LisaLeo Records – LISALEOI 001
Tom Lyne (double bass); Dave Milligan (piano)
Tom Lyne is originally from Edmonton, Alberta. He studied double bass at McGill University in Montreal before moving to Scotland in 1998. His 2016 solo album Far From Mars “blends electronic music with improvisation to create a retro yet modern sound”. Lyne and drummer Tom Bancroft have been members of the Dave Milligan piano trio for over 15 years. During the pandemic, Lyne committed himself to the double bass “with renewed intensity” while composing specifically for a pared-back duo setting with Milligan which resulted in this album.
All twelve tracks here are originals by Tom Lyne, except of Run for Cover, by David Sanborn and Marcus Miller. The title track is intended as a subtle nod to Money Jungle, the iconic 1962 session featuring Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus and Max Roach.
In the composer’s words: Well Mixed Blue is rooted in exploration, subtlety and sonic narrative. “One of the things that fascinates me is how harmony works, ” Lyne explains. “l think of it in terms of textures and tensions – how they relate to one another, rather than in fixed tonal terms. A pianist might ask, ‘What key is it in?’ Sometimes there isn’t one.”
I’d describe the music as totally tasteful and easy on the ear. Both players have terrific technique. If I say it makes great background music, it risks sounding like patronising with faint praise. And that’s not the intention. Right from the early days in New Orleans solo or very small group jazz has always being the backdrop to courting, debauching, dining, drinking, driving and ‘chillaxing’ to quote one of our past PMs. Teddy Wilson played a hotel bar in Boston, Horace Parlan in Copenhagen, Diana Kraal in Stockholm and Ellis Marsalis in New Orleans.
And a duo of string bass and tightly controlled piano, with no hammering, thumping, singing or Jarrettesque moany humming, playing no well-known familiar structure tunes, is pretty well inevitably going to sound to a bit backgroundy.
I kept wishing for a few standards, if only to hear how this top quality duo handles them. Also, I kept thinking that if the virtuoso improvisation captured here were coming from a pair of world famous big names, booked into Ronnies or a Blue Note at high prices, the club would probably be packed with jazz savvies listening intently and nodding wisely. If there is any musical justice this may well come to pass for Tom Lyne and Dave Milligan.
But dare I suggest that maybe this is more likely to happen after people have heard them making creative magic with a few already familiar songs?
