Jazz
Shabaka Hutchings’s stark warning is a thought-provoking and scintillating listen
Shabaka and the Ancestors
We Are Sent Here by History
Shabaka Hutchings (tenor sax), Mthunzi Mvubu (alto sax), Siyabonga Mthembu (voice), Ariel Zamonsky (bass), Gontse Makhene (percussion), Tumi Mogorosi (drums), Nduduzo Makhathini (piano), Thandi Ntuli (piano), Mandla Mlangeni (trumpet)
Impulse! IMPB003163202.2
Reflecting his both informed and enquiring viewpoint, Shabaka Hutchings fronts several notable groups. This formidable unit, in which he works with a group of South African musicians, is now on its second album that also marks its Impulse! debut. Tagged occasionally offhandedly as anything from ‘Afrobeat’ to ‘spiritual’ and even ‘old-school’ by listeners and pundits while described by its convener as an extension of the African griot tradition of storytelling and the preservation of history, the album blends poetry and chants with driving, drum-driven instrumental statements reminiscent of Steve Coleman, whose early influences Hutchings no doubt shares.
The narrative theme of this set of pieces is literally postapocalyptic: the End of Days has already happened, so what happens next? It’s at this point that we begin to address the extraordinary music itself, which is uncontainable in its energy, gravity and the sense of indefatigable potential that it can’t help but generate; perhaps the album’s ultimate message lies there, in which case ‘timely’ doesn’t quite cut it. Irresistible. ★★★★★
August round-up
At the time of writing, circumstances have inevitably steered listeners back to their collections of recorded music, so musicians and labels have either responded with their own initiatives or are simply weathering the storm.
One intervention that deserves to head this month’s list for sheer Audacity (experts will see what I did there) is The Light That Shines, an EP release from The Patchwork Jazz Orchestra. This young London-based big band created the programme by having each member record individual parts at home and then having the results assembled via the magic of the studio, which these days can just be a computer in someone’s bedroom. Will the results turn the whole idea of the big band and its repertoire on its head? No. Is this nonetheless a fine collection of animated, perfectly optimistic pieces that are genuinely uplifting and that only give away their unusual origins to the kind of listener who spends more time analysing jazz than enjoying it? Absolutely. Buy it on principle. (Spark! 009) ★★★★
Elsewhere, famous labels and established artists have tinkered with their schedules here and there but essentially keep on keeping on. The Marcin Wasilewski Trio with Joe Lovano has released Arctic
Riff, which offers a perfect combination of the Polish piano trio with the subtle-toswinging approach of the sax veteran. This set of mostly originals exploits a compare-and-contrast approach to excellent effect while making the best possible use of Lovano’s gracefully omnivorous style. The usual immaculate
ECM recorded sound allows each instrument its own breathing space. (ECM 2678) ★★★★★
Pianist Gerald Clayton also has a major label debut, this time on Blue Note, with Happening:
Live at the Village Vanguard. His comments on the dual role such a live recording currently assumes
– as both a morsel of the real world and an incentive to rejoin the live jazz audience when the time comes – are as astute as his own playing. His style walks a fine line between the spiky and the accommodating, with some intriguingly capricious harmonic ideas happening along the way, while his twin-sax quintet is supportive throughout. The recording is at the very live end of live, but is all the better for that.
(Blue Note 1126) ★★★★
In contrast to the ensembles above, it’s slightly disconcerting to encounter pianist Andrew Mccormack’s Solo (in the best possible way), simply because it’s a reminder that the solo piano CD is oddly rare at the moment, unless you happen to be a veteran with a history of such endeavours. Many will have heard Mccormack as a participant in some memorable duos and ensembles, so it’s nice to have this piece of work too. His solo music can evoke the piano pieces of Milhaud or Villa-lobos as much as any jazz influence, while his playing balances precision with warmth and inventiveness with restraint. Most notable, though, is his sense of interacting with, rather than simply performing on, his instrument. Fine stuff. (Ubuntu UBU0059) ★★★★★
Finally, an honourable mention for violinist/vocalist Dominic Ingham’s debut Role Models, on which his tight, attentive band plays a set of elegant originals that suffer somewhat from a rather wayward recording balance. The material is excellent, though, so perhaps treat this disc as an incentive to catch the band live. (Ingham Records INGHAM01) ★★★
Our new regular interview with today’s jazz greats This month: Kit Downes
As a composer, pianist, organist, bandleader and improviser with a varied gig diary and discography, Kit Downes is at ease both in the jazz world and many other musical environments. ‘I had a friend who joined the choir at Norwich Cathedral, so I did, too,’ he says of his early years, ‘which introduced me to the organ; people like Freddie Gavita and George Crowley were around also and they were into jazz so I got into that. Then all my friends at the Purcell School, such as Mica Levy, were into different things.’
Was the teaching environment equally encouraging? ‘It was very open-minded. Alison Cox, the composition teacher, encouraged us to make lots of different kinds of music and [percussionist and composer] Eugene Skeef, who was a visiting professor and is now a friend, introduced me to music from many times and places. Every move I’ve made since has been a combination of interest in the music and who was making it.’
So how does this work in practice? ‘Often, what I do comes out of fortuitous meetings at places like festivals, such as when I met the folk fiddle player Aidan O’rourke. You trust that you’ll connect both socially and on some musical middle ground that’s new for both of you yet somehow comfortable as well.’
It’s also unsurprising that he enjoys the variety that comes with this thinking: ‘People make music in so many different ways. For example, when we perform together as a band we then get to tour it for a couple of years, playing the same music, yet it’s allowed to be very different from night to night. It’s not like a commissioned project that may be performed twice. I’ve done things like that as well, when it’s all about realising the music during a moment in time. I actually enjoy both processes.’
And currently? ‘I’m enjoying a trio I have with Petter Eldh and James Maddren called Enemy; we’re recording for ECM. I wrote a load of music just to play with Petter, because I was fascinated by his rhythmic approach. Also, there’s a much-needed discussion going on about the roots of jazz, celebrating its origins as a black music, which is long overdue in our musical circles.’ Roger Thomas
‘I had a friend who joined the choir at Norwich Cathedral, so I did, too’