Album review: Julian Siegel Jazz Orchestra - Tales from the Jacquard

Tales from the Jacquard is a love letter to the East Midlands' lace-making industries. In the nineteenth century Joseph Marie Jacquard designed the Jacquard card. Attached to a loom, it played an important part in the garment-making production process. Julian Siegel's family ran a lace-making business in Nottingham. The composer-arranger-musician-bandleader said: I have clear memories of trips to the lace factory with my Dad in the 1970's and hearing the sound of the machines - he wanted to conduct them! 

A commission by Derby Jazz resulted in Siegel writing Tales from the Jacquard, a three part suite inspired by the aforementioned lace makers . Some thirty minutes of music was recorded in March 2017, originally broadcast on BBC Radio 3's Jazz Now programme. This new Whirlwind Recordings' release features the 'Jacquard' alongside earlier Siegel compositions originally written for small band performance rearranged for the Julian Siegel Jazz Orchestra.  

On a visit to a lace making factory, Siegel came to realise that the punched cards of the Jacquard machine opened up possibilities in terms of inspiring the compositional structure of his music, informing the melody, rhythm and harmonic structures. An all-star ensemble rose to the occasion on the day of the performance in March 2017 with razor-sharp section work and a string of superlative solos.  

Siegel wrote for specific soloists and during the Jacquards' three parts we hear from Liam Noble, piano, Claus Stötter, flugelhorn (pt 1), Tori Freetone, flute, Noble, and Siegel himself playing soprano saxophone (pt 2), plus Harry Brown, trombone, Stan Sulzmann, tenor sax, Oli Hayhurst, bass, Henry Lowther, trumpet, Siegel again, this time blowing tenor, and ace London based American drummer Gene Calderazzo (pt 3). It could be said the compositional textures weave together in a sprawling, ambitious work, mirroring the factory environment which proved so inspirational to Siegel! 

The additional material, all seventy five minutes of it, ranges from Blues (Jason Yarde, soprano sax) to the closing piece, Cedar Walton's Fantasy in D, featuring first, trombonist Trevor Mires, followed by the two tenors of Siegel and Sulzmann blowing up a storm with Calderazzo having the final word. Tales from the Jacquard by the Julian Siegel Jazz Orchestra is available from Friday (June 25) on Whirlwind Recordings (cat. no WR4774). Russell                       

 

Julian Siegel Jazz Orchestra: Julian Siegel (tenor sax, soprano sax, bass clarinet, compositions, arrangements); Nick Smart (conductor); Tom Walsh, Percy Pursglove, Henry Lowther, Claus Stötter (trumpets); Mark Nightingale, Trevor Mires, Harry Brown (trombones); Richard Henry (bass trombone, tuba); Mike Chillingworth (alto sax); Jason Yarde (alto sax, soprano sax); Stan Sulzmann (tenor sax); Tori Freestone (tenor sax, flute); Gemma Moore (baritone sax, bass clarinet); Mike Outram (guitar); Liam Noble (piano); Oli Hayhurst (double bass); Gene Calderazzo (drums)