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The Jazz Defenders – Reminiscence In Movement
(Haggis Information HRLP008 – album assessment by Mark McKergow)
Bursting with power, catchy preparations, tremendous soloing and very good horn part work, this newest assortment from The Jazz Defenders has an important deal to take pleasure in.
The Defenders announce that they’re ‘defending’ the spirit of laborious bop jazz alongside the strains of Horace Silver, Lee Morgan and Artwork Blakey. That’s an important endeavour – and to be doing it by enjoying completely authentic materials is one thing else altogether. Assembled by keyboardist George Cooper and hailing from the south west of England, the group options first-call expertise within the horn part within the form of Jake McMurchie (Get The Blessing) on tenor saxophone and Nick Malcolm (Jade Quartet, Kevin Figes) on trumpet.
The rhythm part is not any much less stellar, with drummer Ian Matthews taking outing from Kasabian, joined by Bristol stalwart Will Harris on double bass. Cooper is himself broadly travelled with a CV starting from Hans Zimmer by way of Nigel Kennedy and U2 to the Model New Heavies, so the ensemble is already dripping with prospects.
Do they ship? Sure, sir – in spades. The 9 tracks are primarily supplied by George Cooper, often in collaboration with different band members. The opening Meanderthal has a twinge of Lee Morgan’s Sidewinder about it, jumpy and funky, with loads of scope for Ian Matthews drums to stroll the road between ahead push and swinging ornament. Fittingly, the trumpet is first out of the blocks for solos with Nick Malcom packing some punch, with Cooper following on organ (accompanying himself on piano – which appears to suit very properly). The solos are fairly quick and there’s quite a lot of potential for extending the music in a dwell setting.
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The Lengthy Haul, removed from it at just below 5 minutes, see straight eights, pulsing piano and rimshots ticking alongside. Will Harris takes an efficient solo over the piano earlier than Cooper channels Bruce Hornsby for a flowing piano spot. McMurchie demonstrates his nice tone with some delicate squeezes and squirls. Chasing Fantasies has a pleasant prolonged head with Latin and swing sections, and like all these monitor packs in quite a lot of curiosity.
Rolling On A Excessive sees the band joined by vocalist Doc Brown with some rap-style verses, nice enjoyable and good rhyming to the fore. Brown is placing out how impressed he’s by the band, resulting in the tune title. The horn part work right here, as elsewhere on the album, is basically first-rate; it appears like rather more than simply two devices collectively behind the creating story. The truth that the album is on Haggis Information, house of the legendary Haggis Horns, is testomony to the top-class tone of the enterprise.
Fuffle Kershuffle, contributed by Will Harris, is a loping shuffle with McMurchie coming into by way of an extended saxophone glissando – you don’t hear that every single day. Ian Matthews is once more proper within the combine on drums. Snakebite Playfight is probably my favorite monitor, switching simply between funk and swing with some tightly wound horn melody passages. Cooper mixes it up once more with Rhodes piano and organ earlier than a punchy thrash ending. The closing Enigma, against this, is a piano/bass duet recorded dwell on the Duc Des Lombards membership in Paris; reflective and wealthy, it provides an excellent distinction to every thing that’s gone earlier than.
Reminiscence In Movement is launched on 19 April 2024. The band is at the moment touring – FULL LISTING
Aberdeen Thursday 18 April
Falkirk Friday 19 April
Edinburgh 20 April
Newcastle 21 April
London album launch at Pizza Categorical, Tuesday 30 April
Might dates in France
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