Ogun OGCD 002
Elton Dean (alto saxophone & saxello); Paul Dunmall (tenor & baritone saxophones); Simon Picard (tenor saxophone); Trevor Watts (alto saxophone); Paul Rogers (double bass); Tony Levin (drums)
Recorded 7 May 1989
Originally released through Ogun Records in 1990 this welcome reissue or ‘second edition’ also boasts additional material in an exclusive download for purchasers of the CD, more of which later.
In a period of British jazz that was much heralded but as always poorly funded the scene was vibrant and alive with many diverse groups and a core of musicians that seemed to play if not in all, then certainly in multiple organisations simultaneously. A good way of securing gigs with a different name on the door, but once inside essentially hearing the same groups made up of combinations of familiar faces with different charts.
Such an approach may have secured regular work for many of the participants, it also pointed up a wide variety for us listeners too. With his Unlimited Saxophone Company Dean had poached three quarters of the improvising quartet Mujician and boasted a frontline saxophone section to die for.
What the band now was material they could work from collectively and as individual soloists and that is just what Dean brought to the table, or at least to the gigs, and it seems at odds almost to see photos of the USC playing from charts.
The album kicks off with ‘Unda’, a punchy ensemble theme accompanied by some driving work from Tony Levin that propels solos from Dean on saxello and Paul Dunmall on baritone. This sense of order and structure to the set and guidelines for the improvisers permeates throughout. ‘Seven For Lee’ provides a superb melody line and riff for the horns, while ‘Fal in Free’ as the title suggests becomes more freewheeling as the piece progresses.
It is not all frenetic pace and scorching solos as the USC bask in the relaxed tempo of ‘Rising’ with a secure foundation provided by Paul Rogers and Tony Levin. After the theme a powerful alto solo emerges propelled by just the rhythm section, and another slow burner in ‘Small Strides’. The closing bop inspired ‘One, Three, Nine’ brings the album to a satisfying conclusion featuring some fine collective improvisation.
The album captures the very first performance of the USC and the band went on to play only a handful of concerts before eventually the gigs dried up. Two years after the music heard here was recorded the group played at a festival at Le Mans, France on 12th May 1991. The music and video of the concert was captured by Philippe Renaud and has been available to watch on YouTube. For this special reissue, the sound from the original audio has been remastered and offered as an exclusive download.
The music is quite different from two years earlier, and even after playing just a few gigs the USC have found ways to subtly alter and develop the way in which they present Dean’s compositions. This in turn adds an extra enjoyment and addition to the album with pieces ‘One, Three, Nine’, ‘Rising’, ‘Unda’ and of course ‘Seven For Lee’ being presented in a familiar yet new light.
