TIPPING POINT - The Earthworm’s Eye View
Lamplight Social Records-LSRCD002
James Mainwaring (sax/effects), Mathew Bourne (fender rhodes), Micheal Bardon (double bass), Joost Hendrickx (drums).
If the environment can reach a tipping point then what happens when music does as well? In discussions about the collapse of nature the tipping point emerges when environmental collapse seems to be irreversible and humanity has to deal with runaway climate change. The anxiety is of course we can-not know for sure when or indeed if that point has been reached. Similar questions are around on this recording. Does music become more like jazz the more we move away from the safe world of standards and classic recordings? If jazz does not throw itself into question do we eventually reach a point where it is not jazz anymore? Historically the 1960s was probably the most exciting time to be a jazz musician as with the development of free jazz innovation within music was pushed to its outer limits. Many critics like Philip Larkin responded conservatively by arguing that the sound of jazz music’s true innovators like Coltrane, Ayler and Coleman were anti-jazz. However the point of innovation is to push sound on-wards outside of its comfortable confines. This album asks us to think about when the last time a recording or concert that we went to made us feel truly uncomfortable? Without being unsettled no limits are pushed up against, and of course ultimately music can-not move forward. The problem with this view is of course that the end result is usually (although not always) music that only appeals to relatively small numbers of people.
The new album from James Mainwaring (previously of the Roller Trio) asks many of these questions. If this sounds too abstract and philosophical then perhaps I should underline this is a genuinely challenging recording, and after repeated listening a genuinely engaging one. Five of the ten tracks are the result of improvisations, and yet we can-not necessarily tell the difference between these and the other recordings. Indeed if part of the quest of the album is to test the waters between jazz and anti-jazz then the same might be said of improvisation. If we push music far enough then the gap between the composed and so called free expression also breaks down. At different moments this album sounds adventurous, ironic, playful, and humorous, and yes of course improvised. However it is on ‘Breathe’ and ‘The Earthworm’s Eye View’ I began to imagine that I was listening to the sound track of a horror film as the music takes a more sinister turn. Yet when your surroundings begin to crumble and everything falls apart it is hard to do this without a few bumps along the way. The Tipping Point is making music not of the last century, but for our often uncertain and fragile world of now. If jazz is indeed to have a future beyond mode retro then this is a path it needs to navigate carefully.
Reviewed by Nick Stevenson
Lamplight Social Records-LSRCD002
James Mainwaring (sax/effects), Mathew Bourne (fender rhodes), Micheal Bardon (double bass), Joost Hendrickx (drums).
If the environment can reach a tipping point then what happens when music does as well? In discussions about the collapse of nature the tipping point emerges when environmental collapse seems to be irreversible and humanity has to deal with runaway climate change. The anxiety is of course we can-not know for sure when or indeed if that point has been reached. Similar questions are around on this recording. Does music become more like jazz the more we move away from the safe world of standards and classic recordings? If jazz does not throw itself into question do we eventually reach a point where it is not jazz anymore? Historically the 1960s was probably the most exciting time to be a jazz musician as with the development of free jazz innovation within music was pushed to its outer limits. Many critics like Philip Larkin responded conservatively by arguing that the sound of jazz music’s true innovators like Coltrane, Ayler and Coleman were anti-jazz. However the point of innovation is to push sound on-wards outside of its comfortable confines. This album asks us to think about when the last time a recording or concert that we went to made us feel truly uncomfortable? Without being unsettled no limits are pushed up against, and of course ultimately music can-not move forward. The problem with this view is of course that the end result is usually (although not always) music that only appeals to relatively small numbers of people.
The new album from James Mainwaring (previously of the Roller Trio) asks many of these questions. If this sounds too abstract and philosophical then perhaps I should underline this is a genuinely challenging recording, and after repeated listening a genuinely engaging one. Five of the ten tracks are the result of improvisations, and yet we can-not necessarily tell the difference between these and the other recordings. Indeed if part of the quest of the album is to test the waters between jazz and anti-jazz then the same might be said of improvisation. If we push music far enough then the gap between the composed and so called free expression also breaks down. At different moments this album sounds adventurous, ironic, playful, and humorous, and yes of course improvised. However it is on ‘Breathe’ and ‘The Earthworm’s Eye View’ I began to imagine that I was listening to the sound track of a horror film as the music takes a more sinister turn. Yet when your surroundings begin to crumble and everything falls apart it is hard to do this without a few bumps along the way. The Tipping Point is making music not of the last century, but for our often uncertain and fragile world of now. If jazz is indeed to have a future beyond mode retro then this is a path it needs to navigate carefully.
Reviewed by Nick Stevenson
