Brigitte Bereha – vocals; Tomas Challenger – tenor saxophone; Ivo
Neame – piano, Fender Rhodes, Keyboards, accordion; Rob Updegraff – guitar;
Dave Manington – double bass; Tim Giles – drums percussion.
(Review by Debra Milne.)
Hullabaloo, an album by Dave Manington’s
Riff Raff project, developed from several years of improvisation and
collaboration, with a number of London
Brigitte Bereha uses her voice
instrumentally on this and most of the tracks. She has a supple, light sound
which complements the other instruments, either following a distinct melodic
line, or in harmony with the tenor sax or double bass. Her contribution is exemplified in Lingering
At The Gravy, and follows Tim Giles introductory solo, featuring
delicate cymbal work and drum rolls.
The influence of the drummer‘s fluid style on
Manington’s playing and writing is reflected in several tracks, where the bass
is the rhythmic anchor, allowing Giles to go off on percussionary diversions. Bereha wrote lyrics to 3 compositions, and Catch
Me The Moon comes closest (but not very) to a traditional jazz ballad,
with a vocal & piano introduction. As with the rest of the album, there is
no obvious ‘head – solos – head‘
structure, but periods where different instruments come to the fore,
either individually or in combination.
There are European influences too: Pedro Bernardo was inspired by a
stay in a Spanish hill town, and conveys the relaxed pace of life, building
into dynamic solos from Rob Epdegraff on guitar and Tomas Challenger on tenor
sax. Ivo Neame gets his accordion out for You Can’t Eat Crisps To That,
playing an up-beat, Balkan-influenced groove,
which is developed and supplemented by additional rhythms and motifs by
the rest of the ensemble. Manington named
the CD after the second track Hullabaloo - a great noise or
excitement, but that is a simplistic description of a much more compelling musical
conversation.
Loop Records Loop 1015 – distributed by Cadiz
Album launch date: The Vortex Jazz Club, January 28, 2013.
Debra Milne.
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