Four years after 2004's
Sweetness of the Water, where former
drum'n'bass duo
Spring Heel Jack (
John Coxon and
Ashley Wales) began playing their own instruments and enlisting collaborators to realize their own
electronic jazz vision, they return to
Thirsty Ear's Blue Series
Songs and Themes. This time out,
Wales works only with samples, while
Coxon, plays guitar, violin, glockenspiel, and bass. The rest of the cast is a curious and exciting one: Vanguard
jazz legend
John Tchicai plays saxophones and bass clarinet,
Orphy Robinson is on vibes, American ex-pat
Roy Campbell plays various trumpets and flute, and the rhythm section consists of double bassist
John Edwards (
Evan Parker,
James Hardway,
Steve Reid,
Paul Lovens), and drummer
Tony Marsh (who has played with everyone from
Kim Fowley to
Mike Westbrook). The guests include
J Spaceman on electric guitar on a pair of tracks, and drummers
Mark Sanders and
Rupert Clervaux on others. In the title lies the key to the album. It is a
jazz record, but it is also a
classical one; it is a moody, subdued, beautifully lyric and sometimes tense series of 12 charted tunes and takes.
The themes are obvious from the beginning, such as the opener,
"Church Music," where glockenspiel, piano, a meandering violin almost on stun, all enter slowly, nearly processionally, before
Campbell begins to articulate his motif to lend the proceedings body to hold the hovering spirit within. This is contrasted with
"Dereks," a deeply moving elegy where samples and vibes, doubled violin, and rumbling bass drum effects are the frame for
Tchicai's deep, soulful solo of a song that acts as both melodic frame and improvisational device.
"Without Words" is another quiet, song-oriented piece with beautiful trumpet work by
Campbell. The entire first half of the recording is very quiet and meditative but hardly boring. It's very English but only in the sense that
Neil Ardley,
Mike Gibbs, or
Westbrook are. Things don't get outside or move up in terms of volume or improvisation until track five,
"Folk Player," where
Coxon's violin, subtle sonic samples, extremely interactive drumming, and
Robinson's vibes wind through a series of themes and schematics allowing plenty of space for improvisation.
Tchicai's bass clarinet is the focus of
"Silvertone," a somewhat droning, quietly articulated piece where his breath control, pulse, and tonal flavor are in stark contrast to
Coxon's violins.
"Clara" is the most beautiful
son here. Its gently flowing articulation and
Clervaux's brushwork on the drum kits are beautifully asserted and may move slowly, but they are not static.
Things get wonderfully skronky and dissonant on
"1,000 Yards" with
Spaceman's guitar scree piled and soaring above violin and sampled drones and
Marsh's drumming moving it all into a blur. The Eastern tinge in
"At Long Last," with
Robinson's sparse vibes laying a bedrock for the delightfully almost-off-the-rails solo of
Campbell, who uses contrapuntal intervals and a restrained sense of dynamics to sing this theme, thereby blurring the very distinction between song and theme. The church organ touch is killer, too. This isn't an album that's going to appeal to everyone, particularly anyone who is still holding out hopes for a return to proper
electronic music for
Spring Heel Jack. Those interested in the Blue Series may find this a bit on the slow and quiet side, too. That said, there is so much here, in the minutiae: it is a truly involved, engaging, and even provocative recording on many fronts. This is a place where the sounds and spirits of
Gil Evans' more skeletal material with
Miles, the aforementioned Brit jazzers who studied composition, and fans of
ambient music will find a very rewarding place to visit if not remain. This set should have been recorded by
ECM: with its sound and these bleeding sonics and tunes, the match would have been made in heaven.
Songs and Themes is beautifully done and worth the wait. ~ Thom Jurek
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