THE VAMPIRES - meet Lionel Loueke
Earshift Music: EAR017
Jeremy Rose: saxophones, bass clarinet; Nick Garbett: trumpet; Jonathan Zwartz: double bass; Danny Fischer: drums; Alex Masso: drums, cajon, pandeiro, wood block, cowbells, shakers; Lionel Loueke: acoustic guitar, electric guitar, vocals.
Recorded Rancom Studios, Botany, Australia, June 7th and 8th 2016
This CD has Loueke (usually playing on ECM) joining Australia’s The Vampires for their 5th CD. This set, recorded over two days, is produced by Lloyd Swanton (who plays the bass in The Necks, which is one way of giving your recording a sort of Australian jazz royalty blessing). Even before listening to the music, I was impressed by the beautiful packaging of the CD: Earshift really know how to present a band and the photos of the recording session are studies in black and white photograpy.
The CD opens with ‘Endings and Beginnings pt. 1’ on which Loueke plays acoustic guitar with a poignant Andalusian edge while the band improvise around this. The piece commemorates the death of Rose’s grandfather and is complimented by the closing track, ‘Endings and Beginnings II’ which celebrates the birth of Rose’s niece. It also seems peculiar to ascribe composer credits to the pieces here (shared between Rose and Garbett), given the way in which the players merge with and balance each other across the pieces. I guess that they define the melodic lines, which are a feature of what is essentially a chordless quartet (in the absence of piano or guitar to carry the chords) and this provides one part of the platform from which the improvisations build. The other part of this platform is the rock solid rhythm section which, while it can swing in different jazz modes (just listen to the cool elegance of track 8 ‘Ubud Bubble’), is adept at switching to styles from outside conventional jazz rhythmic structures. So, on this set, there is a strong pull from reggae rhythms, which the band carry well. One of my pet-hates is when white men play reggae (which obviously echoes long running issues in the history of musical appropriation) because there is a tendency to emphasise an off-beat in a way that you rarely get in Jamaican reggae. The only way to get this is to ignore the implied syncopation and work around the beat – and this is what Zwartz and Masso or Fischer do. Indeed, the ways in which bass and drums make use of rhythms from the Balkans, Africa, South America, Bali… is a calling card of this group and is what makes their albums so enjoyable.
Loueke, as well as his elegant acoustic guitar work on the opening track (and on the tribute to Al Green, ‘Green green green’, track 4) provides some laconic and highly personal electric guitar soloing; at times, he makes the guitar sound like a Fender Rhodes and at other times it has full fuzz and distortion. What is surprising is the way in which the band and their guest merge so seamlessly in ways that make each track complete and convincing. All in all a delightful experience.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
Earshift Music: EAR017
Jeremy Rose: saxophones, bass clarinet; Nick Garbett: trumpet; Jonathan Zwartz: double bass; Danny Fischer: drums; Alex Masso: drums, cajon, pandeiro, wood block, cowbells, shakers; Lionel Loueke: acoustic guitar, electric guitar, vocals.
Recorded Rancom Studios, Botany, Australia, June 7th and 8th 2016
This CD has Loueke (usually playing on ECM) joining Australia’s The Vampires for their 5th CD. This set, recorded over two days, is produced by Lloyd Swanton (who plays the bass in The Necks, which is one way of giving your recording a sort of Australian jazz royalty blessing). Even before listening to the music, I was impressed by the beautiful packaging of the CD: Earshift really know how to present a band and the photos of the recording session are studies in black and white photograpy.
The CD opens with ‘Endings and Beginnings pt. 1’ on which Loueke plays acoustic guitar with a poignant Andalusian edge while the band improvise around this. The piece commemorates the death of Rose’s grandfather and is complimented by the closing track, ‘Endings and Beginnings II’ which celebrates the birth of Rose’s niece. It also seems peculiar to ascribe composer credits to the pieces here (shared between Rose and Garbett), given the way in which the players merge with and balance each other across the pieces. I guess that they define the melodic lines, which are a feature of what is essentially a chordless quartet (in the absence of piano or guitar to carry the chords) and this provides one part of the platform from which the improvisations build. The other part of this platform is the rock solid rhythm section which, while it can swing in different jazz modes (just listen to the cool elegance of track 8 ‘Ubud Bubble’), is adept at switching to styles from outside conventional jazz rhythmic structures. So, on this set, there is a strong pull from reggae rhythms, which the band carry well. One of my pet-hates is when white men play reggae (which obviously echoes long running issues in the history of musical appropriation) because there is a tendency to emphasise an off-beat in a way that you rarely get in Jamaican reggae. The only way to get this is to ignore the implied syncopation and work around the beat – and this is what Zwartz and Masso or Fischer do. Indeed, the ways in which bass and drums make use of rhythms from the Balkans, Africa, South America, Bali… is a calling card of this group and is what makes their albums so enjoyable.
Loueke, as well as his elegant acoustic guitar work on the opening track (and on the tribute to Al Green, ‘Green green green’, track 4) provides some laconic and highly personal electric guitar soloing; at times, he makes the guitar sound like a Fender Rhodes and at other times it has full fuzz and distortion. What is surprising is the way in which the band and their guest merge so seamlessly in ways that make each track complete and convincing. All in all a delightful experience.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
