“I believe it’s so important to keep an open mind about the arts without falling into the trap of thinking genres have rules that are set in stone”
JIB-94-S-CD / JIB-94-S-DL
It is difficult to overestimate Danny Thompson’s importance to British musical life. His refusal to respect stylistic boundaries may be his defining contribution, matched only by the astonishing command he exercised over his treasured nineteenth-century double bass, Victoria. On this three-CD set, the group performs without drums: Thompson supplies much of the rhythmic and percussive weight himself. His swooping lines, glissandos and sharply articulated rhythms often make the bass sound like an entire rhythm section.
Thompson’s debt to Charles Mingus was acknowledged, but his achievement was distinctively his own. Had he confined himself to a single genre, we might now be celebrating him simply as one of the great bass players. Instead, he helped create a music that moved freely between jazz, folk, rock and chamber music.
When asked in 1988 to categorise the music of his new trio, Thompson famously replied: “Well, it’s whatever!” The remark captured both the music’s character and his resistance to restrictive labels. As Frances O’Connor has more recently observed: “I believe it’s so important to keep an open mind about the arts without falling into the trap of thinking genres have rules that are set in stone.”
For many years, British jazz was too often treated as a pale imitation of American models. Musicians waited for the latest recordings by Sonny Rollins, Miles Davis, John Coltrane or Hank Mobley, then adjusted their own styles in response. Thompson’s great strength was his determination to escape that kind of slavish imitation. He sought instead to develop a music rooted in the British landscape and tradition while remaining open to improvisation and contemporary jazz.
“I had an idea to incorporate elements of jazz and folk music to make a melodic instrumental album with a distinct English flavour,” he said.
The first Whatever album, Whatever (1987), occupied an unusual space between folk, jazz and rock. Whatever Next (1989) extended the idea, while Elemental (1990) expanded the personnel and broadened the musical palette. On the Road gathers live recordings made by the group during its tours between 1989 and 1993, documenting how the music developed in performance. The set was compiled by Jazz in Britain in collaboration with Paul Dunmall and Tony Roberts, and is issued as a limited-edition three-CD package with a substantial booklet.
Disc One
Tony Roberts: bass clarinet, flute, tenor saxophone and Northumbrian pipes
Paul Dunmall: soprano, baritone and tenor saxophones
Gary Boyle: guitar
John Etheridge: guitar
Danny Thompson: bass
Recorded in Bristol, Dartington and Torrington, October 1989
How many groups begin with an eleventh-century composition? On “Crusader”, Paul Dunmall’s soprano solo sits beautifully within the medieval rhythmic framework. Gary Boyle provides an understated accompaniment beneath him, while the soprano’s tone gives the piece an almost oriental character.
“Lament for Alex” opens with Thompson’s immensely powerful bass. Comparisons with Mingus and Charlie Haden are not misplaced, although Thompson’s attack and phrasing remain entirely individual. Tony Roberts’s tenor solo is expressive and heartfelt, deepening the elegiac mood.
“Sandansko Oro” originates in Bulgaria and is built on complex dance rhythms. Dunmall and Etheridge both take compelling solos, while the soprano’s penetrating tone again lends the performance a distinctive Central European atmosphere.
“Wildfinger”, dedicated to John Martyn, begins with Dunmall on baritone. Bass and baritone move in close harmony before Etheridge establishes an accompaniment and then begins to explore the piece more freely. Roberts’s bass clarinet adds another colour, its dark, grainy tone contrasting with Boyle’s guitar. Boyle eventually leads into a bass solo from Thompson, who demonstrates an unusually flexible yet muscular sound—strong, resilient and capable of remarkable changes in direction.
Disc Two
Paul Dunmall: soprano, baritone and tenor saxophones
Tony Roberts: bass clarinet, flute, tenor saxophone and Northumbrian pipes
John Etheridge: guitar
Danny Thompson: bass
Recorded at the Bath Festival, 3 May 1992
“Beirut” begins with Thompson’s bass before Roberts enters on tenor with a lament-like statement. The music then turns towards a dance rhythm, with Etheridge’s guitar supplying both vitality and harmonic colour. Dunmall’s soprano brings an added sense of urgency. Thompson, who co-wrote the piece, ensures that its complex rhythmic structure remains firmly grounded throughout.
“Freedom”, written by Thompson and Bernie Holland, was inspired by the Romanian Revolution. Dunmall’s soprano introduces a sombre melody that gradually develops into an energetic dance, its Eastern European inflections suggesting both celebration and uncertainty.
Disc Three
Danny Thompson: bass
Tony Roberts: small pipes and tenor saxophone
Paul Dunmall: soprano and tenor saxophones, and Leicestershire pipes
Dylan Fowler: guitar and oboe
Peter Knight: violin
Recorded at the Barnfield Theatre, Exeter, 2 June 1993
The entire third disc is devoted to The A38 Suite, a five-part work composed and arranged by Tony Roberts. It originated in a commission from Nottingham City Council to celebrate the A38, the road whose route has Roman origins. The suite was performed at venues along the road between Bodmin Moor and Mansfield; Roberts recounts the story in the album’s notes.
The expanded ensemble adds Dylan Fowler on guitar and oboe and Peter Knight on violin. Their contributions create a fascinating range of textures, extending the group’s sound beyond its earlier guitar-and-reeds format. The violin can suggest folk tradition, chamber music or something more improvisational, while Fowler’s oboe introduces an especially distinctive colour.
One of the pleasures of these recordings is that many of the introductions to the audience have been retained. The musicians’ informal, folksy humour is not incidental: it forms part of the listening experience and helps convey the atmosphere of the performances. The result is not a polished studio construction but a record of a working band communicating directly with its audience.
Like Thompson, John Etheridge is a musician who has consistently ignored rigid distinctions between genres. His work on the first two discs is a revelation. He can provide discreet harmonic support, respond conversationally to the reeds and bass, or move into more searching and abstract territory without disrupting the music’s underlying momentum.
The Package and Its Importance
Jazz in Britain’s presentation is, as usual, of a high standard. This new package is particularly impressive. Reminiscences from the musicians establish the personal and musical context, while reviews of the band’s performances from newspapers around the country offer a valuable perspective on its reception. An extract from Richard Williams’s blog places the music within a broader historical context, and the detailed track listing makes it easy to identify the personnel on each performance. The audio quality is consistently strong.
For anyone new to this music, On the Road is a revelation. It documents an important chapter in the history of British jazz, while also demonstrating how far beyond conventional jazz categories Thompson’s music could travel. It is innovative, distinctly English and unmistakably European.
Above all, Whatever gave its musicians the freedom to explore areas that had often been closed to them by genre conventions and commercial expectations. Across these three discs, there are numerous moments when the players sound as though they are discovering new possibilities in real time. The music is restless and wild, with extended improvisations, expansive structural changes, shifting dynamics and an unusual willingness to let each idea grow.There is space for this large heated music to breathe.
This is not the music of a group attempting to fit comfortably into an established category. It is music that asks what might happen when the categories are removed altogether—and answers, appropriately, with: whatever.
