Interrupto Music IM010
Playtime:
Martin Kershaw (alto & soprano saxophones); Graeme Stephen (guitar- except tracks 10 & 14); Mario Caribé (bass & electric bass); Tom Bancroft (drums & bodhran)
Guests:
Laura Jurd (trumpet – track 1); Byron Wallen (trumpet – tracks 5 & 13); Ernst Reijseger (cello – track 7); Denys Baptiste (tenor saxophone – tracks 8 &18); Satoko Fujii & Natsuki Tamura (piano & trumpet – tracks 10 & 14); Iain Ballamy (tenor saxophone – tracks 11 & 15); Corey Mwanda (vibraphone – tracks 12 & 16)
Recorded between 19 March, 2020 & 30 July, 2021
A unique experiment, or just musicians doing what musician do best… finding other musicians to make music with any way that they can? The answer is a combination of both and necessity as any other choice had been taken away by the Covid pandemic.
With the original band Playtime also getting together more by chance than with the idea of forming anything more permanent, the duo of Martin Kershaw and Graeme Stephen back in 2014 quickly became a quartet with the addition of Tom Bancroft and Mario Caribé. Having a regular place to play was an added bonus and so over a period of time and sessions held weekly, slowly but surely an audience grew for the band.
As the music developed it was logical to introduce guests from different areas of the music to come and join them, and so the repertoire evolved to, from original compositions to freely improvised performances.
As the pandemic rudely put a stop on all social gathering and live music, the group turned to live streaming to see if it was viable for them to play together over the internet. It was quickly established that with the time delay it was impossible to play written compositions or with a strict time feel, but the process worked surprisingly well for freely improvised music.
The problems and mishaps that occurred on the journey of discovery, and ultimately finding a workable solution to the problems is told in a series of monologues and dialogues throughout the album, but it is of course the music that speaks most loudly and coherently in a collection of improvisations that traverse melody, accessibility and abstraction.
That the quartet have a deep understanding of each other’s playing goes without saying, but what is remarkable is their adaptability when a new voice or voices are brought into the mix. It is no disrespect therefore to Playtime, more a compliment, to say that the most interesting and adventuress music is heard when guests are invited to the online sessions, and the sheer variety of the music performed is staggeringly diverse.
The music seems to seamlessly occupy musical territories that move from abstraction, grooves, melody and ever-changing soundscapes. Trumpeters Laura Jurd and Byron Wallen bring sensitive and lyrical playing in their contributions, and this lyrical side to the music continues with the ever thoughtful and melodic tenor saxophone of Iain Ballamy. Ballamy and Caribé feature in a delightful tenor and bass duet that at only a minute and a half in duration is over far too soon, with just time for the burnished tone of the tenor and warm, woody sound of double bass to make a lasting impression.
Another lasting impression is created with the inspired playing of Playtime in tandem with pianist Satoko Fujii and trumpeter Natsuki Tamura from Japan. With distance seemingly not an issue regarding audio latency, the music takes on a steely abstraction that is ultimately extremely creative and satisfying and the dense texture from piano and Bancroft’s drumming provides quite an unsettling foundation on ‘Ermintrude’ for Tamura’s trumpet improvisation.
All the selections on this wonderful CD are of course just snippets from longer improvisations. For those who would like to hear more, you can do via the continued wonders of technology via Phil Bancroft’s innovative Myriad Streams website at playtime.myriadstreams.com. There is also an option to join the Patron site and hear all 10 hours of music that was captured during this highly productive and creative period of time.
