An interesting second album from an outstanding British group. I think that the best tracks for the whole band are This Is What Happens and Black Horse, both of which get into a really exciting groove.
Otherwise it’s a good record for soloists. Marc Charig continues to produce forcefully elegant soios (pardon the paradox), and his brassy tone is as pleasing as ever, but the star for me is Nick Evans, surely a major voice on his instrument. His broad-toned attacking style is adaptable to any mood, (although this particular album’s generally a tough, hard-blowing one) and he has some really excellent, swinging solos on Thoughts, Night Park and Horse.
There are parts of the record I don’t like, but they’re more than outweighed by the joyous belting of the LP as a whole. Nice.
Discography
This Is What Happens; Thoughts To Geoff; Green And Orange Night Park (23 min) – Gridal Suite; Five After Dawn; Dedicated To You But You Weren’t Listening; Black Horse (18 min)
Marc Charig (cor); Nick Evans (tbn); Elton Dean (alt/saxello); Gary Boyle (gtr); Keith Tippett (pno/el-pno); Roy Babbington (bs/bs-gtr); Neville Whitehead (bs); Bryan Spring, Robert Wyatt, Phil Howard (dm); Tony Uta (conga/cow-bell). London, 1970.
(Vertigo 6360024 £2.40)
