With their second collaborative album, singer and songwriter Ginger Bennett and pianist and composer Frances Knight have produced an album of seven songs that offer a wry and compassionate insight into the world we inhabit. These are well-crafted compositions and lyrics suffused with real insight, drawing on sources as varied as childhood memories, poetic contemplation and even current debates, such as on the legacy of colonialism. Chouette in French can of course be used to assert something is cool, but in this case the meaning is definitely denoting the owlish reflection and wisdom that comes from lived experience and which sets the tone for the album. In their endeavours Bennett and Frances are ably supported by Alex Keen (bass), Matthew Miles (sax, flute and bass clarinet) and Jonathan Ward (drums) with electric bassist Martin Elliott joining them on the track “Undoing”, a stand-out on the album. On different songs, the album also successfully melds in elements of latin rhythm, blues and soul as well as popular song into the jazz envelope.
The opener, “Mr Pink”, draws on Bennett’s early memories of the now-departed and much beloved Jamaican-born Mr Benton Pink, who decorated his Victorian home on Loampit Hill in Lewisham in bright colours. While upbeat on the surface, the lyrics do not shy from the darker side of Mr Pink’s experience of British immigration controls following a holiday in Jamaica, even using his own words. “They couldn’t touch you though they tried to bring you low. Made you feel dirty just for coming home.” Also on this track, Bennett’s warm velvety delivery is well augmented by Miles’s bass clarinet figures.
On the more observational “Daisy Dance”, a reflection on both ageing and living well, Knight’s tender piano playing is extremely evocative of an old dance hall filled with swaying figures, reinforced by Ward’s subtle drumming and brushwork. The repeating phrase in the song is creatively varied throughout and the classy lyrics remind you that life is both ‘short and long’ and enjoin you to ‘live free and live on’. The bluesy “Necklace of Raindrops” also provides an opportunity for the band to stretch out and show their chops, with Keen particularly excellent on the bass. The track “Undoing”, which is possibly the highlight of the album, is a reflection on how a symbol of colonialism contributes to the occupation of our minds with racist tropes. It shows Bennett’s voice at her best, powerful and controlled with an underlying fire and emotion. Again, there is some excellent solo work from Miles on bass clarinet and sax as well as authoritative body-moving drumming from Ward.
There is a very pleasing combination of humour, warmth and intelligence about CHOUETTE, with a coherence both in the musical tone of the album and in the hard-eyed wryness of the vision that is offered to the listener. This is also reflected in the lyrics, which always have something about them, some twist that separates them from everyday fare. So overall, “C’est chouette!”
BAND
Vocals : Ginger Bennett
Piano: Frances Knight
Sax Flute Bass Clarinet: Matthew Miles
Bass: Alex Keen
Drums: Jonathan Ward
Electric Bass on one track : Martin Elliott
