A 20-second hiatus of barely audible bird song heralds the aptly named Wait, a piano (and birdsong) pastoral opener leading into the dramatic horn fanfare of Op which continues to surround Richard Jones’ piano solo, building to a climactic ensemble conclusion.
The lugubrious Elegy features a lengthy solo by Oliver Dover on remarkably Eastern-sounding alto saxophone. Throughout the album there are some key moments of calm and even silence that juxtapose well with the louder, often complex scores.
Db is a short cacophonous interlude that leads into the ruminative Cminriff led by Anthony Brown’s plangent tenor solo. The Mingusian (Blues For) Linu offers some tasty, angular comping from guitarist Anton Hunter, an extended trumpet solo by Graham South and a frenetic drum solo from Finlay Panter.
Leading off with resonant double bass from Stewart Wilson, Woody features Phil O’Malley on trombone with the bass remaining prominently audible, underpinning the ensuing ensemble’s melée and (almost) finishing with a Day In The Life-esque single piano chord barring a couple of minutes’ worth of soundscapey lead-out. The finale is a half-minute crammed full of a warm and satisfying ensemble arrangement.
Since assembling 13 friends and fellow students from Manchester’s Royal Northern College of Music in January 2008, Beats & Pieces MD and main composer Ben Cottrell has kept aflame a big band that clearly follows a dynasty of youthful British-based large ensembles that began with the New Jazz Orchestra and included the now legendary Loose Tubes. Good Days, their fourth album, follows on from the previous, live-in-concert anniversary album Ten (Efpi Records, 2018) and in common with the band’s occasionally eye-opening but always rewarding modus operandi, it takes no prisoners.
Discography
Wait; Op; Elegy; DB; Cminriff; (Blues For) Linu; Woody; Wait (reprise) (40.40)
Ben Cottrell (arr); Anthony Brown (ts); Emily Burkhardt, Oliver Dover (bar); Owen Bryce, Graham South, Nick Walters (t); Simon Lodge, Rich Mcveigh, Phil O’Malley (tb); Anton Hunter (elg); Richard Jones (p, elp); Stewart Wilson (b); Finlay Panter (d).
Pencaitland, 20-23 January, 2020; Manchester 6 January, 2021 & 27 September 2021.
Efpi Records FP042
