This group is not what it seems, and that is a very good thing. Stevens, for long a committed acoustic champion, has taken on electricity and the implication is that he has a rock group. Certainly, there are some rock rhythms, but there is a great deal of old S.M.E. subtlety as well. Cowling is a rather static player, but the leader’s rhythmically alert drums invariably compensate for this. Watts is his normal melodic self, and has a particularly emotional solo on Tumble. So, the ingredients for success are there. Add to that the understated mixture of country and jazz in Hayton’s guitar style, and all should be well. Unfortunately, this is a concert programme in the worst sense, and I can rarely recall having heard both Stevens and Watts as boring as they are on What’s That? Much of this is very good, but the style will not really sustain the lengthy treatments given here. The next album will probably be much better.
Discography
It Will Never Be The Same; Tumble (20 min) – Anni; C Hear Taylor; What’s That? (23 min)
Trevor Watts (alt); Steve Hayton (g): Peter Cowling (b); John Stevens (d). Berlin, November 1975.
(Vertigo 6360 131 £2.99)
