Dunmall and Figes improvise a suite full of colour, texture and detail that is thoroughly compelling.
SLAMCD2115
Paul Dunmall (tenor & soprano saxophones, clarinet, flute & alto flute); Kevin Figes (alto, soprano & baritone saxophones, flute & alto flute)
Recorded 23rd August 2023
The first of three albums to be released between now and the end of November on the SLAM imprint under its new ownership, and I’m pleased to report it is business as usual with music on the cutting edge of the spectrum.
Paul Dunmall will need no introduction to anyone with an interest in improvised music. A constant on the UK scene for more than forty years many will remember him with the exciting hard to free bop quintet Spirit Level with pianist Tim Richards, and the short loved two tenor quartet, Tenor Tonic, with Alan Skidmore, Paul Rogers and Tony Levin. Along with Rogers and Levin, the saxophonist joined forces with Keith Tippett to form Mujician, who over two decades were one of the most potent forces in improvised music.
Kevin Figes is an altogether different player. A gifted improviser, Figes is also interested in composition and his music frequently encompasses jazz, folk, contemporary classical and rock in addition to free improvisation, and Kevin has studied saxophone with both Elton Dean and Tim Garland.
The music captured in these performances comes from a single session in August 2022, and from the outset the two musicians sound relaxed and at ease. Indeed, there is nothing hesitant about the opening improvisation for alto and tenor saxophones that immediately strike up an absorbing dialogue.
The improvisations that make up this album seek to mix up the sound worlds open to the two improvisers, either looking for opposite ends of the spectrum in ‘Baritone and Soprano saxophone’ or with both Dunmall and Figes both picking up the same instruments as in ‘Two soprano saxophones’ or ‘Two flutes’ and listening to discover how their different approaches and sounds work together.
The overriding feeling of the music is that of melody as the pair work together towards a common goal. Nothing is combative, but two compatible musical minds enjoying each other’s company and making music together that is often joyous and with an organic sense of form as evidenced in the lovely ‘Clarinet and alto flute #2’. An unlikely pairing that works superbly on two improvisations that bring Dunmall’s woody tone on the instrument to the fore.
Figes sense of form within freedom is beautifully showcased, and he is not one to shy away from taking the lead when he feels the moment is right. The two ‘Tenor and alto saxophone’ duets both throw up a wealth of ideas as does the perfectly weighted ‘Two soprano saxophones’.
Over the course of ten pieces with six different instrumental combinations, Dunmall and Figes improvise a suite full of colour, texture and detail that is thoroughly compelling.
