Mark Lockheart

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‘Fellow Creatures’ – Jasper Høiby

FellowCreatures

THE EXPERIENCE is entrenched in mind and soul – those purely analogue days of poring over and falling in love with a new vinyl and its gatefold sleeve art, flipping the 12″ over at the exit groove so many times that one grew to anticipate every track, every bar, every instrumental entry. 

There’s something of that sentiment captured within double bassist, composer and bandleader Jasper Høiby’s new release, Fellow Creatures. Now a prominent personality and musical backbone of so many outstanding contemporary jazz line-ups – most notably as creator of enduringly successful trio Phronesis, but also a key player with names such as Marius Neset, Django Bates, Mark Guiliana and Kairos 4tet – the bassist sees these ten, eloquent tracks as a narrative in which the listener might connect with the music and its interpreters across the album’s near-full-hour entirety. In that context, he couldn’t have wished for a more empathetic personnel than Mark Lockheart (saxes), Laura Jurd (trumpet, flugel), Will Barry (piano) and Corrie Dick (drums).

Høiby explains that he has long wished to broaden his writing to a larger ensemble, including two melody instruments; and whilst his signature percussive/cantabile bass technique and Phronesis-based compositional identity are pleasingly evident here, he opens up a refreshingly bright, undulating vista which takes in graceful, Scandinavian folkiness, zesty post-bop jazz riffs and improvisational free-spiritedness… plus a dash of characteristic mischief. Canadian author Naomi Klein’s This Changes Everything is cited amongst the inspiration for the writing and track titles, highlighting the need to recognise and embrace the fragility of the earth and its natural resources; that, and also the importance of family and human accord.

Key to the album’s intent are Høiby’s memorable hooks which become enchantingly familiar – Folk Song‘s plaintive trumpet and piano tune in thirds which, traced with high, wiry arco bass harmonics, follows the otherwise spacial freedom of its beginnings; or the close trumpet and tenor sax ‘crashing wave’ phrases in title track Fellow Creatures, a number which excitedly ripples to the kind of unison piano-and-bass riffs that Phronesis fans will easily recognise. Laura Jurd’s increasing prominence on the UK jazz circuit (currently a BBC Radio 3 New Generation artist) includes left-field projects such as Blue-Eyed Hawk and, recently, Huw V Williams’ album Hon. Yet here, her particularly clear tones combine perfectly with those of distinguished saxophonist Mark Lockheart to create a rich frontline, as in urgent soundtrack for troubled times, World of Contradictions, and especially in Little Song for Mankind where their intertwining boisterousness (Jurd as high and hard-hitting as, say, Jon Faddis) is swelled by the remaining trio’s turbulent undercurrent.

Optimistic mariachi dance Song for the Bees finds the horn duo gyrating around Høiby’s unmistakably conversational bass ground (almost guaranteed to bring out the sun), whilst Tangible is reminiscent of Ivo Neame’s compositions for trio, Will Barry’s pianistic invention just as engaging. Quartet piece Collective Spaces (minus piano) feels intimately folky, akin to a journeying minstrel band, whereas the bassist’s groove which sets up Suddenly, Everyone inspires a ‘Phronesis big band’ episode which explodes to Corrie Dick’s skittering, crashing percussion and impressive tenor and trumpet improv. Lumbering, tricksy Before feels just on the edge of hysterics from duo Lockheart and Høiby; and closer Plastic Island perpetuates the band camaraderie as it stomps both gleefully and anarchically to a choppy bass-and-piano motif, swaggering tenor, growling trumpet and impertinent percussion – fabulous!

Høiby’s summing-up of this album is surely something to which most of us would aspire: “This music is an encouragement to the love between human beings and an acknowledgement of our belonging to nature, that I believe we all share as fellow creatures.” Indeed, this quintet’s joyous, life-enriching creativity provides us with a continuing hope.

Released on Edition Records on 15 July 2016, Fellow Creatures is available as CD or digital download from Bandcamp.

 

Jasper Høiby double bass, composer
Mark Lockheart saxophones
Laura Jurd trumpet, flugel
Will Barry piano
Corrie Dick drums

jasperhoiby.com

Edition Records – EDN1075 (2016)

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‘The Day I Had Everything’ – Malija

Malija

IT’S A FEELING that probably resonates with most of us; as kids, relishing those long, school summer holidays stretching out in front, safe in the knowledge that with each seemingly endless day came the freedom to explore and make new discoveries with friends.

Entitling this new album The Day I Had Everything, saxophonist Mark Lockheart expresses that same kind of excitement in a working environment with equally adroit colleagues, Jasper Høiby (double bass) and Liam Noble (piano). “The sheer excitement one has as a child getting up in the morning and not being able to decide what to do first” is Lockheart’s parallel to the process of pooling their own, original compositions and the pleasure of developing and recording them in the studio; and whilst their perhaps African-sounding trio name is nothing more than a connecting of forenames, it clearly reinforces their unalloyed musical cohesion and friendship (first collaborating on Mark Lockheart’s impressive 2009 album In Deep).

What becomes fascinating across these 56 minutes is that each of the three players’ contributions are often stamped with their recognisable, individual characters, whilst also possessing an openness and eclecticism which continually delights. Malija’s realm is far away from a standards trio, and the element of surprise remains strong throughout, as does the group’s flawless musicality and invention… frequently flecked with coltish exuberance and tangible mischievousness.

Enter at any point in this 11-track release and there is soon the realisation of both depth and warmth in the unfolding artistry. The eccentric folksiness of Lockheart’s opener, Squared, might easily have its roots in Dave Brubeck’s Unsquare Dance as his signature full tenor voice weaves around jaunty piano and bass grooving, plus an ever-present tinge of the unexpected; and intricately-constructed Mr Wrack (after Noble’s technical drawing teacher) anarchically bursts into a Beach Boys-style piano riff, increasingly swelled by the Ligeti Quartet’s chattering grandeur and Lockheart’s wonderfully disorderly screeching. Jasper Høiby’s occasionally-tripped-up walking-5/4 Unknown is quietly cheerful, with a cross-pollination of phrases and subtle horn / bass clarinet layering underpinning flighty soprano sax, whilst The Pianist shunts and grunges to Noble’s bass fifths and bluesy ornamentation in tandem with brash, almost cackling tenor (and so deeply satisfying!).

Høiby’s bass harmonics (redolent of his Phronesis) and the added complexity of modal, out-of-body riffs from Noble and Lockheart’s soprano tee-up the pianist’s Wheels, happily jarring the senses before finding a more freewheeling clear road ahead; and the bassist’s shadowy title track Malija (with such a memorable, searching melody) seems to reference his work with Kairos 4tet – an exquisite, richly-tenored wellspring of beauty. Almost a Tango is typically Mark Lockheart, full of shifting dance rhythms, textures and moods (not unlike the writing on his acclaimed release Ellington in Anticipation), all three players seeming to wallow in its quirky splendour.

An echoic, slowly-oscillating piano-and-bass motif in Liam Noble’s miniature, Blues, melds superbly with breathy tenor (Polar Bear minus electronics?); then the saxophonist’s charming, breezy One For Us emerges like a beloved classic at the end of a set, and could easily invite a delicate vocal from Cleo Laine or Norma Winstone. Wayne’s World – Høiby’s tribute to Wayne Shorter, with his sinewy bass encircling the whole piece – gives free rein to Noble and Lockheart to improvise more abstractedly and, in the detail, still more deliciously, Then, closing anthemically yet mysteriously, and integrating the Ligeti’s strings, Mark Lockheart’s With One Voice feels imbued with the spirits of both Michael Tippett and Joe Zawinul, its poignancy filled once again with the tenorist’s unmistakable, luxurious tones.

Listening now, and in musical and emotional terms… this feels like I have everything.

Released on 27 November 2015 – available as CD, download and 12″ vinyl at Edition Records’ Bandcamp store.

 

Mark Lockheart saxophones, bass clarinet
Jasper Høiby double bass
Liam Noble piano
with
Ligeti Quartet (on Mr Wrack and With One Voice)

Edition Records – EDN1064 (2015)

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‘Westerly’ – The Printmakers

Printmakers

OHHHHH… and ohhhhh again…… to an exemplary and eagerly anticipated debut release from six leading lights of British contemporary jazz, collectively known here as The Printmakers.

Imagine the perfect vocal/instrumental sextet, and it might easily comprise Nikki Iles (piano), Norma Winstone (vocals), Mike Walker (electric guitar), Mark Lockheart (saxes), Steve Watts (double bass) and James Maddren (drums). Indeed, with a band name explained as a metaphor for the subtle variances in handmade printmaking, the combined artistry revealed in new album Westerly is as satisfying – in light, shade and hue – as any wander through a gallery of fine impressionism. Recorded amidst the painterly charm of the English Lake District, the compositional palette is beautifully balanced, and includes a trio of numbers by leader Nikki Iles with Norma Winstone as lyricist (a remarkable partnership).

The expansive ten-track sequence opens with a bubbling vocal interpretation of Ralph Towner’s A Breath Away, brought to life through Winstone’s authoritative storytelling – and immediately from this personnel there’s a sense of technical ‘safe hands’ and impassioned musicality. The lovelorn vocal of Under the Canopy (an Iles/Winstone original) delicately sambas to Mark Lockheart’s deeply-coloured bass clarinet and Nikki Iles’ trademark crystalline piano – a reminder of their rich contribution to Kenny Wheeler’s Mirrors; and Paul Simon’s jaunty I Do It For Your Love is whisked away into the most sumptuous of slow ballads, Norma Winstone bringing so much weight to Simon’s poetry (and here, as throughout the album, it’s the exquisite detailing which pleases – Lockheart’s subtle, characterful tenor and then Mike Walker’s illustrative guitar glissando on “the colours ran, the orange bled the blue”).

Impish improvisational colourwash precedes an airy rendition of John Taylor’s ‘O’ – strutting to dazzling, shared vocal and sax lines plus Lockheart’s own wonderfully demonstrative soprano creativity, its sunshiny and exploratory demeanour is irresistible. Nikki Iles’ Westerly is curiously imagined in Norma Winstone’s cryptically dark cowboy lyrics, evocatively portrayed through Iles’ accordion, Mike Walker’s pitch-bent guitar and bassist Steve Swallow’s campfire banjo tailpiece; and Winstone’s effortless vocal delivery confirms why she is one of British jazz’s national treasures. The same compositional duo produce lilting, Jobimesque Tideway, its brooding coastal atmospheres conveyed by woodwind breaths and guitar gull cries – at eight minutes, its easy to luxuriate in the broad guitar and tenor extemporisations and Winstone’s gliding lyricism.

The gems in this 68-minute treasure trove keep on turning up, Ralph Towner’s animated The Glide (as heard on Nikki Iles’ trio album, Hush) dancing to Winstone’s impressive high scat and Iles’ signature piano luminosity; and the obsessional story of Joni Mitchell’s Two Grey Rooms is quietly touching, the band supporting and enhancing its resigned lyric. In direct contrast, the Celtic feel of Nikki Iles’ High Lands tumbles and reels to wordless vocal and soprano sax, as well as soaring, rocky guitar from Walker and James Maddren’s pin-sharp flamboyance at the kit. To close, Steve Swallow’s countryfied The City of Dallas finds Winstone teasingly delivering the writer’s delightfully droll lines (“I hope the evening paper’s got a lot of good stuff-in-it… stuff-in-it”!) amongst a consummate-as-ever instrumental performance led by Mike Walker’s woozy guitar.

This, unquestionably, is chamber jazz whose elegance has to be heard to be believed, such is the shared empathy and depth of musical experience on show, all realised in a musical landscape that feels as magical as it is peerless.

Released on 11 May 2015, on Basho Records, Westerly is available from Jazz CDs and all good jazz retailers.

 

Norma Winstone voice
Nikki Iles piano, accordion
Mark Lockheart tenor sax, soprano sax, bass clarinet
Mike Walker guitar
Steve Watts bass, banjo
James Maddren drums, percussion

nikkiiles.co.uk

Basho Records – SRCD 46-2 (2015)

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‘Slowly Rolling Camera’ – Slowly Rolling Camera

SRC

IF YOU’RE SEARCHING for a pigeonhole in which to drop this eponymous debut release by new UK band Slowly Rolling Camera… well, you may struggle. Because, with a stirringly congruous mix of soul, electronica, trip hop, jazz, rock and soundtrack, Dave Stapleton and his associates have conceived a mesmerising yet cohesive soundscape which almost warrants a genre of its own.

There are obvious comparisons with the music of The Cinematic Orchestra and Portishead – but, somehow, this leaps beyond, into another vista. The core quartet comprises Stapleton himself as composer and keyboardist; vocalist and lyricist Dionne Bennett; Deri Roberts (producer, sound design and electronics); and drummer Elliot Bennett. But, in addition, from Stapleton’s Edition Records label, he employs the considerable skills of some of British jazz’s finest – bassist Jasper Høiby, Mark Lockheart on saxes, guitarist Chris Montague, and Neil Yates on trumpet, as well as synth player Matt Robertson – plus, important to the overall ‘widescreen’ sound, a splendid string octet. And, for the majority of the eleven numbers (with two bonus tracks), it is the commanding and enigmatic presence of Dionne Bennett, with her rich, dusky and soulful vocals, that ignites the project’s incandescent blaze.

The overriding groove of the whole album is one of smouldering intensity, as portrayed by opening track Protagonist which is propelled by the complex drum patterns of Elliot Bennett and coloured with Stapleton’s Zero7-type Fender Rhodes and organ. The unmistakably animated input of guitarist Chris Montague and alto sax player Mark Lockheart add weight to the layered vocals (“you give me the air I want to need to breathe”), all expertly sound-designed by Deri Roberts. From Jasper Høiby’s pliant opening bass riff, Dream a Life inhabits the world of movie soundtrack, with serene-but-edgy strings backing Dionne Bennett’s echoey, impassioned voice; and Rain That Falls conjures ‘007’ opening titles, lead vocal supported by the watery electric piano and high unison violins so evocative of that motion picture realm, Mark Lockheart displaying his customary, improvisatory sax eloquence. Bridge is redolent of Stapleton’s successful ‘Flight’ album, his Gorecki/Pärt-sounding strings laying the foundation for Dionne Bennett’s emotional words, beautifully enhanced by Neil Yates’ heartfelt, breathy, flugel-like trumpet, before dramatically bursting into fully-fledged majesty, drums underpinning with solid, shimmering brilliance.

Fragile Ground is particularly strong, both in terms of writing and production. Its ominous beginnings give way to powerful multi-tracked vocals matched by intense strings and drums (Elliot Bennett brings great intricacy as well as weight to his percussion) and clanging, sustained guitar chords provide that ‘TV thriller’ feel. Stapleton clearly relishes the real Rhodes sound (no samples here), his strongly-tremulant no-thirds chords a key feature of heavy-beat Two Roads; and the subtle momentum of segue River Runs Free flows beautifully into Rolling Clouds, an electronically-infused 11/8 instrumental featuring Montague’s sparky guitar lead and Lockheart’s sprightly soprano sax. But for a couple of bonus tracks included on the digital download, Color completes the album with Dionne Bennett’s floaty voice above swirling strings, backing vocals and electro-wizardry.

Experiencing one of the band’s early live performances, in London, I confirm that Slowly Rolling Camera create a soundworld which, if not unique, is pretty much unlike anything in our current sphere. The combination of smoky-soul vocals and cross-genre compositions – recorded and mixed by the highly regarded Andy Allan with Deri Roberts – is already creating quite a stir (with album two in development).

Available from Edition Records’ Bandcamp store, as well as iTunes and usual outlets (listen at SoundCloud).


Dionne Bennett lyricist, vocals
Dave Stapleton composer, Fender Rhodes, piano, Hammond organ
Deri Roberts producer, sound design, electronics, trombone, additional saxophone
Elliot Bennett drums
with
Jasper Høiby double bass
Chris Montague guitar
Mark Lockheart tenor and soprano saxophones
Neil Yates trumpet
Matt Robertson synths

Strings:
Jon Visanji violin
Catrin Win Morgan violin
Victoria Stapleton violin
Katy Rowe violin
Ilona Bondar viola
Rebekah Frost viola
Alice Hoskins cello
Sarah Stevens cello

Edition Records – EDN1048 (2014)

editionrecords.com

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‘Drawing Breath’ – Blue Touch Paper

DrawingBreath

SUCH IS THE POWER and creative breadth of this second release by Colin Towns’ six-piece, Blue Touch Paper, this may indeed be a case of needing to draw breath! The composer and pianist/keyboardist is hugely respected in both jazz and rock worlds – and, with a career that includes a prolific contribution to TV, film and theatre, the writing here reflects that rich eclecticism.

For this exciting project, Towns employs a remarkable, fearless band to achieve the challenging diversity of his mind’s eye – Mark Lockheart (saxes), Chris Montague (guitars), Edward Maclean (bass), Benny Greb (drums) and Stephan Haass (percussion and electronics). Unsurprisingly, there is a strong sense of dramatic soundtrack within these twelve originals; and the field of play is so vast that I also hear jazz/rock textures suggesting the likes of Weather Report, Brand X, Colosseum II, King Crimson, Nik Bärtsch, maybe some semblance of ’70s heavy prog., and perhaps even Zappa. Yet there is a magic in the way these threads are expertly woven together to create something new, whilst also allowing freedom of expression and improvisation (something which Lockheart and Montague grasp with both hands in their typically matchless soloing).

Fuse lit, the percussively-activated ‘Attention Seeker’ opens the album brightly (Stephan Maass a key colorist in the band), Mark Lockheart’s instantly-recognisable and spirited tenor technique coupling with Chris Montague’s edgy guitar. From its mysterious keyboard opening, the theme-tune-like ‘Isadora’ gathers pace into a samba frenzy before relaxing into raunchy anarchy, Lockheart’s gritty tenor encouraging ‘the boys’ to vocalise along. The distant, floaty piano and plaintive sax of ‘Heaven’ offer a brief interlude, and then… ‘Suddenly a Tango’ lives up to its name, Colin Towns’ energetic marimba/brass keyboards and piano, along with bass and percussion, providing the perfect foundation for Montague’s distinctive experimentation. A smouldering, Spanish-implied ‘Juggling with Strangers’ takes us back to film or TV score territory. Lockheart sounds remarkably Shorter-esque on soprano, Maclean’s supple five-string bass is delightful against complex clapping rhythms and sympathetic percussion, and Towns on piano feels the hypnotic vibe.

Theatrical and mocking, with braying keyboards and sax, ‘The Joke’ might be the stuff of nightmares… except that it’s actually a tour de force, with a terrific, rocky climax. Through the ‘fog and filthy air’, ‘Fair is foul’ portrays Macbeth’s macabre coven via soprano sax, tolling bell, chants, ‘fx’ and dramatic quotations (Towns is a master of such imagery). Continuing this tangle with darkness is the thrilling, urgent ‘Watch Out’… but keep running and don’t look back! Lockheart’s disembodied tenor on title track ‘Drawing Breath’, against searing keyboard strings, rumbling bass and wailing vocal, has me reaching for the light switch – but not before I can enjoy Chris Montague’s resonant, stressed, sitar-style lead guitar over the thunderous drums and percussion of Greb and Maass.

Echoic nightscape ‘Neon Shadows’ again has the imagination running wild, catchy bass groove underpinning soprano sax as well as the scratches and scrawls of guitar and electronics; and ‘Yes But Now’ quickens the pace – a great platform for the whole band involving Montague’s trademark Fender pyrotechnics and crazed bluesy piano from Towns. With credits rolling, the cryptically-named ’48 Prefabs and Forks No.60′ appears to calmly draw down the curtain on a rollercoaster ride of emotion and adventure. As Colin Towns says, he doesn’t subscribe to any kind of rule book – “music either moves you, and your heartbeat goes, or it’s nothing at all”.

‘Drawing Breath’ is released on 14 October 2013, touring in February 2014 (10-minute promo video here).

 

BLUE TOUCH PAPER bluetouchpaper.com
Colin Towns keyboards  colintowns.com
Mark Lockheart tenor and soprano saxophones  marklockheart.co.uk
Chris Montague guitars  chrismontaguemusic.com
Edward Maclean bass  edwardmaclean.de
Benny Greb drums  bennygreb.de
Stephan Maass percussion and electronics  myspace.com/stephanmaass

TOUR
24 February 2014 The Vortex, London
25 February 2014 Turner Sims, Southampton
27 February 2014 The Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal
28 February 201 Band on the Wall, Manchester
1 March 2014 The Capstone Theatre, Liverpool

Provocateur Records – PVC1043 (2013)  provocateurrecords.co.uk

 

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‘Ellington in Anticipation’ – Mark Lockheart

Image

EVERY NOW AND THEN, an album comes along which blows my jazz socks off – one of those I can’t help but play on loop and identify as being present in my ‘best of the year’ summations. It immediately demands my attention, sends me into rapture, produces involuntary smiles and requires me to tell the world about it! My most recent experience of this has to be Mark Lockheart’s ‘Ellington in Anticipation’.

Released earlier this year (2013), the project was initially conceived for Trinity Laban Conservatoire students. Inspired by Lockheart’s love of Ellington’s music (introduced to him by his father), it draws together pieces by or associated with ‘the Duke’ (including those of Billy Strayhorn and Victor Herbert) and intersperses them with a number of his own superb compositions. Knowing these jazz standards so well, Mark Lockheart clearly has the authority to (respectfully) deconstruct and reconstruct them into the most fascinating reinterpretations.

Lockheart’s credentials as saxophonist and writer need little introduction: Loose Tubes, Perfect Houseplants, Polar Bear and his own excellent albums such as ‘In Deep’ and (with NDR Big Band) ‘Days Like These’. Numerous recent ventures include Kenny Wheeler’s fine ‘Mirrors’ album, Colin Towns’ crossover band ‘Blue Touch Paper’ and Dave Stapleton’s new ‘Slowly Rolling Camera’ project. The remarkable, full-sounding septet able to realise the creative nature of this recording, with Lockheart on tenor, comprises Finn Peters (alto sax and flute), James Allsopp (clarinet and bass clarinet), Emma Smith (violin), Liam Noble (piano), Tom Herbert (bass) and Seb Rochford (drums).

So what is it that pushes this album onto a significantly higher plane? Well, put simply: great musicianship, reinvention, diversity, beauty, humour and the courage to push the limits in order to deliver something new and exciting. Far from being straightahead jazz, every one of these eleven gems is crafted and improvised in extraordinary detail by Lockheart and his musicians.

For example, the familiar swing of Ellington’s It Don’t Mean a Thing is deliciously transformed in triple time, whilst Come Sunday lays back perhaps even further than the sacred intent of the original, though also introducing a contemporarily-scored, slightly uneasy episode to great effect. Mark Lockheart’s composition My Caravan takes on the modal vamp concept of the popular original (‘Caravan’), allowing all players their improvisatory freedom, and only quoting Ellington’s distinctive melody towards the close. Jungle Lady is another piece of Lockheart brilliance, cleverly referencing Satin Doll. Defined by Seb Rochford’s percussion, the beautiful tone of Emma Smith’s violin and the richness of Allsopp’s bass clarinet, it displays some pretty tight ensemble scoring… including glorious elephantine calls!

A clever combination of Liam Noble’s piano with drums and reeds provide particularly vivid, fast-moving imagery in Lockheart’s interpretation of Billy Strayhorn’s classic Take the A Train (often incorrectly attributed to Ellington, being his ‘signature tune’). It’s an utter joy – and great fun – to hear snippets of the melody coming and going, as if trying to find a clear view beyond the motion blurring – and the reshaped riff is a lovely, quirky twist! Lockheart’s tenor journeys in and out of destinations, Allsopp detouring with mischievous bass clarinet, before finally easing to a halt.

And so the album continues, the playful violin of Azure and blithe modern rhythms of Mood Indigo never failing to charm. Lockheart provides two more sublime originals – a pensive Beautiful Man and the Roaring ’20s ‘flapping’ of Uptown with appropriate, elegant fiddle lead. Victor Herbert’s limpid Indian Summer closes – the held-back, teardrop piano of Noble so entrancing.

The language of jazz is constantly being reinvented and developed, thanks to the consummate skill of artists such as Mark Lockheart and his colleagues – which means that the best of its historical legacy is capable of being preserved, yet sensitively reimagined for the present age, as well as providing inspiration for new works. Here, Lockheart eloquently and spectacularly displays that achievement in an album I will return to again and again.


Mark Lockheart tenor sax
Finn Peters alto sax and flute
James Allsopp clarinets
Emma Smith violin
Liam Noble piano
Tom Herbert bass
Seb Rochford drums

marklockheart.co.uk

Subtone Records – ST802 (2012)