TOM MILLAR - Unnatural Events
Spark 004
Tom Millar - piano; Alex Munk - guitar; Misha Mullov Abbado - bass; Mike Clowes -drums; Alice Zawadski - vocals
This is the debut from Australian RAM graduate Millar, presenting all his own compositions on a fresh new label with a band of rising stars; Munk and Mullov Abbado are both interesting bandleaders in their own right. Opening track ‘Azura Days’ bursts with buoyant melodicism, with the light, upbeat rhythm and Munk’s clean-toned, soaring guitar inviting comparisons with Pat Metheny. ‘The Seafarer’ meanders from an extended rubato opening into a skipping 16th-note jazz-rock feel, with Millar adding puckish solo interjections and lush romantic chords, before some very involved unison work between Millar and Munk.The playing is exemplary but the piece doesn’t really take off as a ‘rock-out anthem’ as it’s publicist has described it - more of a mood piece. Millar’s writing explores the kind of airy, melodically accessible fusion pioneered by Metheny - the title track gives him plenty of room to stretch out in a yearning minor key over a subtly grooving 12/8, and he and Munk are highly compatible players, with a similar melodic sensibility that dances over the track’s gently uplifting harmonic cadences, building upwards towards Mike Clowes’ bravura drum break. ‘Power Chord Thing’ is an exercise in rhythmic virtuosity from the whole band, with the same kind of skipping minor-key urgency, and the tricky 5/8 metre is handled so expertly that it sounds compellingly natural throughout - ‘Choro’ has a wordless vocal from Alice Zawadski and a mellow pastoral feel under it’s sophisticated open harmony, with something of the feel of a Kenny Wheeler composition and Munk in full Metheny mode. ‘Inversaid’ invites Zawadski back in a setting of a Gerard Manley Hopkins poem over another rolling 12/8 - the potentially incongruous mix is actually very effective thanks to her compelling delivery and the tight, carefully controlled arrangement. Mullov Abbado gets to show off his impressive solo chops, as he does again in the more overtly fusion-y ‘Woad’ and again in ‘Park Hill’, a Norah Jones style, gospel-tinged piano ballad that is beautifully written - a real stand-out composition.
This is carefully plotted, ambitiously composed and virtuosically performed music, treading a skilfully maintained balance between the tricky time-signature exercises of contemporary fusion and a highly accessible melodic sense. Those looking for raw, unfiltered jazz self-expression should probably look elsewhere but fans of contemporary fusion will find much here to delight them. It sounds like it would be great to see live as well.
Reviewed by Eddie Myer
Spark 004
Tom Millar - piano; Alex Munk - guitar; Misha Mullov Abbado - bass; Mike Clowes -drums; Alice Zawadski - vocals
This is the debut from Australian RAM graduate Millar, presenting all his own compositions on a fresh new label with a band of rising stars; Munk and Mullov Abbado are both interesting bandleaders in their own right. Opening track ‘Azura Days’ bursts with buoyant melodicism, with the light, upbeat rhythm and Munk’s clean-toned, soaring guitar inviting comparisons with Pat Metheny. ‘The Seafarer’ meanders from an extended rubato opening into a skipping 16th-note jazz-rock feel, with Millar adding puckish solo interjections and lush romantic chords, before some very involved unison work between Millar and Munk.The playing is exemplary but the piece doesn’t really take off as a ‘rock-out anthem’ as it’s publicist has described it - more of a mood piece. Millar’s writing explores the kind of airy, melodically accessible fusion pioneered by Metheny - the title track gives him plenty of room to stretch out in a yearning minor key over a subtly grooving 12/8, and he and Munk are highly compatible players, with a similar melodic sensibility that dances over the track’s gently uplifting harmonic cadences, building upwards towards Mike Clowes’ bravura drum break. ‘Power Chord Thing’ is an exercise in rhythmic virtuosity from the whole band, with the same kind of skipping minor-key urgency, and the tricky 5/8 metre is handled so expertly that it sounds compellingly natural throughout - ‘Choro’ has a wordless vocal from Alice Zawadski and a mellow pastoral feel under it’s sophisticated open harmony, with something of the feel of a Kenny Wheeler composition and Munk in full Metheny mode. ‘Inversaid’ invites Zawadski back in a setting of a Gerard Manley Hopkins poem over another rolling 12/8 - the potentially incongruous mix is actually very effective thanks to her compelling delivery and the tight, carefully controlled arrangement. Mullov Abbado gets to show off his impressive solo chops, as he does again in the more overtly fusion-y ‘Woad’ and again in ‘Park Hill’, a Norah Jones style, gospel-tinged piano ballad that is beautifully written - a real stand-out composition.
This is carefully plotted, ambitiously composed and virtuosically performed music, treading a skilfully maintained balance between the tricky time-signature exercises of contemporary fusion and a highly accessible melodic sense. Those looking for raw, unfiltered jazz self-expression should probably look elsewhere but fans of contemporary fusion will find much here to delight them. It sounds like it would be great to see live as well.
Reviewed by Eddie Myer
