Carole Nelson
(piano, Fender Rhodes, alto saxophone); Cormac O'Brien (bass); Dominic Mullan
(drums)
Carole Nelson’s new ecologically themed album follows three others that have reflected her love for nature and the parlous state in which the natural world finds itself. This album is, essentially, two suites that cover the migration of swallows from their wintering in Africa to near her Dublin home and the extinction of the Kauaʻi ʻōʻō honeycreeper that lost its fight for survival in Hawaii in the face of its loss of habitat and the invasion of grazing animals and other species.
We begin with We Begin Here
which sneaks up on you out of the dark. Gentle chords with growing decoration
develop a spring (in both senses of the word) in its step as the birds mass for
migration. Lift Off naturally follows
with a tinge of sadness as Nelson decorates O'Brien’s bass solo before more
positive, swinging chording comes back in. Through
The Storm tries to capture a progress as a calm, spare opening builds to
tumult. They revel in the freedom that jazz allows with strong chords
punctuating through the dominant voice of the bass thumping and swinging, the
sound of each string calling out and resonating and then a post storm relax and
release. Sky Journey is more joyous;
an aerial dance with Nelson’s optimistic flights on piano.
Arrival’s flow of simple chords with increasingly
complex embellishments beneath which the drums roll and bass strings are bowed
and scraped; all the trio seem to be pursuing different paths but at times they
threaten to develop the piece into straight forward swing but it’s as if they
can’t all find the same first foot hold. It all flows together as the first
suite closes with Refuge, an elegant
waltz with the bass dancing through the piano melody.
The second suite opens with the last field recording of the Kauaʻi ʻōʻō bird from 1987 and on Eden, with Nelson uses the melody line
of the bird’s song on alto sax. She also switches to Fender Rhodes as the band
conjures up a pre-lapsarian picture of simpler times reflecting different
aspects of the natural world, the music flowing round and through each other’s
lines. By comparison, Encroachment is
doom and despair; the arrival of the first bulldozer into Eden. Nelson’s
jarring organ chords are supported by rattling, skeletal drums. The Last Song is even more desperate
with a mournful, wailing, scraped bass and the organ falling into tragedy. Return goes back to the bird’s song.
It’s bold and sympathetic a full landscape from only a trio with added sax. A
faint note of optimism tries to suggest some hope in the world as if to suggest
that we might still have one last chance.
An Epilogue closes
the album. Developed out of a jam, it is gentle and contemplative as the trio
play as much with the space between the notes as the notes themselves with short
phrases from Nelson over a strolling bass with Mullan contributing only
occasional taps.
This is an album of intensity and deep sorrow from a very
good, empathetic trio. Carole Nelson is the nominal leader and main composer
but her trust in the others to fill in the picture or hold back is evident in
every moment. She gives the nod to Abdullah Ibrahim in her sleeve notes to We Begin Here but close listening
reveals some musical DNA from other greats such as Chick Correa and Bill Evans
(especially on Refuge). Tragedy
rarely sounded so good. Dave Sayer
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