ROB CLUTTON TRIO - Counsel Of Primaries
Snailbongbong Records: SBB007
Karen Ng: alto saxophone; Nick Fraser: drums; Rob Clutton: double bass
Recorded by Jeremy Darby at Canterbury Music, Toronto
It’s not until the second track that Clutton’s bass strides into view. During the first track, ‘Strata’, with Fraser’s dextrous cymbal work, Ng shapes a kaleidoscope of notes that, as soon as they combine into a steady shape, are thrust in a variety of directions. There might be two or three bass notes across this piece but the trio’s nominal leader only leaves his shadow. But this, given his long experience in composing for, and playing in, all manner of combinations of jazz musicians, will be a definite choice. As with his recent duo recording with Tony Malaby (‘Offering’) several of the pieces here began life as deconstructions of Clutton’s improvised bass-lines from his archive of recordings. This doesn’t mean simply transcribing the notes and re-playing them; rather, the transcriptions become the starting point for a reconstruction and, at times, this leaves the bass to one side and invites the other players to inhabit the legacy of these notes. For this to work, you not only need well-made musical frameworks but also players who intuitively ‘get’ the idea. If “music is the space between notes” as Debussey (or possibly Miles) said, then the slowly unfolding pieces have almost a rigorous attention to this space: each note, each sound, is given sufficient space to it to be born, flourish and fade.
I know of Ng from her playing with Do Make Say Think but she is adept at a wide range of styles. On this set, Ng’s playing is marvellously suited to this style of music making. In each piece she effortlessly shifts from light, skittering runs that convey contemporary ‘Classical’ or avant-garde jazz, to throaty growls that carry a history of bop and post-bop; almost from bar to bar, she picks up and puts down different styles without once losing her confidently, firm footing. On the title track, track 4, the saxophone bursts into a light, repetitive run (reminiscent, perhaps, of a Stravinsky piece) and this is closely echoed by Clutton playing higher up the bass. He takes a similar approach, of two-lead players, in places in ‘Festival’ (track 2). In other places, like ‘Cloak’, track 5, Clutton’s approach mixes what threatens to be a walking bass line (but he is too subtle a player to get caught in just one groove) with a sequence of bass solos, with Ng taking the role of shading his playing and Fraser taking delight in to ripping into his kit in short sections and then shifting into a subtle but complicated rhythmic pattern. This is clearly a jazz record (for those that prefer their music in the ‘right’ box)…but it is also clearly an extremely well realised piece of contemporary composition; equally it is clearly a set of composed pieces…but it is also clearly the result of kindred musical spirits improvising to create spontaneous and engaging music. The albums front cover is a painting by M. Randi Helmers and those rich, almost edible lumps of primary paint not only give a sense of the equal status of the players in the trio but also the fluidity and richness of their playing.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
Snailbongbong Records: SBB007
Karen Ng: alto saxophone; Nick Fraser: drums; Rob Clutton: double bass
Recorded by Jeremy Darby at Canterbury Music, Toronto
It’s not until the second track that Clutton’s bass strides into view. During the first track, ‘Strata’, with Fraser’s dextrous cymbal work, Ng shapes a kaleidoscope of notes that, as soon as they combine into a steady shape, are thrust in a variety of directions. There might be two or three bass notes across this piece but the trio’s nominal leader only leaves his shadow. But this, given his long experience in composing for, and playing in, all manner of combinations of jazz musicians, will be a definite choice. As with his recent duo recording with Tony Malaby (‘Offering’) several of the pieces here began life as deconstructions of Clutton’s improvised bass-lines from his archive of recordings. This doesn’t mean simply transcribing the notes and re-playing them; rather, the transcriptions become the starting point for a reconstruction and, at times, this leaves the bass to one side and invites the other players to inhabit the legacy of these notes. For this to work, you not only need well-made musical frameworks but also players who intuitively ‘get’ the idea. If “music is the space between notes” as Debussey (or possibly Miles) said, then the slowly unfolding pieces have almost a rigorous attention to this space: each note, each sound, is given sufficient space to it to be born, flourish and fade.
I know of Ng from her playing with Do Make Say Think but she is adept at a wide range of styles. On this set, Ng’s playing is marvellously suited to this style of music making. In each piece she effortlessly shifts from light, skittering runs that convey contemporary ‘Classical’ or avant-garde jazz, to throaty growls that carry a history of bop and post-bop; almost from bar to bar, she picks up and puts down different styles without once losing her confidently, firm footing. On the title track, track 4, the saxophone bursts into a light, repetitive run (reminiscent, perhaps, of a Stravinsky piece) and this is closely echoed by Clutton playing higher up the bass. He takes a similar approach, of two-lead players, in places in ‘Festival’ (track 2). In other places, like ‘Cloak’, track 5, Clutton’s approach mixes what threatens to be a walking bass line (but he is too subtle a player to get caught in just one groove) with a sequence of bass solos, with Ng taking the role of shading his playing and Fraser taking delight in to ripping into his kit in short sections and then shifting into a subtle but complicated rhythmic pattern. This is clearly a jazz record (for those that prefer their music in the ‘right’ box)…but it is also clearly an extremely well realised piece of contemporary composition; equally it is clearly a set of composed pieces…but it is also clearly the result of kindred musical spirits improvising to create spontaneous and engaging music. The albums front cover is a painting by M. Randi Helmers and those rich, almost edible lumps of primary paint not only give a sense of the equal status of the players in the trio but also the fluidity and richness of their playing.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
