The late and much lamented pianist Keith Tippett was a formidable improviser but, as his inclusion in Duncan Heining’s recent book indicates, he was also a significant British jazz composer. It is this side of his art that furnishes inspiration for the increasingly prolific Kevin Figes’ latest project, a Bristolian sextet with similar instrumentation to Tippett’s early small groups.
The three horn front line features Figes’ alto saxophone with Pete Judge on trumpet and Raph Clarkson on trombone, the all-important piano chair is filled by Jim Blomfield, and Riaan Vosloo on bass and the free-swinging drummer Tony Orrell complete the line-up. They have road-tested a collection of pieces by Tippett and some of his important associates for the last couple of years, and already released an EP with one tune each from Tippett and Figes’ one-time mentor Elton Dean. Now they bring us an hour’s worth of additional pieces by the pianist, Dean again, Hugh Hopper, and two of the the celebrated South Africans who Tippett loved to play with, Dudu Pukwana and Harry Miller, throwing in a raucously enjoyable treatment (sans lyrics) of the King Crimson tune, Catfood, which famously saw Tippett make his sole appearance on Top of the Pops.
The Tippett pieces are mainly from his earlier work, starting with Thoughts to Geoff, with its move from an almost jazz-rock feel into free playing and back again. The band immediately show how fully they enter the spirit of Tippett’s music, especially Blomfield whose piano playing is inspired throughout. Bass and drums switch fluidly between the tight groove of the tune and the free play that underpins mainly motivic solos from the horns. As with Dedicated to you but you weren’t listening, and Cider dance, Figes’ new arrangements sparkle. They allow the band to show clearly why Tippett’s work, with its ever-changing blends of jazz, blues, rock, UK and Irish folk, English choral music, and free playing, needs to stay in the jazz repertoire.
This can be immediately obvious. Pukwana’s Mra here is five minutes of concentrated joy. It can also unfold more slowly, as with the less often heard I wish there was a nowhere, the longest piece here, just as it was the centrepiece of the Keith Tippett group’s1970 I am here…. You are there. This is a 14 minute opus of shifting moods, the strutting opening yielding to mournful lyricism from Pete Judge and Blomfield, waxing bluesy, an intricately woven piano solo, and free-blowing over a more upbeat pulse at the close.
Like the other pieces, it is hard to credit that the composition is more than half a century old. But Tippett’s Dedicated to Mingus, opening with a fine bass intro from Vosloo, affords an interesting perspective on how jazz deals with tradition, continuity and renewal. Here we have a bunch of richly skilled 21st century players uncorking sounds first fermented in the 1970s, with the composer in this case leaning strongly toward Mingus at his most Ellingtonian. It’s a multi-layered musical palimpsest that works beautifully.
And so does the entire set, including the four brief solo and duo improvisations that appear between the prepared numbers to round out the evocation of Tippett’s always open approach. It’s a hugely enjoyable offering from a band that is surely festival-ready. There are plenty more Tippett pieces for them to explore, but I’d guess future work is likely to extend to new writing that honours the spirit that infuses this record. That, after all, is also how jazz players honour their inspiring forebears.
Jon Turney writes about jazz, and other things, from Bristol. / jonturney.wordpress.com
