Zoe Rahman has mainly recorded solo, duo and trio albums thus far in her career, occasionally augmenting the line-up, but this, from what I can see is her first album with a group as large as this sextet (plus occasional extras). Hopefully, most of these folks will be joining her on stage when she plays the Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music at the Jesmond United Reformed Church on Sept. 28. She is, thankfully, a frequent visitor to the North East, not being one of that fancy London crowd who may have heard of us, but seem incapable of finding us on the map.
To the music, then. It’s a lovely album underpinned by
Rahman’s heavy duty, rolling solid Tyner-ish piano and she has premier league
support from jazzers old and new. It’s that combination you always hope for
with an album like this of top drawer ensemble arrangements and impressive
soloing. None of the tunes feels like it outstays its welcome, though I’d
rather some did and hopefully the band will be able to stretch out more when
the album is played live.
If there are any weaknesses it’s in the fact that Messrs
Ridout and Wallen appear on trumpet and/or flugelhorn on only 4 of 8 tracks. That
said, the high points of the second track, For
Love, (which does include Alex Ridout), are the solos from the Rahman
siblings, Idris’ squealing, argumentative sax first and then a solid, weighty,
rolling solo from Zoe. Those solos rose
out of the group arrangements; by contrast stripped back support allows solos
from Idris on clarinet, Alec Dankworth on bass and some lyricism from Zoe to
feature front and centre on Little Ones.
My favourite is probably Go
With the Flow which is built on a very solid foundation by Zoe on piano. A
strong fluid melody breaks down for a piano solo from the leader in which she
intermingles those heavy chords again intercut with more fluid runs. Dankworth
follows on, showing that for a nepo baby he’s still one of the best bass
players in the country.
If you want unadorned Zoe Rahman, she gives us this,
firstly, on Roots. Solo and as part
of a piano/bass/drums trio her playing is simply stunning, melodies cast behind
her like discarded explosives. It’s energetic, complex, involving and wonderful
by whatever measure you use. She gives us a more lyrical, contemplative version
of her playing on Peace Garden to
close out the album.
This is another album that will slot onto the right hand of
the shelf where the album of the year contenders sit in our house, though I
suspect it will get a lot of spins before the list is compiled. This is an
exceptionally good album. It has
already bagged the coveted number one slot on the Jazzwise magazine office chart and undoubtedly there will be an
article and review to follow next month.
Colour of Sound is released on July 7 in CD and download formats and is available to order HERE on Bandcamp and through all the usual outlets. Tickets for her Festival gig are available HERE but they are selling quickly so don’t hang about! Dave Sayer
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