…this excellent album comes highly recommended.
Ubuntu Music UBU0185
Misha Mullov-Abbado (double bass); James Davison (trumpet & flugelhorn); Matthew Herd (alto & tenor saxophones); Sam Rapley (tenor saxophone & bass clarinet); Liam Dunachie (piano); Scott Chapman (drums)
Recorded 11th – 12th February 2024
Rapidly becoming one of the most in demand and versatile bassists, Misha Mullov-Abbado presents his fourth album as leader in a programme of original compositions that display his virtuosity on the double bass and the sense of adventure that he can conjure up in his compositions.
The music is at once powerful and tender as the sextet that have been building up a reputation as the MMA Group for almost a decade dig deep into the material provided by Mullov-Abbado. Inspired by the bassist’s connection to Brixton, the South London neighbourhood which he calls home.
As this would suggest, the compositions are a vibrant and colourful celebration of life and all it has to offer. The music is quite diverse and draws on elements from straight-ahead jazz to contemporary writing for small ensemble that belies the fact that there are six musicians performing some quite complex charts.
Kicking off with ‘Traintracker’ one gets the full force of the sextet in an exuberant display of tremendous horn lines, propulsive rhythms and a particularly effective solo from altoist Matthew Herd. This is immediately followed by two tracks that Misha presents as moving tributes to his marriage with ‘Bridge’ that has some wonderful full bodied and lyrical tenor playing from Sam Rapley that eases the band into a relaxed and swinging piece, while ‘Rose’ is a beautifully scored ballad with a strong and passionate bass solo and a delicate yet stirring piano solo from Liam Dunachie.
‘The Effra Parade’ is a celebration of life in the Brixton area and as such is a punchy theme over a tight drum pattern from Scott Chapman that gives way to some bravura playing from the horns collectively as well as in individual solos from James Davison on trumpet and a dynamic and swinging solo from the pianist. By this point, swept along by the music you realise that Mullov-Abbado has delivered up this diverse array of sounds, and we are only half way through the album!
Fortunately, the bassist has the ability to continue the somewhat frenetic and enjoyable pace of the music for the remainder of the album, not least with the infectious ‘Canção de Sobriedade’ which is another joyous outing that mixes vibrancy and colour in the ensembles with Herd once again turning in a lovely performance on alto, and the bebop influenced ‘Subsonic Glow’ with excellent solos from trumpet, piano and bass. The album closes on a gentler note and some magnificent writing again from Mullov-Abbado for the horns leaving room for a solo that brings into sharp focus the playing of Rapley’s tenor over a relaxed tempo.
Listening to the album it will come as no surprise to learn that the band have been playing together for a considerable length of time, and this shows in the quality and breadth of the music, and the empathy in which it played. As such, this excellent album comes highly recommended.
Album launch for Effra is 22nd February at Kings Place, London
