Inspiration comes from the strangest places. Alto saxophonist Sam Newbould, Englishman in Amsterdam, temporarily took affectionate care of a pigeon. It was supposedly a Polish bird, a detail indicating that wit and a refreshing lack of intellectual bragging is at the heart of Newbould’s personality, assuming he agrees that the pigeon is the most obnoxious creature of the big city’s fauna besides rats.
Perhaps the only thing missing in his background story is the admission that it was a carrier pigeon that mistook the alto saxophonist for a guest worker and made a U-turn to Krakow with the love letter in his claw.
Newbould moulds metaphors about home and being abroad from his animal-friendly and bittersweet adventures. His musical quips are a strong point, though not the overpowering and certainly not the only alluring aspect of Homing. I imagine that the title track, linking a jagged staccato melody with a hip-hop beat, reflects the gait of a truly weirdo pigeon.
At the core of it though is Newbould’s soft-hued, understated sax – he’s fantastic throughout the album at playing tenderly and in a whisper, lacing his tone with sandpaper slurs, as opposed to his good but more generic “hard” solos – suggesting a serenade not only to a cuckoo but places of birth and loved ones.
Melancholia, in short, matches his wit. Anglesey is a case in point, an indie ballad of sorts, jazzed-up Portishead if you will, leavened by the featherlight, simultaneously rendered pinpricks of alto and Bernard van Rossum’s tenor. At the same time, Newbould and his tight-knit band, which also features the extrovert and gifted Xavi Torres on piano and Wurlitzer, provides upbeat post-bop, notably his homage to Thelonious Monk, Twinkle Twinkle.
Odd Jobs develops from cartoon soundtrack into a sassy line that bites its own tale, a cyclic movement that builds in suspense through extraordinary interplay and Guy Salamon’s ever-so-subtle drum patterns. In my book the album’s highlight and a demonstration of Newbould’s progressively imposing writing skills.
Discography
Barba Tenus Sapientes; Below The Elbow; Anglesey; Homing; Little Boy Ghost; Odd Jobs; BTE Reprise 1; Believe You Me; Twinkle Twinkle; BTE Reprise 2; Dog Dance (54.32)
Newbould (as); Bernard van Rossum (ts); Xavi Torres (p, syn, Wurlitzer); Jort Terwijn (b); Guy Salamon (d, pc); Beth Aggett (v); Hilversum, 2023.
ZenneZ 2024011
