drums; Matthew Read - bass; Benedict Wood - guitar
Matthew Read is a young British bass player, whose route into jazz has led him from Alton College in Hampshire to the Guildhall, collecting a Dankworth Prize for composition along the way. He’s got an attractively dark, woody tone, and solid chops that always serve the song - no Stanley Clarke style showboating to be found here. Instead his sure sense of melody sees him often taking the lead voice, allowing guitarist Wood to create textures in support, as on the ballad feature ‘They Know, You Know’.
Elsewhere the trio explore the territory first notably investigated by Metheny and Bill Frisell, and more recently by Julian Lage, where jazz overlaps with other more folksy American forms like country and spirituals - there’s a hint of Haden about Read’s quietly assertive support and restrained, melodic solo on ‘Many Roads Travelled’ and both the title and the lyrical, gently uplifting major-key pulse of the song recall the classic Metheny/Haden collaborations memorably captured on 80/81 and Beyond The Missouri Sky. The trio are very evenly balanced in terms of playing style and artistic vision and have the easy familiarity and unhurried, open communication that comes with long practice - this album follows on from an earlier ‘Anecdotes Volume 1’. ‘Burford Brown’ has some midtempo walking-bass swing that allows Read and Newell to turn things up with some active interplay - ‘In Motian’ is surely a tribute to the late lamented drummer, whose longstanding collaborations with Frisell and exploration of a similarly loosely simpatico collection of influences are both audible inspirations. ‘K’ has a funky swagger, apparently inspired by Kendrick Lamar and Kurt Rosenwinkel in equal measure, though the latter’s influence is easier to detect, and ‘Revolutions’ is a straight breezy swinger that wouldn’t be out of place on a Barney Kessel album. All in all this is a well-realised and delivered project, with the quality of the (all-original) compositions and the restraint and taste in evidence from all three participants demonstrating a high level of maturity for such a new act. If the temperature never rises above a certain level, there’s a nice blend of the contemporary and the traditional that keeps the interest alive throughout and leaves the listener wanting more.
Reviewed by Eddie Myer
Self Release
Arthur Newell - drums; Matthew Read - bass; Benedict Wood - guitar
Matthew Read is a young British bass player, whose route into jazz has led him from Alton College in Hampshire to the Guildhall, collecting a Dankworth Prize for composition along the way. He’s got an attractively dark, woody tone, and solid chops that always serve the song - no Stanley Clarke style showboating to be found here. Instead his sure sense of melody sees him often taking the lead voice, allowing guitarist Wood to create textures in support, as on the ballad feature ‘They Know, You Know’.
Elsewhere the trio explore the territory first notably investigated by Metheny and Bill Frisell, and more recently by Julian Lage, where jazz overlaps with other more folksy American forms like country and spirituals - there’s a hint of Haden about Read’s quietly assertive support and restrained, melodic solo on ‘Many Roads Travelled’ and both the title and the lyrical, gently uplifting major-key pulse of the song recall the classic Metheny/Haden collaborations memorably captured on 80/81 and Beyond The Missouri Sky. The trio are very evenly balanced in terms of playing style and artistic vision and have the easy familiarity and unhurried, open communication that comes with long practice - this album follows on from an earlier ‘Anecdotes Volume 1’. ‘Burford Brown’ has some midtempo walking-bass swing that allows Read and Newell to turn things up with some active interplay - ‘In Motian’ is surely a tribute to the late lamented drummer, whose longstanding collaborations with Frisell and exploration of a similarly loosely simpatico collection of influences are both audible inspirations. ‘K’ has a funky swagger, apparently inspired by Kendrick Lamar and Kurt Rosenwinkel in equal measure, though the latter’s influence is easier to detect, and ‘Revolutions’ is a straight breezy swinger that wouldn’t be out of place on a Barney Kessel album. All in all this is a well-realised and delivered project, with the quality of the (all-original) compositions and the restraint and taste in evidence from all three participants demonstrating a high level of maturity for such a new act. If the temperature never rises above a certain level, there’s a nice blend of the contemporary and the traditional that keeps the interest alive throughout and leaves the listener wanting more.
Reviewed by Eddie Myer
