McCoy Tyner & Joe Henderson: Forces Of Nature – Live At Slugs (Blue Note)
On tour after his departure from John Coltrane’s classic quartet at the end of 1965, McCoy Tyner played a set at Slugs’ Saloon in New York City in April 1966 alongside tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson, bassist Henry Grimes and drummer Jack DeJohnette. Henderson was already a Blue Note stalwart while Tyner was a year away from making his label debut and still finding his way as a band leader. DeJohnette kept a rare recording of the gig in his personal archive, and only now has it appeared for release.
Understandably, the recording quality is not that good, but two of its five tracks, clocking in at nearly 30 fast-tempo minutes each, will attract great interest. Powered by DeJohnette’s insistent drumming and percussive outbursts and Grimes’s varying bass lines, In ’N Out and Taking Off obviously bring to mind the marathon outings of Coltrane’s quartet, although Henderson stays within the tonal boundaries without ever quite breaking free.
In a way Henderson has the most difficult job here, for he stands in a mighty shadow while Tyner remains his own man, but he copes well. Of the two, Tyner is the more varied, propelling both tracks forward with interesting melodic lines and considerable tonal variety, utilising his trademark repetitive phrasing to great effect.
The three shorter pieces – a poignant, soulful We’ll Be Together Again with a fine Grimes solo, a committed The Believer and the concluding buoyant but brief Isotope – act as a pressure release, their concision in contrast to the extremes on display elsewhere. Historically, this set is important, musically not quite so essential.
Annette Peacock: An Acrobat’s Heart (ECM 1733)
In complete contrast comes this set from the enigmatic vocalist and pianist Annette Peacock, first recorded and released in 2000 and now available as a high-quality-vinyl double album in ECM’s Luminessence reissue series. An Acrobat’s Heart was Peacock’s debut for ECM and to date her only album for the label – although pianist Marilyn Crispell played many of her songs on her own 1996 ECM trio set, Nothing Ever Was – but she had always been a presence in the wings since the label’s beginnings through her relationship with Paul Bley.
Peacock originally intended to just play the piano and sing but label boss Manfred Eicher suggested she also wrote arrangements for a string quartet, which she had never done before. The result is a series of soul-baring, ruthlessly honest and often bittersweet songs – songs of experience, freedom, dependency and relationships – all set to some finely crafted settings for the Cikada Quartet and all delivered in her own unique phrasing and vocal style. This album is indeed a beautiful one-off, a remarkable recording now wonderfully enhanced in its new vinyl make-over.
François Couturier, Dominic Pifarély: Preludes & Songs (ECM 2819)
Pianist François Couturier and violinist Dominic Pifarély last recorded for ECM in 1997, and while they have shared musical adventures in the interim, this new set required both to gain a new understanding of each other’s musical personality and development. The set includes their own compositions as well some standards from the likes of JJ Johnson and the Gershwins and, because they are both French, a Jacques Brel classic, La Chanson Des Vieux Amants.
Throughout there is a poetic sensibility, although not without some humour: Song For Harrison, which is in a medley with Duke Ellington’s Solitude, is named for Couturier’s dog, “a charming cocker spaniel”. And while much of the music is quite austere, notably Pifarély’s Les Ombres, again that seriousness is lightened by that piece’s elision first with A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square and then beautifully with Johnson’s Lament, where Pifarély plays his heart out.
Making good use of the resonant acoustic space of the Reitstadel Neumarkt in Bavaria, where it was recorded in October 2023, this might be an album of often rarefied concert music, but the demands it makes on both performers and listeners are more than worthwhile.
Duduka Da Fonseca Trio: Rio Fantasia (Sunnyside Records SSC1753)
When not busy playing in New York, where he has been based since 1975, Brazilian drummer Duduka Da Fonseca runs a trio in Rio de Janeiro with pianist David Feldman and bassist Guto Wirtli. The music on this, their fifth album, is a mixture of originals and Brazilian classics, all played with complete freedom of expression: the songs were familiar to the musicians but their treatment new, yet almost all were recorded on the first take. The overwhelming feeling is that of joy, in the melodic fluidity of the tunes and the buoyant swing of their rhythms, driven along by Feldman’s hands-on piano and Fonseca’s ebullient drumming. Bassist Wirtli delivers a fine solo on Esqueceram De Min No Aeroporto and provides strong support throughout. What a great set, all the more so for its surprisingly tender moments.
David Ferris Septet feat. Peter Bernstein: Sketches (Stoney Lane Records SLR1959)
Innovative pianist and composer David Ferris makes his debut with this set, one unfortunately delayed by the pandemic for three years and only recently recorded in London. Throughout, his writing is adventurous, notably on the wayward Sticks And Stones, stretching the septet with its sprung rhythms and joyous charts. Trumpeter Hugh Pascall plays some strong solos while US guitarist Peter Bernstein – a guest on two tracks – makes his presence felt in mellifluous ways. Ferris himself is a confident, fluent pianist, bringing some fine melodies into his solos, and excels on two warm tributes to his pianist heroes, one dedicated to John Taylor, the other to Keith Jarrett. Two solo pieces about the precarious Covid times stand out for their integrity. A strong debut, and I look forward to hearing more from this fine pianist.
Phil Bancroft’s Beautiful Storm: Finding Hope (When All Seems Lost) (Myriad 005)
Scottish saxophonist Phil Bancroft’s new trio brings him together with the consistently creative electric guitarist Graeme Stephen and Delhi-based tabla master Gyan Singh in a set that draws on the musicians’ Celtic and Indian backgrounds and on improvisations from both jazz and non-jazz traditions. The use of chromaticism, fixed tonalities and odd and varying metres, as well as some heavier rock sensibilities, gives the set a mesmeric, sometimes trippy feel, an endless continuity of sound that beguiles and entertains. Well worth checking out.
