Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band, Dance Songs For Hard Times ****

Moving away from the jazz comfort zone for a bit Dance Songs For Hard Times lets you off the leash and whips into riotous blues at the rollicking end of the spectrum. Nail yourself down, if you even can, to listen. Rev. Peyton’s lead guitar and …

Published: 20 Apr 2021. Updated: 3 years.

Moving away from the jazz comfort zone for a bit Dance Songs For Hard Times lets you off the leash and whips into riotous blues at the rollicking end of the spectrum. Nail yourself down, if you even can, to listen. Rev. Peyton’s lead guitar and vocals are convincing while his wife Washboard Breezy is very lively and just as key to the tidal flow of it all. Drummer, percussionist and vocalist Max Senteney is dutiful in tow, solid as a rock.

Very boisterous stuff and refreshing in this with open-tuned slide guitar part of the fabric and a fiery maelstrom of energy and exuberance suitably accessorising. Currently riding high in the UK jazz and blues chart – they all completely let rip. On Family Owned

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Paul Dunmall, Keith Tippett, Philip Gibbs, Pete Fairclough, Onosante ****

A spiritual jazz reissue from more than two decades ago Onosante is fully engaged ('For Lost Souls' particularly) and there is a lot of nuance in the serenity of 'Song and Dance and' the way the title is left hanging is intriguing and recalls …

Published: 20 Apr 2021. Updated: 3 years.

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A spiritual jazz reissue from more than two decades ago Onosante is fully engaged ('For Lost Souls' particularly) and there is a lot of nuance in the serenity of 'Song and Dance and' the way the title is left hanging is intriguing and recalls Samuel Beckett's 1960s radio play Cascando and the sense therein of “if you could finish it… you could rest…” but can't or more to the point won't. Guitarist Philip Gibbs makes a significant contribution to the title track. Above all the album is a reminder should one at all be needed of that giant of free improvisation Keith Tippett who died last year. It's also one of the best Dunmall recordings and lest we forget, but he is often overly neglected, that the multi-instrumentalist is one of the top UK tenor players of any genre (up there at the pinnacle with the very best: Courtney Pine, Evan Parker, Denys Baptiste, Tim Garland, Shabaka Hutchings, Iain Ballamy, Trish Clowes, Binker Golding, Tori Freestone, Nubya Garcia because their playing communicates and connects deep down). An album that rewards a lot of time being spent on it. You can't claim that about every single good one necessarily out there even if you like it first off. Let's just register that Onosante has a wisdom and grace to it and is about freedom of expression and honesty via collective method, affinity, empathy, skill and sensibility. The main focus is 'For Lost Souls'. It's a major work. On 577