The Secret Sessions project is Paul Booth's ongoing brainchild and Hoop is the second after last year's Fragile Eagle. The idea was to round-up a group of like-minded musicians to record together without giving them any advance information, other than the instrumentation, as to who the others would be until they actually arrived.
It may seem, on the face of it, a flying by the seat of your pants idea and in a sense it is. However, Booth's familiarity with each individual's capabilities - their strengths and weaknesses (what weaknesses?!) - made it a safe bet that, just as the musicians on the first album did, they would gel.
And they did!
Walsh, Thomson, Allard and Booth each brought two charts to the table resulting in the diversity of music that Booth sought and, as such he must have surely been delighted.
Walsh describes it as an album of synth-tinged fusion - everything from powerful horn-led prog rock elements all the way through to gutsy, soulful ballad and blues playing. His own forceful yet melodic trumpet playing is just one of the many highlights. Booth, as always, is in scintillating form. Thomson gets the kind of trombone sound that used to burst majestically from the Kenton band. Indeed if Kenton had been around 50 years later then Thomson would have been his first call for the trombone section. Allard provides the funkier element fusing the jazz and the rock into one effective whole.
A cooking rhythm section and a few guests dotted around made for a successful project - bring on number 3!
The album is out on Nov. 5 on Ubuntu Music - UBU0092 and there's an album launch at the Spice of Life on Nov. 21 as part of the EFG London Jazz Festival. Lance
Sinterval (1); Silo (2); Good, Bad Fortune (1); Erin (3); Boz Pity (4); Cultus Lake (4); Ocean Mirage (3); Stop Telling us What to do (2).
1: Comp. Paul Booth. 2: Comp. Nichol Thomson. 3: Comp. Chris Allard. 4: Tom Walsh.
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