REVIEW: ‘Soldiering On’ – The Dissolute Society

HATS OFF (bowler style, if you like) to trombonist Raph Clarkson and his eight-piece ensemble of musical mavericks in the creation of Soldiering On – a kaleidoscopic and often avant garde debut release from The Dissolute Society, with guests including Huw Warren (piano, accordion) and Mia Marlen Berg (vocals, effects).

Read my full review at LondonJazz News…

Released on 11 May 2018 and available as CD or digital download from Bandcamp.

 

Fini Bearman vocals
Raph Clarkson trombone, vocals
Laura Jurd trumpet
Naomi Burrell violin
Zosia Jagodzinska cello
Gustav Clarkson viola
Phil Merriman keys, synth bass
Simon Roth drums
with special guests
Huw Warren piano, accordion
Mia Marlen Berg vocals, FX
Joshua Idehen vocals
Mike Soper trumpet

thedissolutesociety.com

Babel Label – BDV16145 (2018)

 

 

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‘Punch’ – Elliot Galvin Trio

Punch

SO WHAT was your early-childhood response to traditional seaside Punch & Judy entertainment – raucous laughter or quaking terror?!

Elliot Galvin’s wonderfully divergent trio release of 2014 – Dreamland, with bassist Tom McCredie and drummer Simon Roth – identified the creative ingenuity of this pianist, multi-instrumentalist and composer, reinventing the notion of that most classic of jazz formats (toy piano and all) in a spirit reminiscent of the great Django Bates or Frank Zappa. No-less-mischievous follow-up album Punch (recorded at the Funkhaus, Berlin) again combines indubitable, slick musicality with an entertaining, edgy unpredictability; the startling title track Punch and Judy, in particular, reflecting those questionable, garish, Victorian puppet show characters delivering wry humour, domestic violence and capital punishment.

Hurdy-Gurdy‘s writhing, looping piano increasingly gathers pace, not unlike the rotary mechanics of the ‘ancient synth’ to which its title refers, until McCredie’s and Roth’s sparky rhythms eventually encourage Galvin into a more level-headed, if entrancingly angular, accordion passage; and evocative, kalimba-toned Tipu’s Tiger creeps both cautiously and beautifully, adorned by waltzing double bass phrases and delicate glockenspiel (Galvin’s compositional and spacial awareness always spot on). Recognisably broken, distorted Stylophone and dual/detuned melodicas bring more than a touch of self-satisfied Mr Punch anarchy to Blop (the video reveals all), whilst Lions – with pizzicato prepared piano (ie duct tape!) – is arguably the most outrageously slapstick episode of these ten tracks, yet so compelling.

Beethoven, Bach and e.s.t. affectingly rub shoulders in the brooding darkness of 1666 (London’s year of war, plague and the Great Fire) as Galvin’s funereal, chordal piano agonisingly treads to slowly-thrummed bass momentum and jangling percussion; and audaciously deconstructed Mack the Knife lurches almost unrecognisably, though magnificently… until a piano-and-glockenspiel musical box finally states its melody with reassuring clarity. Jaunty Polari recalls the heyday of mid-’60s pop, its straight-ahead catchiness suggesting Alan Price or Georgie Fame, with the trio at least as ebullient; and simply-whistled closer Cosy can’t help but erupt with Lady Madonna-styled piano bass riff, jarring chords and rhythmic fizz.

Even if you have a tendency towards pupophobia… please, don’t have nightmares. It’s all good, clean fun – and another triumph of contemporary jazz invention. That’s the way to do it!

Released on 26 July 2016, on the Edition Records label, Punch is available as CD or digital download at Bandcamp.

 

Elliot Galvin piano, kalimba, melodicas, accordion, cassette player, Stylophone
Tom McCredie double bass
Simon Roth drums, percussion, glockenspiel

elliotgalvin.com

Edition Records – EDN1076 (2016)

‘Good is Good’ – Vula Viel

VulaViel

MELDING Ghanaian rhythm, minimalist repetition and improvisatory jazz pizazz, percussionist Bex Burch unveils a debut album which glints with hypnotic majesty, all based around first-hand experience of living and making music with the Dagaare tribe of West Africa.

Burch’s CV is fascinating. A childhood passion for percussion, and her classical studies at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, led to a series of chance encounters which resulted in a gap year travelling around Ghana’s ten regions, learning about and immersing herself in the musical culture of its people. It was there that she was introduced to master xylophonist Thomas Segkura, who invited her to be his apprentice. Across three years, she would buy and farm land, build a house – and, significantly, develop both the craftsmanship and the musicianship to create and master traditional instrument, the Gyil. On completion of her apprenticeship, she was given the name Vula Viel (which translates as ‘Good is Good’), and rewarded with the beautiful words, “All we have given you is yours, and all you have given us is ours. The good you do remains when you die.”

Returning to the UK, Burch decided to develop the richness of the Gyil music she had come to be a part of by forming a band – appropriately named Vula Viel – with some of London’s most progressive jazz and improvisational musicians; the beat-driven line-up consisting of saxophonist George Crowley, keyboardist Dan Nicholls, drummers Dave de Rose and Simon Roth, plus vibraphonist Stephen Burke (and Jim Hart guesting). Under Bex Burch’s direction, her colleagues rehearsed/gigged hard to understand the rhythms and melodies of the Dagaare tradition, respectfully reinterpreting them into this exciting, contemporary, groove-laden experience.

The successful cross-pollination of cultural creativity and instrumentation is what immediately grabs the attention – Nicholls’ electronic atmospheres and Crowley’s jazz-sax sensibility fusing organically with infectious world rhythms which glow to the leader’s bright, xylophonic timbres. Burch studied Steve Reich, and that mesmeric influence (also suggesting Terry Riley, Pierre Moerlen and even Ibiza-like sundown moods amongst its earthy, rustic charm) can clearly be identified in tracks such as Gandayina and Bewa which, with superbly echoic textures of Rhodes and synth, also become redolent of Soft Machine’s Six period. The dance element is key, as Zine Dondone Zine Daa rasps to the physicality of the Gyil, enhanced by sympathetic vibes and electronics (often the lines of definition are wonderfully blurred!) – and resounding to Crowley’s characteristically unfettered tenor, it all builds into magnificent, saturated, Nik Bärtsch-style complexity. There are moments of becalming beauty, too, across these seven tracks, often moving from watery, South African-tinted sunshine to Gamelanese delicacy – all displaying a constantly shifting undercurrent of invention.

Vula Viel’s appearance at this year’s Ronnie Scott’s London Jazz Festival launch confirmed an enthusiastic response to their fizzing, live presence; and this studio account, listening closely to exquisite detail, provides its own thrill. It would seem that there are areas of this vast, African-inspired canvas yet to be coloured – and with such an intuitive personnel, that’s something to very much look forward to.

Released on 23 October 2015, Good is Good can be heard at and purchased from Bandcamp.

 

Bex Burch Gyil
George Crowley sax
Dan Nicholls bass synth, keyboards
Dave De Rose drums
Simon Roth drums
Stephen Burke vibes
with
Jim Hart vibes (on Bewa)

vulaviel.com

Vula Viel Records – VVCD001 (2015)

‘Lifecycles’ – Engines Orchestra + Phil Meadows Group

Lifecycles2

LAST SUMMER, saxophonist and composer Phil Meadows released his quintet album, Engines of Creation – a remarkably accomplished debut from a musician whose ambition and drive are clearly on course to earn him a place in the upper echelons of the London jazz scene. Confirmation of his achievements to date (including continued involvement with NYJO), as well as recognising his potential for future success, have come via two accolades: Parliamentary Jazz Newcomer of the Year and the Peter Whittingham Jazz Award.

Phil Meadows’ larger scale project, Engines Orchestra, is an ambitious group of twenty young London-based orchestral musicians who, directed by Matt Roberts, collectively seek to challenge conventions through stimulating, cross-genre, written and improvised music. For this debut recording, Meadows has created his colourful and unpredictable Lifecycles suite which melds the diverse textures and dynamics of both orchestral and quintet sound worlds, pressing into action again his Group colleagues – all rising stars in their own right – Laura Jurd (trumpet), Elliot Galvin (piano), Conor Chaplin (basses) and Simon Roth (drums), plus adroit vocalist/violinist Alice Zawadzki.

The fusion of jazz soloists/bands with orchestra is, of course, nothing new – one only has to look at the seminal late-’50s/early-’60s projects of Miles Davis and Gil Evans, right up to Trish Clowes’ exciting new release Pocket Compass. Such a concept has never been without its critics as, in unaccomplished hands, it can become a laboured, incongruous, cold exercise – but, thankfully, recent collaborations have proved to be both sophisticated and organic, highlighting that there is still much to be discovered and achieved by breaking down perceived barriers. “Lifecycles“, the composer describes, “explores a series of situations that we all experience. The people we meet, love and lose shape our emotional responses” – and the result becomes increasingly captivating.

Missing Days, which opens the ten-track sequence, bustles to the brilliance of the orchestral scoring (a motivating woodwind ostinato here, a brassy stab cluster there, and tight, chattering strings and percussion). Combined with the characteristic fervour of Alice Zawadzki’s vocal delivery – “Sunrise breaks in the morning, people sleep through it all, missing out on the beauty of the time daybreak falls” – and the inspired placing of Tori Handsley’s harp, the piece takes on something of a ‘swinging Sixties London’ busyness; Meadows in no way takes centre stage, preferring to judiciously infuse the arrangement with lyrical alto until it all degenerates into cacophonous disorder. Lifecycles displays a broad, cinematic approach with a memorable brass-bold theme which evokes the pomp of Buddy Rich’s spectaculars, and improvisational meanderings add to the sense of the unexpected, as does the quirky, inventive openness of miniature The Spark. The written and the improvised are strikingly cross-pollenated in Intoxicated Delirium, an exciting showcase of near-perfect orchestral and band fusion, the brash energy reflecting its title – get it on repeat play!

Hallucinogenic Euphoria hints at the prog world of Pink Floyd, the Indian inflections of Elliot Galvin’s piano strings, as well as orchestral strings, mingling superbly with Meadows’ echoic soprano; and the abstract beauty of Prelude easily suggests Bartok and John Tavener. Balmlike harp over desolate, searing, portamento strings in Remembrance seem to speak (in this First World War centenary year) of tentative, rising hope, the development becoming impressively filmic with the addition of Zawadzki’s hard, soulful vocals.

Celebration effervesces in its scored/extemporised balance, Galvin’s unabashed piano bravura all part of the joy; and Laura Jurd’s bluesy trumpet prompts a four-square rockiness from the entire assembly which is irresistible and full of character. Jarring interlude Strife of Life explodes and then relaxes to Jurd’s lead before Twice The Man closes the suite – at almost nine minutes, it’s an impassioned, anthemic piece of writing which erupts into a huge Latinesque party, Meadows’ swirling soprano and Zawadzki’s pliant voice playing host to this unrestrained magnificence!

Keep a keen eye on Engines Orchestra’s progress – a great initiative which is set to include workshops, ensemble performance platforms and artist development programmes, all with the aim of engaging communities of young musicians. And congratulations to Phil Meadows for his vision – a refreshingly different musical approach. Finally, a nod to Oli Bentley (split.co.uk) for the orchestra’s beautifully minimal ‘pulley’ branding, as well as the album’s neatly considered sleeve design.

Launching at Kings Place, London, on 22 November 2014 (as part of the EFG London Jazz Festival), and with a general release date of 24 November, Lifecycles is available from the Engines Orchestra’s Bandcamp page.

 

PHIL MEADOWS GROUP
Phil Meadows composer, saxophones
Laura Jurd trumpet
Elliot Galvin piano
Conor Chaplin double bass, electric bass
Simon Roth drums, percussion

 

eo_60

ENGINES ORCHESTRA
Matt Roberts conductor
James Davison trumpet
Eddie Morgan French horn
James Buckle bass trombone
Jennah Smart flutes
Rob Cope clarinet, flute
Gennie Joy bass clarinet, clarinet
Tori Handsley harp
Emily Davis 1st violin (principal)
Tom Aldren 1st violin
Alice Zawadzki 1st violin, vocals
Katherine Waller 1st violin
Minn Majoe 2nd violin (principal)
Kirsty Lovie 2nd violin
Claire Sledd 2nd violin
Connie Chatwin 2nd violin
Matt Maguire viola (principal)
Joe Fisher viola
George White viola
Zosia Jagodzinska cello (principal)
Gregor Riddell cello

 

enginesorchestra.com

Engines Imprint – E1001CD (2014)

‘Dreamland’ – Elliot Galvin Trio

Dreamland

THE JANGLING TOY PIANO offers a clue. From its impudent, clumsy, pealing intro to this Elliot Galvin Trio debut release, gradually disintegrating into an outrageous, messy sprawl before first track, Ism, finds its rhythmic feet, it becomes clear that this is no ordinary piano trio. In fact, the players – Elliot Galvin (piano), Tom McCredie (bass) and Simon Roth (drums) – appear to be redefining the genre.

Read the full review at LondonJazz News…


Elliot Galvin
piano, toy piano
Tom McCredie double bass
Simon Roth drum kit

Chaos Collective – CC003 (2014)

elliotgalvin.com
chaos-collective.com

‘Engines of Creation’ – Phil Meadows Group

Engines

TALK ABOUT setting the bar high with a debut release! A lot of fun was had during the recording of Phil Meadows Group’s ‘Engines of Creation’. I wasn’t there… I wasn’t involved… but I just know from the impassioned and entertaining performances here!

Saxophonist/composer Phil Meadows already has quite a pedigree (NYJO lead alto, performances at the BBC Proms and Ronnie Scott’s, collaborations with Tim Garland, Jason Yarde, and so on), and now focuses on realising his own material with a first-class team of musicians – Laura Jurd (trumpet), Elliot Galvin (piano and Fender Rhodes), Conor Chaplin (upright and electric bass) and Simon Roth (drums).

What sets this fine programme of seven new compositions apart, for me, can be defined as originality, multiformity and ambition. There is a oneness amongst these musicians, a great understanding between them which manifests itself both in the differing, tightly-scored sections of their output and in the dauntless improvisation this quintet is prepared to risk… and win!

Opener ‘Fin’ immediately grabs the attention with an audacious alto fanfare from Meadows, leading straight to a catchy groove in which he and Laura Jurd instantly demonstrate their impressive close-mindedness. Elliot Galvin begins to show his uninhibited approach to piano, soloing imaginatively and sparkily – a joy to hear. ‘Moving On’ is a slick number, with both horn players in parallel as well as exhibiting their obvious solo talents. Changing tack with a more electronic approach, ‘Runner’ (a swipe at the frustrations of the South Circular’s regular gridlock) sees Chaplin, Roth and Galvin establish a funky groove resembling some Stanley Clarke / Billy Cobham / Mike Ratledge dream team! And, over this retro electric bass and Rhodes fusion (with Roth putting in some great hard-hitting percussion), Meadows and Jurd produce a sparkling display of soloing and interplay. I could listen for hours to discover where they take this!

Title track ‘Engines of Creation’, paying homage to those who inspired this recording, initially deceives with its straightforward opening, only to disintegrate into wonderful piano and drums freefall (complete with breaking glass?)! But somehow, amongst this abandon, I still perceive a connectivity which eventually slides back into a stronger quintet finish. ‘Flamingos’ showcases Elliot Galvin’s pianistic brilliance with explorations inside the piano as well as some delightful, adventurous keys work; and Meadows and Jurd combine to build the piece into certain triumphal grandeur.

Taking its motivation from Phil Meadows’ experience of a less-than-willing pub landlord, ‘Dragon of George’ again picks up the more jazz/rock approach with an exciting and complex rhythmical drive, led pulsatingly by Chaplin on electric bass. Galvin again gives his all, encouraging soprano sax and trumpet to join in the ‘angst’! It’s infectious stuff which, I suspect, might well be a live showstopper. ‘Captain Kirk’, with dainty piano and bass opening, develops into a satisfying ‘curtain call’ for the whole band, Meadows and Jurd again soloing fluently above a confident piano, bass and drums backdrop.

The Phil Meadows Group (supported by Jazz Services) has recently toured this new release, with more gigs anticipated soon, including 29 September at The Vortex. I hope Phil and this band enjoy a long future together, as here is a quintet which most definitely shows great enthusiasm and desire to ‘push the envelope’ with contemporary jazz.

Splendidly produced by new UK independent label and collective, Boom Better Records.


Phil Meadows
 saxophones
Laura Jurd  trumpet
Elliot Galvin  piano and Fender Rhodes
Conor Chaplin  upright and electric bass
Simon Roth  drums

http://www.philmeadowsmusic.co.uk
http://boombetter.com/

Boom Better Records – BOOM 006 CD (2013)