For those of you who were knocked out by O'Higgins' gig with SSBB at Hoochie last Sunday - and who wasn't? you will want this. If, however, you didn't make it then this is your opportunity to attone and hear the great man, albeit in a less overpowering setting which is not to take anything away from Sunday's gig.
The tenor sax has, to my mind, always been an important voice in modern jazz and this country has had its fair quota of aces. Hayes, Scott, Rendell, Whittle and Jimmy Skidmore paved the way for Coe, Weller, Wellins and Alan Skidmore, who in turn ignited the spark that gave us Spillett, Garnett, Booth, Lockett and Dave O'Higgins.
The above are but a few of the UK's top tenormen past and present and O'Higgins can hold his head up high alongside any of them as this album proves.
Luft too is among the top rank of jazz guitarists and the two work well together. Of the nine tracks, five are originals by O'Higgins, two are by Luft and two are covers of compositions (one each) by Trane and Monk. If you are covering the legends then do it good without losing your own identity. In 2019 Dave and Rob did a tour and recorded an album based around the music of Trane and Monk. That mission was successfully accomplished and I doubt if either Monk or Coltrane turned in their respective graves.
Of course there's more to the album than the horns (I've taken poetic licence and classed guitarist Luft as a horn - I'd do the same for Wes Montgomery or Charlie Christian). Ross Stanley is, as he always is, sound as a pre-Truss pound. B3 or, as on this occasion, piano he's your man and he doesn't disappoint. There's some fantastic bass playing from Mullov-Abbado with Rob Youngs driving the whole thing along.
Bebop? Hard Bop? I'd call it Today Bop - capitals intentional! Lance
Available on Ubuntu Music UBU0126 on Nov. 4. - YouTube.
Pluto; South Wind; Giant Steps; Gayetski; Everything's Under Control; Vague Recollections; Four in One; Ballad For Barry; One For the Six
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