Tim Thornton, The Feel Good Place, Jellymould

From 2015. Chances are if you’ve ever stayed over for the Late Late Show at Ronnie Scott’s when the vibe changes, a new crowd comes in, and a brand new band often well stocked with members of the next generation of jazz stars in the making takes to …

Published: 26 Nov 2019. Updated: 2 years.

From 2015. Chances are if you’ve ever stayed over for the Late Late Show at Ronnie Scott’s when the vibe changes, a new crowd comes in, and a brand new band often well stocked with members of the next generation of jazz stars in the making takes to the stage, you’ll have come across scene regular, bassist Tim Thornton.

With his big meaty tone and swinging sound you might think he’s a British Christian McBride. And listening to this new album, three years on from New Kid, stocked with plenty of the 26-year-old’s own compositions and on which he is joined by drummer Chris Draper, alto saxist James Gardiner-Bateman and pianist Grant Windsor, you wouldn’t be far wrong.

Recorded at the Avery in London just over a year ago Thornton says in his sleeve note: “When I set out to record this music, the main thing I wanted to achieve was music that makes you feel good, full of passion, energy and swing” and certainly the quartet more than succeeds in this aim.

Thornton has great timing and style and makes plenty of use of a woody, downhome timbre and adds a vitality and warmth to everything he does. James Gardiner-Bateman’s gritty tone provides a certain saltiness as a counterweight to the otherwise sugary melody of Paul McCartney’s ‘Here, There and Everywhere’, the only cover here, and there’s plenty of energy too from both Windsor and a frantic Draper in the band interplay. Of most appeal to mainstream jazz fans – everything here belongs well within the comfort zone of the style – Thornton’s definitely a name to put on your bucket list to hear before too long.

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Erlend Apneseth Trio, Det Andre Rommet, Hubro

From 2016. The hardanger fiddle, often a fairly doleful reservoir of resonant wood and heart wrenching pre-industrial age string sounds, projects an austere sensibility and dark palette brought to life in improvised settings by masters like Nils …

Published: 26 Nov 2019. Updated: 3 years.

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From 2016. The hardanger fiddle, often a fairly doleful reservoir of resonant wood and heart wrenching pre-industrial age string sounds, projects an austere sensibility and dark palette brought to life in improvised settings by masters like Nils Økland, has more profile now than ever and not only in Norway.

The Apneseth trio crouched around the fiddle matches the leader’s virtuoso playing to electric guitar and drums on ‘The Other Room’ as the title translates into English but there isn’t a huge amount of joy to be gleaned here apart from in the sheer skill of their ability and craft. They’ve been around sufficiently long enough to distil a highly traditional vision into something that has modern context by factoring in a bit of tech but where the fourth instrument lurking and remaining significant is brooding silence.

Fusing the fairly ancient and fairly modern together only emphasises the deep traditions of the musical style rather than its modernity, the guitar never really on the verge of ever letting go, the fiddle a repository for intense lamentation as is the overall atmosphere. Fun, fun, fun. SG