New Jazz Orchestra/Neil Ardley Group: BBC Sessions 1968-1970 (RANDB101)
Once again, Nick Duckett’s RandB Records mines the rich vein of material from the BBC archives, lost gems from a changing period of British jazz. The National Jazz Orchestra and Howard Riley were indirectly linked, part of the emerging scene of the late 60s and championed by Chris Wellard and the SE London connection.
Started in the Green Man public house in Blackheath in 1963, the New Jazz Orchestra changed after Neil Ardley took over from founders Clive Burrows and Ian Bird. Over the next few years the orchestra became a springboard for the careers of many leading players, although some, such as Trevor Watts and Paul Rutherford, found Ardley’s leaning towards the style of Gil Evans restrictive so went their separate ways.
The BBC recordings show this influence, the arrangements impressively tight and the material appearing the following year on the album Le Dejeuner Sur L’Herbe. Nardis and Summertime are perhaps predictably included, but compositions by Howard Riley (Angle), Mike Gibbs (Rebirth) and Michael Garrick (Dusk Fire) widen the repertoire.
The late pianist Mike Taylor is represented by Suite In Modo Polonico and other tracks by the smaller octet, a BBC Jazz In Britain recording from 1970. Norma Winstone is featured, showing that even then, she had evolved a non-American style of jazz vocals. Music accompanies the words of Yeats, Joyce and Lewis Carroll.
Shades Of Blue completes the album, from a BBC Sounds of the 70s show, although there is nothing on the sleeve details about the personnel. An attractive orchestration, it features a guitarist, possibly Dave “Clem” Clempson, who at the time was in the jazz-rock band Colosseum, with other members of NJO – Jon Hiseman, Dick Heckstall-Smith, Tony Reeves and Barbara Thompson.
Howard Riley Trio: BBC Sessions 1968-1970 (RANDB100)
Howard Riley had arrived in London in 1967, immediately contacting two musicians he felt an affinity with – bassist Barry Guy, whom he’d heard a year earlier at the Little Theatre Club, and drummer Jon Hiseman, a member of Mike Taylor’s Trio that played opposite Ornette Coleman at the Fairfield Hall in 1965.
In September 1967 the trio made Discussions, an album produced by Chris Wellard, which Riley described as exploring the possibilities of both opening up and abandoning standard material.
This BBC Jazz Club recording from the following May underlines the unity the trio had developed. It was a period in which Riley, still influenced by Bill Evans (Spring Is Here, What’s New and Exit), started leaning towards the more improvisational style of pianists like Paul Bley, although his first inspiration was Monk, clearly heard in his compositions Sunflower and Aftermath. However, as he later pointed out, he was to move away from rhythm, melody and harmony towards explorations of sound.
The assertive Hiseman, his commitments taken by Colosseum, was replaced by the equally forceful Alan Jackson, and by 1969 Riley was showing a more open-ended approach.
“There’s that conventional approach, then there’s the Gil Evans approach, and there’s the freer thing”, Riley told writer Richard Williams in 1971, “and this method I’m using hopefully combines the best of the last two.”
Gérard Gustin Trio, Chet Baker Quartet (Fresh Sound FSR-CD1151)
Riley’s relocation to where things were happening musically was a move made by many budding musicians. Earlier, in the mid 50s, the French pianist Gérard Gustin took a similar step, although with a different outcome. A young but increasingly established figure in the south of France, Gustin moved to Paris in early 1955, seeking out like-minded players. His break came quickly, with Chet Baker, as a replacement following the untimely death of Dick Twardzik.
Baker’s quartet tracks with Gustin, from October 1955, have appeared before, most recently on the Chet Baker Quartet In Paris (reviewed in JJ June 2024). At the time Downbeat’s Nat Hentoff described “a forceful pianist with a good, though fairly derivative, conception” that he’d like to hear more of. That was to come when Barclay recorded Gustin’s trio, reissued here.
His trio, with guitarist Sacha Distel and bassist Gilbert Gassin, handle three Gershwin numbers well enough, but it’s Gustin’s compositions Y’a Qu’ça De Vrai (a take on All The Things You Are), Romano’s Dilemma, and Gassin’s Equation that stand out. Distel shows the proficiency that earned him a place the following year on John Lewis’s album Afternoon In Paris.
Unfortunately by the time the trio record was released, 18 months later, Gustin had moved away from jazz and towards more popular, and lucrative, areas of radio and TV, joining Distel on his upward spiral into international showbiz stardom.
Matyas Gayer: Westbourne Park (Ubuntu UBU0171)
In different ways, both Riley and Gustin demonstrated their respect for the jazz tradition, in choice of material and response to it through their own compositions. Coming to the present, London-based Hungarian pianist Matyas Gayer follows a similar line. With top-class support from Dave Green and Steve Brown, his trio runs through original compositions and standards. An expressive and melodic pianist, he varies between long flowing lines and more spatial awareness.
Homage To Cedar is a good indication of the inspiration behind his playing and his soulful ballad Canazei shows his self-assurance in the exalted company of Green and Brown. His light touch, economy and changing harmonies (On Green Dolphin Street and Solitude) bring to mind Ahmad Jamal; Brown’s busy brushwork and tom-toms aren’t far from Vernel Fournier’s style and precision.
Etienne Charles Creole Orchestra (Culture Shock EC010)
Meanwhile, trumpeter Etienne Charles’ new album mentions a list of inspirational figures, from Duke and Mary Lou Williams to Nelson Riddle and Johnny Mandel. The material ranges from classic swing to calypso, hip hop, rap and modern swing, reflecting Charles’ Trinidadian roots and subsequent NYC career.
Well-arranged, polished and at times exciting and propulsive, it disappointingly veers towards Strictly Come Dancing territory on occasion. There are gems in A Shade Of Jade and the slow blues of Centrepiece but something of a curate’s egg – good in parts.
