Django Bates (pno); Petter Eldh (bs); Peter Bruun (dms).This was never going to be a straight down the middle re-working of '40s bebop. Far from it. Bates took the compositions, the feeling, the spirit and converted them very much into the jazz of today.
There were hints of Bud Powell - which jazz pianist hasn't absorbed Bud's legacy into his playing? Touches of Cecil Taylor and maybe a hint of Keith Jarrett. A soupcon of Chopin and Franz Liszt added further flavorings. That's all they were - mere textural suggestions. The end product was very much Django Bates
The Scandinavian rhythm section - floating fjords (thank you Doug Fielder for that description) each taking their own route to the ultimate destination.
It was a tribute to Charlie Parker and Hot House, Scrapple, Little Suede Shoes etc. left us in no doubt as to which deity's feet the laurel wreathes were to be laid.
Yet for me, I enjoyed Bates' Wedges and Iain Bellamy's My World - dedicated to Paul Gamblin - as much as any of the more familiar titles. That latter tune and the dedication was a gesture much appreciated by those in Hall Two who knew the late guitarist.
Lance.
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