UK Jazz News

Kevin Figes – new album ‘Wallpaper Music II’

Release date: 23 February + touring

Wallpaper Music: L-R: Brigitte Beraha, Mark Whitlam, Kevin Figes, Ashley John Long, Jim Blomfield Photo credit: Francesca Way

Bristol-based composer and saxophonist Kevin Figes has drawn on a wide range of musical inspirations and enthusiasms for his latest album, “Wallpaper Music II”…

If jazz is a music that continually renews itself, where that renewal comes from is an interesting question. The Bristol-based composer and saxophonist Kevin Figes, whose excellent new album ‘Wallpaper Music II’ (following, that’s right, 2021’s predecessor, ‘Wallpaper Music’) takes very contemporary-sounding inspiration from the neglected experimental art-rock and prog of the 1970s.

“The first Wallpaper Music album was heavily influenced by Henry Cow, together with contemporary classical music, and chance, and involved some long freely improvised pieces”, says Figes. “The new album has much shorter pieces and explores song-form, folk, and film music much more. Influences include Robert Wyatt, Kevin Ayers, Art Bears (a Henry Cow offshoot), and Italian horror soundtracks.”

Far from pastiche, the results sound almost indecently modern, perhaps because the influences – themselves heavily affected by the jazz avant-garde – have never really been assimilated, or even given much attention outside their context of ‘rock’, which in 1970 was a very unstable category. Seamlessly integrated into Figes’ music and lyrics, you can find marvellous echoes of Robert Wyatt’s sing-song intonation, say, in Brigitte Beraha’s distinctive vocals, and even the squelchy keyboard sounds of Soft Machine’s Mike Ratledge, played by the astonishingly gifted Jim Blomfield. He, along with Ashley John Long on bass, and Mark Whitlam on drums, are regulars in the closely-connected Bristol scene, and reprise their roles from the previous album, as does vocalist Beraha. Recorded at the iconic Rockfield Studios, home to Black Sabbath and Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, ‘Wallpaper Music II’ sounds superb. 

The album’s sources also have a particular personal relevance for Figes. At the beginning of his jazz career he studied with the legendary alto player Elton Dean, who had done time in the second incarnation of Soft Machine. Dean (whose first name was appropriated by Reg Dwight aka Elton John) was also an important associate of the genius-pianist, bandleader and composer/improviser Keith Tippett, with whom Figes played in a number of projects right up to Tippett’s death in 2020. Tippett, a native Bristolian who became a powerhouse of the London jazz and experimental scene, also had his prog-credentials, working with the very popular King Crimson, whose Robert Fripp asked him to become a full-time member (Tippett said no, preferring hard-won independence). Tippett also formed the 50-piece orchestra Centipede, which broke the boundaries between jazz, rock and classical music.

“As a kid I loved all kinds of pop and rock music, as it used to be called”, Figes says of his attraction to the new album’s inspirations. “I first heard the Soft Machine on the radio and was fascinated by it. Listening further and buying albums I started to be interested in the saxophone on the recordings. This led me into jazz, and I then consumed just about any modern jazz album I could lay my hands on. While I was living in London I began saxophone lessons with Elton, which was a bit of a dream come true. So my musical life became inextricably woven with all the scenes mentioned above.”

Figes’ homage to his influences is also evident in the concurrent release of a vinyl EP, which couples Elton Dean’s composition ’Seven For Lee’ with Keith Tippett’s ‘Green and Orange Night Park’. Recorded with a different Bristol-based band, including brass, it’s thrillingly full-throated jazz showcasing Figes on alto and soprano saxes.

The attraction to what is often called the Canterbury scene, of Soft Machine and the solo projects of ex-members Robert Wyatt and Kevin Ayers, plus others, isn’t something Figes obsesses about. “I just had to look it up!”, he says. “And a rough definition seems to be an improvisational style that blends jazz, rock and psychedelia. Very English, with playful and fantastical lyrics. What’s not to like?”

The lyrics are another very striking feature of the new album, adding a layer of extra complexity to the musical text. “I really enjoy writing for a vocalist!”, says Figes, whose own voice is also heard on the recording. “The timbre of the voice is unmistakable and can be blended with woodwind and so many other things. But when you add words then it becomes something else and a whole different world opens up. What do you, as a writer of lyrics, want to say? What’s your message?  Or is it more of an atmosphere? This is what I find fascinating: the feeling of the lyrics completely merged with the music.”

In a very fitting prog touch, Figes’ song lyrics are printed on the inside of the album’s gatefold sleeve. “‘Wallpaper Music II’ feels like a very natural development from the previous album”, Figes continues. “The writing process was exciting, trying out new things, and the band did an amazing job turning these ideas into music.”

Kevin Figes‘s album Wallpaper Music II is released on Pig Records (PIG15) on 23 February, in association with ECN Music.

LIVE DATES:

25 February – Bristol, St Georges (album launch)
25 March – Bath, The Bell
4 May – Ambleside, Zeffirelli’s

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