A fitting celebration of a long-standing partnership that continues to surprise and enchant
Jazz Cat Records: JCCD122
Rod Mason (tenor, soprano & baritone saxophones, flute); Dean Stockdale (piano, Fender Rhodes); Ben Crosland (bass); Dave Tyas (drums); Steve Waterman (trumpet, flugelhorn)
Recorded 6/7 August 2025 in Huddersfield, UK
In 2024 the trio Threeway with Ben Crosland, Steve Waterman and Steve Lodder released the album ‘Harken!’, marking the 500th anniversary of Sedbergh School in Cumbria, which Crosland had attended, but also the trio’s own 20th anniversary. This double celebration album, featuring guest John Etheridge, turned out to something rather special. Well, 2026 is another landmark year for Crosland which has again been marked with something special.
‘Wooltown Reflections’ celebrates 20 years of the Ben Crosland Quartet, a band put together by Crosland in 2006 at the suggestion of the Bradford jazz club owner Brian Bicat, who ran ‘Jazz at the Priestley’ (JATP) in the basement beneath The Priestley Centre for the Arts in Bradford. For the quartet, Crosland brought in friends and long-term playing partners Rod Mason (saxophones) and Dave Tyas (drums), together with Jamil Sherrif (piano), with whom he had played a number of gigs. Since 2021, the piano chair has been occupied by Dean Stockdale, but the remaining line-up has not changed. And on this album Crosland has added Steve Waterman (trumpet, flugelhorn), with whom he has a long playing history and presenting a most suitable special guest for the occasion.
The writing is of high quality throughout; mostly Crosland originals with two from Waterman and a version of a favourite Don Grolnick number; and all with a strong sense of melody making this an album that is easy to love. Crosland’s pieces are inspired by events, people and places, drawing on the band’s Bradford roots and recalled with great affection. The playing too is right up there and, as you would expect, shows great understanding, resulting in a cohesive sound that effortlessly flexes and morphs to deliver the fully-formed pieces here.
The opener ‘Broadway Departure’ is inspired by Crosland’s time as a barrister at Broadway House Chambers in Bradford and has a pleasingly relaxed, warm and swinging sound that feels more West Coast than West Yorkshire. There are smiling solos a plenty with Stockdale’s light touch piano interspersing with Tyas’ cascading drums to great effect.
‘After the Fire’ references the Bradford Fire Disaster of 1985, after which Crosland organised a memorable fund-raising concert, headlined by Don Rendell. Mason on soprano sax, Waterman on flugelhorn and Crosland’s soothing bass provide notes of heart-felt poignancy, but in a most engaging way, signposting a sense of healing and hope.
‘Anne’s African Odyssey’, one of Waterman’s pieces, picks up the pace on a danceable number packed with Latin rhythms, melody and bounce with Waterman and Mason, this time on baritone sax, sharing the spotlight and leaving you transported into a swinging 60s.
‘Monsieur BB’ celebrates the aforementioned jazz club owner Brian Bicat who triggered the creation of the quartet and was of French Huguenot heritage. The French connection carries through into the feel of number, which is imagined as a slow waltz ballad that breathes fond nostalgia, complete with Stockdale’s rippling piano solo.
Two of the city’s jazz venues are also fondly remembered. ’Glyding’ is a reference to Glyde House, which Crosland describes as “a really beautiful intimate room that always seemed to bring the best out of every band I played there with.” Here a floating, lightly skipping summer melody is carried aloft, first on flute, then piano and flugelhorn.
In contrast, ‘Down in the Basement’, a reference to the basement jazz club beneath the Priestley Centre, has a metro, after-hours feel, with Crosland laying down a funky, laid-back bassline and Stockdale switching to Rhodes and taking solos with Waterman and Mason which really seal the deal. Crosland says of the venue: “…there was a real jazz club vibe in that space with the audience almost on top of you!” and Olly Alcock’s evocative image of the exterior of the Priestley Centre proudly adorns the album cover.
Elsewhere, there is room for a toned-down Don Grolnick number, ‘The Cost of Living’, with a softly stated bassline and wonderfully controlled solos from Stockdale and Waterman. Crosland describes the number as a “treasured piece… which has been part of our set list for many years”, and it also really sings on disc. The lively Latin-themed ‘Malecon’ wraps things up, with dancing solos from Stockdale and Waterman.
Like opening a box of jewels, you will discover many sparkling gems in this uplifting album – a fitting celebration of a long-standing partnership that continues to surprise and enchant. Catch them on tour if you can with dates through to the end of November 2026.
