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Reviewed: Anders Malta | John Wright | Charlie Parker | Jerome Sabbagh

Anders Malta: Introducing Anders Malta Almost Big Band (April APR 13)

Young Anders Malta, a student in 2016, heard the visiting Ernie Wilkins Almost Big Band and was impressed. The Danish composer, trumpeter decided to form his own with 13 musicians. I counted 15 on the back cover of this album but maybe they didn’t all play.

The music is a fascinating mix of hard bop and more contemporary jazz sounds. The album consists of two main works titled Hardbop Conversations and, on side two, The Isolation Suite – like two suites of individual tunes. The Ouverture gets off to a strong start with the orchestra blazing away on a track subtitled Strange Movements and Hard Lines. Carl Winther’s sombre piano features in solo with the leader’s trumpet.

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Monotone Reflections is a dark and broody work again featuring Winther’s piano lines. The third track opens with Malta’s soft-focus trumpet and swiftly turns into a swinging bop selection with driving rhythm section and Aske Drasbaek’s alto sax bopping merrily.

In addition to the Wilkins inspiration the liner refers to Malta’s orchestra as being heavily influenced by the 50s and 60s music of people such as Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Wayne Shorter and Elvin Jones. This is reflected in several tracks where the music is both rhythmically complex and intense in the manner of early Shorter Blue Note releases and in the music of Eric Dolphy. Interludium comes into this category, with dark orchestral lines and Jesper Lundval’s snaking bass clarinet.

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The Isolation Suite begins with hard-bop swing, Andeas Toftmark’s snaking soprano sax playing against a fierce bop rhythm section. Although the music changes frequently in style it is never less than interesting. There are good solos particularly from Malta himself and the orchestra swings. It is no more difficult to listen to than say, the Count Basie or Thad Jones / Mel Lewis orchestras. Simple Melody For Two is just that with Malta on flugelhorn. He does play hard here and maybe should have stuck to the trumpet. The album concludes with Pelle’s Little Tune, a samba type piece and a feature for guitarist Von Bulow.

The album has an attractive cover, quality vinyl and a good sound balance.

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The John Wright Trio: South Side Soul (Craft CR00721)

This is just the sort of session that can easily slip into the shops unnoticed and probably did back in 1960. Wright was not well known and does not appear to have become so since.

He came to Chicago as a child along with various blues guitarists that arrived there from the deep south way back when. His bassist and drummer were both Chicago natives. It is a programme of simple, basic blues tracks laced with bop phrasing. After gospel singing in a church choir and various gigs, Wright turned professional. This album consists of seven tracks, mostly slow blues with three up tempo numbers. Although this is simple and basic material, Wright’s enthusiasm and obvious pleasure in playing transmits to the listener easily.

With tracks like Sin Corner and Amen Corner you know pretty much what to expect. The pianist’s gospel activities shine through. There is solid support from Wendell Roberts on bass and Walter McCants on drums. Both get a chance to solo or, in McCant’s case swap four-bar exchanges. Bop-flavoured blues or blues with a bop flavour describe the style. Wright composed one piece and his bassist wrote two. Others are by well-known blues people. There’s nothing spectacular here but It’s an enjoyable session.

High-quality vinyl, good sound and a replica jacket from Craft.

Charlie Parker: Ornithology: The Best Of Bird (Savoy Craft CR00752)

For once the record company’s claim of best of is fairly accurate. This new album has 46 minutes featuring Parker’s earliest and near best Savoy tracks like Koko and Billie’s Bounce. That near perfect slow bop blues Parker’s Mood is included – Savoy original of course.

Some live sessions from the Royal Roost in 1948/49 where Bird could stretch out are included and show Parker going beyond the three-minute studio limitation of the time. Kenny Dorham fits in wonderfully on trumpet. The album ends with Salt Peanuts from the famous Massey Hall concert of 1953.

This classic music is too well known to warrant track by track notes but people unfamiliar with the live Royal Roost tracks will find the extended Parker solos well worth acquiring. There’s excellent mastering from Craft – the best mastering of Bird’s classics I’ve ever heard.

I was amused to see on the insert reproductions of the first-issue 78 labels that featured Charlie Potter on bass and Hen Gates on piano. Really?

Jerome Sabbagh: Heart (Analog Tone Factory 001)

Sabbagh plays tenor sax with a light, lyrical tone and he is a strong improviser. The songs here are mostly treated as slow to medium tempo excursions which probably gives him time to explore all the possible variations he can extract from each selection. Dispensing with a pianist also gives him more freedom to explore those inventive lines he comes up with; chords might send him in a direction he does not want to go.

He has chosen here to play melodic but essentially moderate standards such as Gone With The Wind and When Lights Are Low. He puts his own personal stamp on Body And Soul, the tenor player’s anthem that Dexter Gordon said every tenor sax man must play at some stage. Sabbagh contributes two originals which are attractive and certainly would repay hearing more than once.

ATF is Sabbagh’s own, new label and the focus is very much on top-quality sound. It’s very good on CD and the album is available on vinyl for that little extra sonic bite that many of us love to hear. There’s close-knit support from Joe Martin’s bass and veteran drummer Al Foster.

Sonny Rollins first did this sort of thing successfully with his tenor, bass and drum albums – Way Out West, Freedom Suite and Live At The Village Vanguard – in 1957/58.

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