Opener, Away, begins with jingling bells, trap cymbals and bubbling effects. Ghosts of cymbals, ghosts of drums slowly coalesce before the bass leads us out and a haunting trumpet line is wavered by the electronics. Busy hustling, restless drums support a trumpet that issues notes that are slingshots into a void. The bass erupts and the drums follow into a freer world. They go straight into a drum led hopping funk piece with a rock solid bass and rich round trumpet notes, more Nils Petter Molvær than Miles, bass and drums as subtle as a speeding truck, albeit one it’s a joy to be stood in front of. Longer trumpet notes, hypnotic bass and majestic drums support before the trumpet heats into a boiling fury before McCraven explodes on the drums to close.
McCraven pauses between
songs to explain his composing process, which he describes as collaboration and
improvisation, after which he takes the tapes away and loops it up and chops it
up. “Improvisation,” he says, “is a celebration of life.” (The album credits
list him and his collaborators as composers and performers so he doesn’t bag
all the credit.) Next up is Three Fifths
a Man, a delicate, lighter piece off
his 2015 album In The Moment and not
on the record Off The Record.
Sweet
Stuff is on the
record etc. and opens with a gentle caressed bass, muted trumpet and McCraven
back riding the cymbals before he tumbles into working the full kit; he’s the
most exciting drummer I’ve seen in a long time, especially on such a small kit.
A simple trumpet line is repeated and the notes are stretched and echoed with
electronics. Then, finally, it takes flight and soars over a solid groove with
McCraven settling into a supporting, though still astounding, beat with the
crowd yelling him on as they fall into a reggae lilt. The trumpet floats over
the top FX’d into swirls over rim shots and delicate cymbals.
A bass solo,
intimidating, threatening, as heavy as the weather, is treated to be even more
foreboding, echoed and ominous and into This
Place, That Place which is a bit of a come down into some straight ahead rolling
bebop built up off the bass with a floating stinging trumpet lead . McCraven is
restrained and regular until he lets himself go again. He grows his solo
organically from cymbals and bass drums, all introspection, so simple compared
to what he has played previously, as if he’s taking us through the extremes of
the voices of the kit with no heavy hitting, showing that he can be both
frantic and delicate at times; the trumpet and bass play heavy footsteps around
and above. The trumpet is romantic over heavy, industrial bass and drums like a
butterfly in a steel mill; it howls and wails, fighting back against the
weight. In These Times is the title track
of a 2022 album and opens with hollow, echoing trumpet, urban motorway running
bass and settles into a mournful lament full of blues tragedy. Waves of drums
roll in and out, crashing in and receding behind Hill’s playing.
Closer, News Feed, is jumping funk with a soul
drenched trumpet that stops, starts and then drives on. Paul’s knotty bass
seems to be having a conversation only with itself and there’s more rattling
drums from McCraven and another explosive close, taunted by Hill’s trumpet as
if to say ‘Come on, if you’re big enough.’
Definitely top gig of the
festival so far.
Just for the record, at the end of the gig Steve and I rushed over to the Rough Trade tent to see if they were selling the record Off The Record and we each bought a copy and, again, for the record, most of what they had played was on the record Off The Record. Dave Sayer
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