Solo bass albums by jazz artists are pretty rare. Let's think, Larry Grenadier did one in 2019, The Gleaners and Marc Johnson followed suit with Overpass released in 2021. Solo bass concerts are even rarer - I have only ever attended one solo bass concert - by the great Eberhard Weber as it happened - and that against the odds proved extremely memorable, Weber using a lot of effects to beef up the impression he had an orchestra with him. If you are the sort of person who goes to the bar when the bass solo begins Walk Alone clearly isn't for you. But still with us? Good because there are rewards aplenty. For some reason shoot me if completely deluded I kept thinking of the sound of Charlie Haden in my head as I listened. Beyond that, how serene the effect of a very well recorded bass is in isolation when the ideas come thick and fast. Sunderland born bassist Phil Donkin in terms of instrumental prowess is as fine a bassist as you'd care to hear anywhere. Mastered late last year the recording itself dates back to the spring of 2021. It is not a highly technological album at all meaning you can actually imagine the bass in the room with you as you listen and not some sort of spaceship of a rig levitating from LA or somewhere with so many sonic clothes on it's impossible to hear the organic reality of the sound. Arco bass on 'Numb Worm' and subtle use of overdubs here has a tragic grandeur to it that you could imagine working well rearranged for string quartet.
'Blues Correlation' is far jazzier and certainly Donkin's vocabulary is washed in progressive jazz from the 1940s on. Apart from the Haden fabric to what's here (think of his role on The Shape of Jazz To Come for instance) the influence of Oscar Pettiford is there somewhere too perhaps on some of the more bebop type language.
There is a double pun I'm guessing again shoot me if wrong on the arco heavy 'No Holes Barre-ed' that could refer to Barre Phillips (whose Music from Two Basses is seminal) and the musical term ''barre'' as in barre chord when one presses down multiple strings across a single fret.
Most of the pieces are originals of Donkin's (the warm 'Saturation Point' is the most complete of all) and you will recognise 'Value' and 'Numb Worm' (where you obtain a strong sense of the baroque) both from Donkin's album Value. There is a fine interpretation of Samuel Barber's beautiful 'The Crucifixion' from 1950s voice and piano cycle Hermit Songs, a piece that was based on ancient Irish monastic poetry. So, a tonal masterclass and a trove of possibilities buried deep in the mystery of the bass domain that will fascinate specialists and initially agnostic listeners alike. SG Out on 14 March
Phil Donkin, photo: phildonkin.com
MORE READING AND LISTENING:
Note: Walk Alone audio added on 18 March 2023
Tags: