The first thing you have to know about this album is that
you have to play it loud. At a normal volume it burbles along quite nicely but
without making a real impact. It could almost be dinner jazz; something chilled
to have with your canapes. Nothing to scare the horses.
Crank it up, however, and everything separates out into a multi-headed, swinging, groove machine. It’s a driving, urban soundtrack that wears its influences loudly and proudly. The roots of this music lie in the first mod generation who appreciated, not just rock and roll, but looked to soul and the soulful end of jazz and blues from the likes of Georgie Fame and Brian Auger’s Trinity. These vibes are updated through (obviously) , Squeeze, Oasis and The Who as well as forming a few other groups along the way. This album seems to be the one that has generated most interest of his recent work with an interview on JazzFM and a tour that brings the Trio to The Cluny in Newcastle on Friday April 10.
Steve White is best known as the man on the drums for Paul
Weller through his Style Council years up to around 2006. Since then, and
during his time with Weller, he has played with a few other acts such as Alan
Barnes, JTQ, Ian Dury, Ocean Colour SceneWeller and the acid jazzers such as
James Taylor, Galliano and Jamiroquai, though, thankfully, with none of Jay
Kay’s sub Stevie Wonder-isms and vocal tics.
White, drives it all along. His drumming is solid and his
fills explosive and he gives himself two brief solo features in an impressive
cover-all-the-bases one minute drum solo on
Mr B and the thunder in the mountains crack of Throwing A Whitey, to emphasise, in case of any doubt, what a fine
player he is.
The mellow cover of Weller’s My Ever Changing Moods is a nod to a previous employer with a
swirling flute solo from Beighton who also contributes a lovely, soulful,
extended sax solo on When The Tourists
Leave, which track threatens, at times, to turn into Sade’s Love Don’t Live Here
Anymore. Stand out track for me is Passing
Through which has all the elements of the album coming together at their
strongest; solid, driving drums, strident, widescreen organ, piano that
alternatively adds weight and delicacy to give the piece extra character and a
good tune to hang them on. It’s all very joyous and optimistic and leaves you
in a better place than you were three minutes earlier.
Eye To
Eye adds
some extra funk into the mix whilst Running
is muscular and athletic, another piece of escapism. That’s followed by Songs For Us Dads a samba shuffle
decorated by the finest of lounge piano playing before Cough Up gives us another slab of what we’ve enjoyed so far.
This album isn’t going to score many points for innovation
and it doesn’t push the envelope but it’s a 40 minute good time and that’s got
to be worth a tenner of anybody’s hard earned these days. My advice is to brush
off your sharpest suit and oil your knuckles, ready for some finger snapping
and, I’ll see you down The Cluny next Friday. Dave Sayer
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