Here’s something intriguing, and it comes in the form of an EP (or LP of very short tracks) by an erstwhile piano trio, with supporting cast, apparently (and understandably) intent on putting out music that bucks quite a few of the many recorded precedents laid down over time by that line-up.
The session was inspired by leader and bassist Quill’s rediscovery of the spaghetti Western. The trio’s Bandcamp page says: “During lockdown, he reignited [his] love for the genre by watching late night TV repeats of many of the classics. Their musical soundtracks began to inspire him with his own compositions and ¡Blamo! was born. With titles like Once Upon A Time In the North, A Heroes Return and Tune For Ennio, they definitely tip their cowboy hats to the Spaghetti western master composer Ennio Morricone.”
The melancholy mood of A Hero’s Journey is quickly usurped by the comparatively frenetic Boris Hates Jazz . . . And That Suits Us, in which the group sashays through various moods (while thankfully dodging notions of mood music) in a manner suggestive of a trio in a hurry to make some sort of impression in the increasingly crowded contemporary jazz marketplace.
Inevitably 13 widely varied tracks in less than 27 minutes ensures a programme that passes all too quickly, but for this listener at least there’s ear food sufficient to ensure that I’ll be keeping an eye (and ears) open for what this group comes up with in the future.
Discography
A Hero’s Journey; Boris Hates Jazz . . . And That Suits Us; Where We Goin’?; Xanadu; Mayville Six; Cat Scram; Time To Rest; Sun Dream; Can You Hear The Birds; Once Upon A Time In The North; Tune For Ennio; A Hero’s Return (26.53)
Nico Widdowson (p); Quill (b); Theo Goss (d). With guests Bess Shooter, Joel Stedman, Ed Allen, Will Lakin & The “Imaginettes”, Amy Clark, Rebecca Herrington, Sunday Lendis and Rosie Miles. The Green Room, Leeds, c. 2022.
Tight Lines Music
