Here’s a nice little paradox – music which, by the standards of Trevor Watts in particular, is less radical than much of his output on record, yet at the same time still sounds fresh, as if the three musicians have deliberately maintained some distance in their mutual understanding in the interest of retaining an element of surprise.
Also, the absence of both a bass player and a kit drummer lends proceedings an airiness which might otherwise be absent, the resulting impression being of music that has more than sufficient space to breathe.
Given their wealth of experience and the wide variety of settings that Watts and Weston have worked in over the years, the degree to which they know what not to play is hardly surprising. The listener may for example be drawn to Watts’s soprano sax work on Dig, where Weston and Harris lay a springy, spongy rhythmic carpet that suggests finely tuned awareness.
Ghana Friends is the second longest track in this set and comes as close as anything to rhythmic convention, albeit of an order “shaded” by Watts on alto sax, who once again shows how repetition can enhance the overall musical picture, depending on how deftly the strategy is used. Given the rhythmic order, Harris comes into his own in terms of displacement, while Weston adapts to developments in the manner of a musician to whom it comes naturally. It all makes for a refreshing, joyful experience.
Discography
Sure; Dig; Mid; Jamon; Gravity; Mininis; September; Ghana Friends; Sopstance; Infra Structure (71.02)
Trevor Watts (as, ss); Veryan Weston (Nord kyb); Jamie Harris (pc). Veryan Weston’s Hertfordshire studio, UK, unknown date.
Jazz Now Records JN01SCD
