Tom Challenger, George Crowley, Dan Nicholls (reeds); Rory Simmons, Alex Bonney (tpt); Nathaniel Cross (tmb); Theon Cross (tuba); John Blease (perc.).
(Review by Lance)
Seven horns and percussion make this octet slightly different to other similar ensembles inasmuch as the saxes double on clarinets and Nicholls does likewise on bass clarinet.. The blurb says they're heavily influenced by the legendary Mardi Gras Indians - the flamboyant African American street bands of the New Orleans Carnival.
More than likely. There is a large jazz content in both the solos and the improvisatory nature of some of the ensembles where the horns shoot off in several directions over pulsating rhythms. If each of the players was a ball of wool the end result would be a magnificent coat of many colours in the eyes of some, and. a tangled tea cosy gone wrong in the eyes of others!
All but three of the compositions are by Challenger and they do indeed challenge the listener and the performer. However, it is a worthwhile challenge, it's one of those albums that creep up on you so that you seem to enjoy each track a little more than the one before and, by the end you're thinking that that was a cracking disc after all. Playing it a second time, earlier misconceptions are abandoned, you throw out the tea cosy and prance around the room in your coat of many colours.
Brass Mask - Spy Boy is released by Babel catalogue number BDV13121 on October 14.
Lance.
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