Individuality is all. A tonic to hear a new small group version of Ivo Neame's 'The Rise of the Lizard People' from Glimpses of Truth. First thought.
Loose Tubes-era alto sax ace Ken Stubbs who is now living down under was excellent last year on 3 Shadows 4 Angels (man of Kent Ivo cropped up there) and now here the piece is in quartet formation instead with avant superhero Craig Taborn and bass-drums team Hirst and Barker again from the 3 Shadows recording.
Stubbs tunes and Django Bates numbers Cashin' In's 'Underfelt' (1988) and the scampering 'Dimple' from the highly collectable First House gem Cantilena (1989) which of course Stubbs led complete the avantbop feast. It's quite moving in places dotted with melancholia, Taborn gels extremely well with the Aussies. Sinuous detailed deconstructed scalar troughs and peaks detonate the senses. Stubbs is tender and reflective. A welcome surprise. Let's hope Stubbs can play some Blighty clubs some day again - after all the tube, loose or otherwise, doesn't run to Byron Bay. Ken Stubbs, photo: publicity shot.
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