This is without doubt one of my favourite albums so far this year
Subtone Records ST803
Mark Lockheart (saxophones & bass clarinet); Huw V Williams (bass); Jay Davis (drums)
Recorded April 2025
An eagerly awaited new album from Mark Lockheart and one which finds him in another new guise. From the sextet with orchestra line up on Days On Earth, the alt-rock rhythms of the quartet on Dreamers to the 13 piece ensemble heard on Smiling the saxophonist certainly like to mix things up, yet the music is always uniquely his own.
The new recording pairs things down to the bare bones in saxophone, bass and drums and without a harmony instrument the music takes on a free flowing melodic and often propulsive form in a set of compositions and improvisations from within the trio that once again produces remarkably fresh music.
Eschewing the heady straight-ahead music often associated with this instrumentation, Lockheart incorporates a subtle use of electronics and overdubs which serves to fill out the sound and add texture but also permits a more scored and orchestral feel to the compositions thus retaining that more formal link to the earlier recordings.
‘Come On Over’ for example has a sinewy saxophone line that over an insistent back beat. Coupled with a bass clarinet line and Williams’s supple bass lines and a gentle electronic edge to the mix makes for compelling music.
Solos emerge organically out of the writing and serve as just part of the music as whole as opposed to being the main attraction. The saxophonist’s signature sound on tenor is heard sounding as warm and full as ever and quite commanding on the excellent ‘Milking The Stone’ with some fine playing from Huw V Williams and Jay Davis whose driving rhythmic feel feeds Lockheart with plenty of fuel for his fiery solo. Contrast is provided with the next cut ‘Rule Of Three’ that again provides a solid base for the tenor to work from but also throws up subtle delights from bass and drums and the overdubbed horns that solidify the orchestral feel of the piece.
The quality of the writing continues with ‘Leeds Place’ with a gentle tempo that brings out Lockheart’s luminous tenor sound in a gently unfurling piece of storytelling. The diversity of the compositions and the sound world of trio is neatly summed up in the album’s title track that introduces electronics and ambient elements before settling into a solid groove.
Interspersed throughout the set are three delightful yet brief improvisations by the trio featuring Lockheart on soprano saxophone that seem complete in themselves and yet perhaps indicate another avenue for the trio to explore.
This is without doubt one of my favourite albums so far this year, and along with his last few releases just how far Lockheart’s music has developed. From his time served with Loose Tubes, Perfect Houseplants and Polar Bear the saxophonist can now lay claim to an important and ever evolving body of work under his own name and that all bear that unmistakable hallmark of quality.
