Misha
Mullov-Abbado (bass); Matthew Herd (alto sax); James Davison (trumpet and
flugelhorn); Sam Rapley (tenor sax); Liam Dunachie (piano); Dave Ingamells
(drums).
Here we are of a Sunday lunchtime beneath the fabled streets of London for the Return of the Misha Mullov-Abbado Group. Whilst MM-A has been busy with a number of other projects this group has been largely dormant since 2019 when they released the Dream Circus album and he’s been able to bring most of the line-up from the album for this gig, with only the manga cat t-shirted Ingamells in as the new face.
We get
a long introduction to Train Tracker during which Misha explains his love of trains and how
he has a Wi-Fi enabled tube map on the wall at home that shows where all the
trains are on the Underground network with lights that show when a train is in
the station. It’s a far cry from Parker and Pepper trying to score drugs in
Harlem alleyways. The tune itself is a forceful, rhythmically complex piece
that really pushes the front line. The bass rings through before Ingamells
carefully creates a drum solo, accreting small pieces of rhythm into a greater
whole from rim shots to full on fury. The whole group build to full on wailing
before everything fades away, the last few bars, the soundtrack for the train
entering the tunnel.
Rose delicately builds over a simple piano motif behind a subdued front line. A knotty bass solo reminded me of Charlie Haden’s playing on some of his excellent duo albums. It’s all about the space.
The lights go down again
for Seven Colours from the Dream Circus album. Altogether more
delicate and subdued, it is more like music for when lights are low. A frantic
bass solo over cymbals and piano chords leads into a big-hearted, joyful, trumpet solo.
Short piece Redder, leads into the Earth Wind &
Fire song September. I don’t think
E,W&F ever played it this way but I’m sure Maurice White appreciated the
royalties (from a jazz album? ROFL). It’s bleaker than the original, ominous
and deconstructed with a fragmented bass solo and the piano dropping bombs into
the mix.
Nanban
is
named after a, now closed, restaurant in Brixton. (I’ve been there! It’s not my
fault it closed). It opens with tinkling piano, rolling bass and brushed drums.
The tenor sax calls out and we roll into a cool blues. A floating tenor solo,
slowly building in waves of soul; trumpet and alto support and push to create a
crescendo that suddenly stops dead. Closer, Blue
Deer, has a funereal, tragic opening with a pulsing heartbeat bass before
Ingamells explodes, the back line play loose, free and frantic, whilst trumpet
and saxes hold to a simpler melody until it all develops into a charge, a
swinging rampage.
This has been an
excellent couple of hours. There are no cobwebs from the layoff since 2019 and
I’ll be in the queue for a copy if the music from the first set makes it onto
an album. Dave Sayer
No comments :
Post a Comment