Archipelago:
Faye MacCalman (clarinet/tenor sax/vocals); John Pope (electric bass/vocals); Christian
Alderson (drums) + Paul Taylor (piano).
(Review by Steve
H/Photos courtesy of Ken Drew)
Archipelago
seem to be going from strength to strength gaining national recognition along
the way. A packed Lit and Phil on Thursday night confirmed the local heroes’
popularity. They are now a really solid tight outfit although I fondly
remember their early performances which were less controlled and quite raw yet
had an infectious anarchic feel to them.
The music varies from free-improv jazz and funky grooves to driving rock. It is the high tempo numbers that really gets the
feet tapping and I would love to see them in a more club-like environment where
the audience could get up and move about a bit.
All members of the band are highly accomplished musicians
displaying great versatility as the music moved from one genre to another. Faye
and John even provided a backing vocal to one number. MacCalman has a genuinely
great sound on tenor - deep and warm - an absolute pleasure to listen to. Pope,
outside of this band is normally heard on double bass, really seems to enjoy
himself on the electric version. Alderson is a superb driving force on drums. A
great band who should go far in the nicest possible way.
Earlier
in the evening, Paul Taylor performed a fine set of improvised solo piano. Paul
took us on a journey full of musical nooks and crannies. Captivating at
times and able to induce a dream-like state at others. The music seemed to me to
have a far more classical feel to it rather than a jazz one but that didn’t
detract from the overall quality and enjoyment of the performance.
To
conclude the evening, Paul Taylor joined Archipelago to perform as an ensemble
(something they had already done before at the Narc festival last
July). A complex and fascinating piece of music evolved with
the lead toing and froing amongst the various band members. Personally, I
would have preferred for the proceedings to finish on a more lively
note but that is a minor quibble in what had proved to be a very
fine and enjoyable night of music indeed.
Steve T.
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