PIGFOOT - Pigfoot Shuffle
Pokey records: PR001
Chris Batchelor: trumpet, cornet; Liam Noble: piano, keys; James Allsopp: baritone saxophone, bass clarinet; Paul Clarvis: drums
Recorded 28th June 2017 by Simon Allen at Rimshot Studios
Knowing that Pigfoot’s first album was called ‘21st Century Acid Trad’ tells you pretty much all you need to know about the band: they have a wide ranging knowledge of many musical styles, a sense of humour that takes a King Crimson song title and messes around with it, and a desire to bring a freshness to Trad jazz. They’ve played at London’s Vortex Jazz Club using jazz to deconstruct opera, Bacharach, Elvis, Motown with a wicked sense of humour but also deep respect for whatever tune takes their fancy. This is a collection of tunes from across those various sessions, reworked in the studio to showcase Batchelor’s muted trumpet and Allsopp’s deeply sonorous reed playing. It opens with a throaty growl of trumpet playing ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ at a lascivious pace for the band to rumble along behind, and into (not surprisingly, perhaps) Richard Strauss’ ‘Dance of the seven veils’ (from Salome). Elvis appears again in the mash-up ‘Jailhouse rock / Hound dog’ (track 4) and the band turn their attention to classical music with Mozart’s ‘Isis and Osiris / Dove sono’ (track 6) and Richard Wagner’s ‘Song to the evening star’ (which, in track 9 they meld with Heyman and Young’s ‘Love letters’). Elsewhere, they take tunes from Curtis Mayfield (‘Pusherman’, track 3), Stevie Wonder (‘For once in my life’, track 8), Led Zeppelin (‘Black dog’, track 7) and Burt Bacharach (‘The look of love’, track 5, and ‘Wives and lovers’, track 10).
I don’t normally mention the complete track listing in my reviews, but it is somehow apt in this case, if only to emphasise the musical breadth. What this doesn’t tell you is how they take each of the tunes and, after playing the head in straightforward fashion, they develop intricate and complex improvisations. A stand out moment is the way that the Mozart tunes are blended into a mood that captures South African township jazz in a way that feels both utterly authentic (both for Mozart and South African music) and utterly unique. The blend of instruments which, on paper, might look somewhat peculiar, works perfectly. Even the more esoteric bits of the kit, like Batchelor’s buzz wah mute (looking like the yellow submarine sticking out of the trumpet, kazoos and all), finds their right place. This is that special type of music that ingeniously smuggles a host of avant-garde concepts into what feels familiar. This is music that makes you smile in recognition as each piece is introduced, then nod appreciatively to the bouncing rhythm, and then applaud the musicianship that pushes each tune out of shape and into weird contortions – without ever losing sight of the tempo and structure of the tune.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
Pokey records: PR001
Chris Batchelor: trumpet, cornet; Liam Noble: piano, keys; James Allsopp: baritone saxophone, bass clarinet; Paul Clarvis: drums
Recorded 28th June 2017 by Simon Allen at Rimshot Studios
Knowing that Pigfoot’s first album was called ‘21st Century Acid Trad’ tells you pretty much all you need to know about the band: they have a wide ranging knowledge of many musical styles, a sense of humour that takes a King Crimson song title and messes around with it, and a desire to bring a freshness to Trad jazz. They’ve played at London’s Vortex Jazz Club using jazz to deconstruct opera, Bacharach, Elvis, Motown with a wicked sense of humour but also deep respect for whatever tune takes their fancy. This is a collection of tunes from across those various sessions, reworked in the studio to showcase Batchelor’s muted trumpet and Allsopp’s deeply sonorous reed playing. It opens with a throaty growl of trumpet playing ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ at a lascivious pace for the band to rumble along behind, and into (not surprisingly, perhaps) Richard Strauss’ ‘Dance of the seven veils’ (from Salome). Elvis appears again in the mash-up ‘Jailhouse rock / Hound dog’ (track 4) and the band turn their attention to classical music with Mozart’s ‘Isis and Osiris / Dove sono’ (track 6) and Richard Wagner’s ‘Song to the evening star’ (which, in track 9 they meld with Heyman and Young’s ‘Love letters’). Elsewhere, they take tunes from Curtis Mayfield (‘Pusherman’, track 3), Stevie Wonder (‘For once in my life’, track 8), Led Zeppelin (‘Black dog’, track 7) and Burt Bacharach (‘The look of love’, track 5, and ‘Wives and lovers’, track 10).
I don’t normally mention the complete track listing in my reviews, but it is somehow apt in this case, if only to emphasise the musical breadth. What this doesn’t tell you is how they take each of the tunes and, after playing the head in straightforward fashion, they develop intricate and complex improvisations. A stand out moment is the way that the Mozart tunes are blended into a mood that captures South African township jazz in a way that feels both utterly authentic (both for Mozart and South African music) and utterly unique. The blend of instruments which, on paper, might look somewhat peculiar, works perfectly. Even the more esoteric bits of the kit, like Batchelor’s buzz wah mute (looking like the yellow submarine sticking out of the trumpet, kazoos and all), finds their right place. This is that special type of music that ingeniously smuggles a host of avant-garde concepts into what feels familiar. This is music that makes you smile in recognition as each piece is introduced, then nod appreciatively to the bouncing rhythm, and then applaud the musicianship that pushes each tune out of shape and into weird contortions – without ever losing sight of the tempo and structure of the tune.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
