PAT THOMAS / THE LOCALS - Play The Music Of Anthony Braxton
Discus: Discus 103CD
Pat Thomas: piano, melodica; Alex Ward: clarinet; Evan Thomas: electric guitar; Dominic Lash: electric bass; Darren Hasson-Davis: drums
Recorded live in 2006 at the Konfrontation Festival, Nickelsdorf, Austria.
That Pat Thomas should want to celebrate the music of Anthony Braxton is no surprise; he’s taken a route through jazz that is every bit as intelligent and ambitious as Braxton. Thomas’ approach is often to treat the piano as a percussive instrument that can, even in the wildest of improvisations, deliver a sweeping sense of melody as well as an inventive and unpredictable use of the entire keyboard. It is this invention and unpredictability that comes to the fore on this set. Not for nothing is the live recording made at a festival called confrontation.
This set opens with two pieces from Braxton’s 1976 Live in Dortmund set – fittingly bringing the pieces back to an appreciative live audience. These two tracks are markedly different from the originals (indeed, you’d be hard pressed to find a family resemblance between the versions). The Locals place a strong emphasis on a heavy funk groove from the rhythm section. The opening track, ‘composition 40b’, begins with an insistent bass and skittering drum pattern that were quite unrelated to the Braxton original, but then between piano, clarinet and fuzzy guitar, there are glimpses of the old theme. Likewise, ‘composition 6c’ has a funky bass and drums, with clarinet swinging behind. ‘Composition 6i’ picks up the bass figure from earlier and creates a spacey groove over which piano, clarinet and guitar slug it out. Thomas and Ward take the lead on ‘composition 115’ (from Braxton’s 1984 Six Compositions) and shift into a space that felt more related to the original but… Well, you get the picture. From the outset of this set, the ‘meaning’ of the compositions in their original incarnation becomes so much less important than the ways in which these become the inspiration and stepping off point for The Locals. The pleasure from this set, and there is much to enjoy here, comes as much from the ways in which clarinet and guitar continue an ongoing debate, as it from Thomas’ mercurial piano playing. This is not one of those recordings which valorise the original tunes. But - if you want to pay a heart-felt tribute to Anthony Braxton, would simply playing ‘cover versions’ cut the mustard?
Reviewed by Chris Baber
Discus: Discus 103CD
Pat Thomas: piano, melodica; Alex Ward: clarinet; Evan Thomas: electric guitar; Dominic Lash: electric bass; Darren Hasson-Davis: drums
Recorded live in 2006 at the Konfrontation Festival, Nickelsdorf, Austria.
That Pat Thomas should want to celebrate the music of Anthony Braxton is no surprise; he’s taken a route through jazz that is every bit as intelligent and ambitious as Braxton. Thomas’ approach is often to treat the piano as a percussive instrument that can, even in the wildest of improvisations, deliver a sweeping sense of melody as well as an inventive and unpredictable use of the entire keyboard. It is this invention and unpredictability that comes to the fore on this set. Not for nothing is the live recording made at a festival called confrontation.
This set opens with two pieces from Braxton’s 1976 Live in Dortmund set – fittingly bringing the pieces back to an appreciative live audience. These two tracks are markedly different from the originals (indeed, you’d be hard pressed to find a family resemblance between the versions). The Locals place a strong emphasis on a heavy funk groove from the rhythm section. The opening track, ‘composition 40b’, begins with an insistent bass and skittering drum pattern that were quite unrelated to the Braxton original, but then between piano, clarinet and fuzzy guitar, there are glimpses of the old theme. Likewise, ‘composition 6c’ has a funky bass and drums, with clarinet swinging behind. ‘Composition 6i’ picks up the bass figure from earlier and creates a spacey groove over which piano, clarinet and guitar slug it out. Thomas and Ward take the lead on ‘composition 115’ (from Braxton’s 1984 Six Compositions) and shift into a space that felt more related to the original but… Well, you get the picture. From the outset of this set, the ‘meaning’ of the compositions in their original incarnation becomes so much less important than the ways in which these become the inspiration and stepping off point for The Locals. The pleasure from this set, and there is much to enjoy here, comes as much from the ways in which clarinet and guitar continue an ongoing debate, as it from Thomas’ mercurial piano playing. This is not one of those recordings which valorise the original tunes. But - if you want to pay a heart-felt tribute to Anthony Braxton, would simply playing ‘cover versions’ cut the mustard?
Reviewed by Chris Baber
