Jim Mullen Quartet: For Heaven’s Sake (STUCD 24012)
Jim Mullen, one of the UK’s pre-eminent jazz guitarists, has teamed up with two Danish musicians Jan Harbeck (tenor) and Kristian Leth (drums) and the American organist Ben Paterson for an hour-long album of standards, well-known favourites and two originals. Leth set up a quartet tour of Denmark, including this recording session, which took place in Copenhagen on 14 and 15 October, 2023.
One of the notable facets of Mullen’s playing is his eschewing of a guitar pick – like his hero Wes Montgomery he uses his thumb. This evolved because whilst Mullen is left-handed, he plays right-handed but found he kept dropping plectrums. His style is impressive and his lightning-speed comping must be seen to be believed.
Bretton and Edwards’ breezy title track is an accurate barometer of the high quality of the music presented here, which is unashamedly straightahead. A moody Angel Eyes has Harbeck’s sultry tenor saxophone, while Bobby Timmons’ groove-laden This Here is led by Paterson’s lithe Hammond B3 work and some outstanding drum breaks from Leth. A contrafact based on Antonio Carlos Jobim’s Meditation now mutates into Mullen’s Medication which sounds nothing like the bossa-nova standard. Subtly driven by Leth’s precision drumming, it’s an upbeat boppish take which sees the group firing on all four cylinders.
Mullen leads on the melody to the bluesy ballad Stairway To The Stars that’s in sharp contrast to a surprisingly funky version of Swanee River which encapsulates some of the feel of the Morrissey-Mullen band with the late great Dick Morrissey. The exuberant closer, Ellington’s Caravan, is a showpiece for Mullen’s octave technique and his dexterous single-note soloing. This is a thoroughly enjoyable outing that consistently swings and never fails to grab the listener’s attention.
Nels Cline: Consentrik Quartet (Blue Note 7560208)
The debut album for guitarist Nels Cline’s new quartet is released in multiple formats – double vinyl (black or colour), CD and digital download. Cline is, of course, guitarist in the indie rock band Wilco, but his oeuvre also encompasses contemporary jazz and avant-garde which he has been playing and recording since his 1981 co-headlining debut Elegies (Nine Winds, 1981) with bassist Eric von Essen.
The ruminative opening to The Returning Angel develops into a fully consolidated, well-constructed composition initially led by Ingrid Laubrock’s tenor before Cline jumps in with clean, fluid guitar lines. Slipping Into Something has a deeply resonant acoustic bass from Chris Lightcap which is effectively juxtaposed with soaring guitar.
In addition to Lightcap and Laubrock – a saxophonist whose burgeoning career has made her an indispensable musician on the jazz scene – the quartet is completed by drummer Tom Rainey with whom Laubrock has frequently collaborated. Rainey also appeared on Cline’s Current Constellations album (Blue Note, 2018) with Julian Lage and Scott Colley.
The interplay between Cline and Laubrock on the labyrinthine House Of Steam is stunning. Inner Wall builds to a droning crescendo underpinned by Rainey’s frenetic drumming. Satomi, at nearly 10 minutes, is the longest piece on the record. It opens with the first movement sandwiched by a strong, memorable and heavy theme and is replete with playful improv, Cline’s guitar and Laubrock’s soprano vying for attention with their respective spiralling, rapid high notes. The second movement is slower and more pastoral but with a constant background pulse and here Laubrock’s lines dominate. By contrast, The Bag is rockier, its repeated riffs redolent of King Crimson. Question Marks (The Spot) opens with Lightcap’s richly sonorous bass before the ensemble joins in Ornette-like convolutions.
This is Cline’s fourth album for Blue Note and it’s an important one. Throughout this near 70-minute album, the listener will be totally captivated and enthralled.
Dreamweavers: Woven In Time (Perdido DOR 2501)
Woven In Time is a collaborative project by Chris Allard and Mike Trim. An alumnus of NYJO, guitarist Chris Allard has worked with the likes of Jacqui Dankworth, Tim Garland and Gwilym Simcock. He has played on over 20 albums including several as leader. Mike Trim, whose career has spanned 45 years, composing for television, theatre, film and media, is a guitarist, vocalist and producer and has collaborated with Perfect Houseplants, Lol Coxhill, Antonio Forcione, Jim Dvorak, John Parricelli, Danny Thompson and many others. Here the duo is joined by Jim Watson on piano and keyboards, Dudley Phillips on bass and Nick Smalley on drums and percussion.
Trim also produced the album, which often oscillates between the laidback mood of 11th Planet and delicately crafted pieces veering towards a mixture of instrumental folk and jazz with the lustrous title track a prime example. The two guitarists are heard together but easily distinguishable since Allard mainly plays electric guitar and Trim acoustic guitar. Additionally on Migration, Trim plays a mandocello which is actually a baritone mandolin. The acoustic guitar on Allard’s composition Bossa Para Rose (Bossa For Rose) evokes a sense of Antonio Carlos Jobim’s timeless bossa novas. The set concludes with an irrepressible groove in the form of Skyline Drive imbued with Allard’s soaring guitar.
Stian Larsen, Colin Webster, Ruth Goller, Andrew Lisle: Temple Of Muses (Relative Pitch RPR1193)
Recorded in Forest Hill, London on 21 April 2022, Temple Of Muses features Norwegian guitarist Stian Larsen accompanied by two London-based colleagues, saxophonist Colin Webster and drummer Andrew Lisle, their first recording as a trio being Zeal And Perseverance (Va Fongool, 2019). They are joined by bassist Ruth Goller, a member of Acoustic Ladyland, Melt Yourself Down and Let Spin who’s also recorded with the likes of Shabaka Hutchings, Kit Downes, Marc Ribot and Paul McCartney. Goller must surely rank as one of British jazz’s most in-demand musicians and released her solo album Skylla (Vula Viel, 2021) to widespread acclaim.
This collaboration, however, is populated by free improvisation, often reminiscent of Peter Brötzmann’s fiery, uncompromising approach. The 20-minute title track and centrepiece of the album is characterised by frenetic saxophone, thrash guitar and flailing drums interspersed with Goller’s strident bass lines, all of which gradually morphs into a crescendo of collective throbbing, pulsating fury. It’s challenging music throughout but gripping nonetheless.
