The good people at Jazz
in Britain have compiled a couple of hundred reviews, interviews and comment
pieces from Chris’s columns in the Morning Star from the 2010s to 2023 and
present them here, along with a double CD, Talking
The Groove – Jazz Against Racism, of pieces to accompany the book. Most of
the pieces come in at about a page and a half of reading and many have
accompanying gig reviews to give a fuller picture. Searle is a great enthusiast
for the music with a great fondness for the British free scene centred on
Dalston’s Café Oto, though his articles range far and wide; his enthusiasm is
best reflected at the end of many of the articles in his urging the reader to
buy this album or go to that gig. It’s immensely readable though, if I had any
complaint, it’s that structuring the pieces in date order would have been
preferable to the collection being in alphabetical order by artist.
As you would expect many
of the artists he writes about use their music to promote a generally left-wing
ideology. (Searle’s earlier book, Forward
Groove, was a series of essays looking at the promotion of civil rights,
equality and anti-racism and the anti-war movement of the 60s in jazz from its
earliest days). He writes with great empathy for both the artists and their
causes and he writes well. Those who come to this book looking for an analysis
of the techniques used in particular works will be disappointed. Searle has a
deep knowledge of the musicians and their works but confesses in Forward Groove that he doesn’t have that
depth of knowledge. This suits me down to the ground as I am in the same boat.
I know that the car moves me but don’t ask me to take the gear box apart (or
more importantly, put it back together again).
The CDs clock in at over 2 hours and include
numbers by a John Stevens Sextet, several line-ups featuring Chris McGregor,
the Trevor Watts Quintet, the Bruce Turner Quartet, Splinters, Mujician and the
Trevor Watts/Mark Sanders Duo.
As Searle would write
when he hears something he really likes, “Get hold of this book!”.
Talking
The Groove is available for £16.99 HERE
on the Jazz In Britain Bandcamp page. Dave Sayer
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