Here’s one of those warming surprises as the nights draw in: a beautifully measured quartet album that displays a wit and intelligence in its mission to experiment with polyphony while still making for a hugely listenable set. It is also very much a compact disc, coming in at an old-fashioned 43 minutes, an admirable economy in these overblown (and blowin’) times.
Alto saxophonist Mike Chillingworth describes the set’s genesis “during a multi-day bus tour with fifty teenagers. With only headphones and an iPad for company I began experimenting with polyrhythms…” Now, some might call that the most euphemistic coping mechanism known to jazz, but whatever the impetus, he’s come up with six compositions that satisfyingly deliver on his intention.
Opening with the title track, the polyrhythmic spree gets well under way, displaying elements of Evidence in Mike’s precision alto lines and Jon Scott’s effortlessly timed shots. Mike’s full range is laid out on the following Kilter Filter, and there’s a stately ballad section here where Ivo Neame’s incredibly fulsome piano explores every niche. The pace slows for one of the album’s standouts, Narwhal, where Mike’s alto tone is at its most plangent.I can’t recall if I felt Tom Farmer was channelling his best Charlie Haden before I checked the notes to find the track was inspired by Paul Motian, but his bass work here and in the next track Sink Or Swim‘s feature solo is exemplary. Driving this one to its coda is a delightful freewheeling theme gently underpinned by Ivo.
In Steve Swallow’s intricate Ladies In Mercedes, the coiled excitement completely fits the album’s purpose. I’m sure Steve (and Carla) would smile on this superb rendition with its joyful, rising finale. Mike nods generously to Mingus in the whirling, bluesy theme of Keep It Simple and its (anything but simple) tight ensemble work. The album closes, appropriately with his own Coach Trip Special, where skittering rhythmic figures and headlong semitonal shifts keep you on your toes. Again, the rhythm section is exemplary in keeping it together, while Mike’s blowing is a masterclass of graceful precision.
I started by invoking Evidence and inevitably, it and Monk are often recalled throughout, but that’s not a bad shadow to be under. Mike has made an album that could be demanding, though is anything but: the pleasure in the exciting compositions and their exhilirating delivery by four top players is welcome. I suggest you get on board this particular coach trip.
