Dave Green (double bass); Iain Dixon (tenor, clarinet, bass clarinet), Gene Calderazzo (drums); Evan Parker (tenor, soprano)A special 80th birthday CD release for the versatile British doyen of bass, Dave Green, drawn from a one-off 2004 BBC session. BSH Editor-in-Chief landed me in it with this review, perhaps thinking I need to broaden my horizons, as it’s a double challenge for me! (1) – the album is very much at the free end of the business (2) three of the “tunes” are Monk – who apart from the well-known and accessible “bangers” - is still a bit of a work in progress for me.
The five tracks are preceded by an interview with radio host Jez Nelson, where Green’s (then) 40-year career is reviewed in five minutes, starting with his 60s debut with the Carr-Rendell band. Somewhat to my relief, the Monk tunes (Shuffle Boil, Raise Four and Played Twice) stay recognizably close to the originals, with Evan Parker predictably being in the furthest orbit. Green’s trio lope and drive along more conventionally, with precise and delicate passages of ensemble playing as well as power. Sumptuous playing and virtuosity aplenty, with Dixon delivering some terrific resonating bass clarinet, and Calderazzo’s scalding drumming living up to his reputation (and surname which evokes images of an erupting volcano in my mind!).
Ex-Changes is wholly improvised with pyrotechnics as well as some delicate spaces, while Billy Strayhorn’s A Flower is a Lovesome Thing is a welcome, languid study, with gorgeous intertwining clarinet and soprano driven by brushes and Green’s supple bass line.
Altogether, enough to spur me on to explore more Monk! Chris K
Released in Feb 2022. CD from the usual places, Trio Records TR605
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