Ishmael Ensemble and Rider Shafique's New Era released back in February proved down tempo pervasively with a slight Levantine twist in its core lilting saxophone modality, the Anthony Joseph-like Shafique because he is very poetic and a good communicator of his own lyrics on the very inviting 'Polestar' is strikingly listenable to. The ensemble vamp very modishly. A groove band excelling at a low intensity slacker Internetty, unglossy tempo, Rory O’Gorman's drumming sounds distant in the mix but remains very tactile as he holds the beat back. O'Gorman is best of all on the very happening chant-along 'Reasons' and what Shafique can conjure here - these basic, immediate impact, ''mystic paths'' that he journeys on travelling man song 'Polestar' - is a something for the weekend treat.
Dip into the Bruno beat above midweek in Cardiff. The W journey back through the sound of Horace Silver ('Que Passa') a Cape Verdean tinged hard bop style that still resonates, pay tribute to John Taylor and even visit a strings-laden hinterland on 'Gender Neutral' and 'Rossi' where on Portrait they are joined on these two pieces by the strings of the Waldstein Quartet. Inhabiting chamber jazz as their primary base and delivering a rootsy sense of post bop and not dispensing with a harsher jazz-rock edge when needed, singer Heidi Vogel is at her gutsy best and makes this album come alive. The W manage the feat of accommodating voice and ''the band'' in a parity of esteem. Bruno Heinen's pianism is world class while bassist Andrea di Biase and drummer Gene Calderazzo are a reliable engine with Calderazzo in particular invigoratingly raw as he steers the tunes into areas you think just aren't reachable.
Mercurial Indigo reviewed back in April proved a winner. When you put on the Oxley/Meier album you think virtuosity with a capital V and any number of guitars sitting on the stage is never enough. But so what? Jazz is a very virtuosic music. That über-competence, flair and technical skill have always been the way with Guildford based Swiss guitarist Nicolas Meier and English guitarist Pete Oxley - the latter a doyen of the incredibly well curated Spin weekly jazz club scene in Oxford down the years. Mercurial Indigo compares among other facets of Meier's back catalogue most closely on certain levels with Chasing Tales but it is even more a visceral and pleasurably cathartic mindfuck. And years on from that release the two guitarists' work together is even more intense and culturally diverse stylistically. Paul Cavaciuti's drum style certainly gives the overall sound a busy frantic air and he grooves very well on 'The Surging Waves.' Bassist Raph Mizraki, also a Spin scenester gigging down the years, had his work cut out given the massive amount of time switching and highly syncopated routines that navigate jazz-rock (in a vein practically patented by John McLaughlin) and world fusion even to the outer suburbs of prog and proves an able referee when Oxley and Meier wig out so much the syrup store is completely dry and they go too far and need to be hauled back. The Mizraki beat - yep you might be thinking of isolating the sound of the late Rick Laird on the wheels of steel afterwards if playing a few more records - on Meier's 'Crossroads' is one of his best contributions.
GIG OF THE WEEK
Cometh the hour, cometh the saxophone player, cometh the optimum organic jazz club experience for a return to the much loved Dalston club by James Brandon Lewis in trio formation on this occasion with electric bassist Josh Werner and drummer Chad Taylor. The saxist's Eye of I was February album of the month in these very pages. Glorious stuff, given its free-jazz and punkish language, the sound of freedom made flesh by the American heavyweight given the topicality of the upcoming shows it's a good time to hear the 39-year-old Buffalo, New York State-born player right now, especially how these last few years he has been going through an extended career purple patch. One of the tenors of our times - there are two shows scheduled for Saturday night.
James Brandon Lewis, photo: press