Music like this should open doors.
Jazz in Britain JIB-73-S- CD
The core band:
Trevor Watts – soprano & alto sax, percussion, compositions & arrangements; Marcus Cummins – soprano & alto sax; Gabriel Keene – piano; Geoff Sapsford – guitar; Colin McKenzie – bass guitar; Greg Leppard – drums; Ali Iaazane – Moroccan percussion
Additional musicians:
Amy Leake – tenor sax; Rob Leake – tenor sax
The recording took place in Hastings at St Mary’s in the Castle on 21 January 2000.
- A White Sail 3:38 / 2. Summer Suns 4:52 / 3. Dancing Gods 4:47 / 4. Passing Clouds 6:27 / 5. Other Worlds 6:32 / 6. Shining Shadows 6:05 / 7. Seven Serpents 5:02 / 8. Dreams of Leaving 5:25 / 9. Riding Tigers 6:29 / 10. Chinese Whispers 5:42 / 11. Summer Suns Reprise 4:57
Trevor Watts never fails to surprise. This is an astonishing album. The first track “A White Sail” leads you to think that this is a folk group, just pulsing with life over percussion from Greg Leppard and Ali Iaazane. The strident soprano saxes sound like the Master Musicians of Joujouka (or Jajouka) that so enraptured Ornette Coleman when he used them in his album “Dancing in Your Head” and then supported them in the Festival Hall. Trevor Watts says that the musicians had a strong influence on him when he heard and saw them perform at the Commonwealth Institute in London in the 1970s.
The well-travelled Trevor Watts has always learnt from the world. This is reflected in his writing. Here he created a band that is both astonishing in its richness and its power. There is joy in assertiveness which is never allowed to be self-indulgent.
The whole group has a sound that is much larger than the number of participants would suggest. The combined saxophones scream North Africa with its souks and mosaics, with drums beating out, while underneath, the drums pulse out an insistent rhythm.
All the pieces are composed by Trevor Watts. Composing is another aspect of Trevor Watts’ work. The group has four horn players, guitar, piano bass guitar and percussion. The whole piece was originally commissioned by “Same Sky”, a Brighton Community Theatre Group.
Trevor Watts says, “I want people to be able to retrospectively check this music out, mainly in terms of the compositional aspects of the music I made and we played. The music was to accompany the performers in each piece which included dance/movement//theatre. Each artist told me how they wanted to approach each piece and then I used my imagination to make up each piece of music for each section.”
This group sounds as if they have played together for years. There is no hesitation, they know exactly what they are doing. “Seven Serpents” sounds as though the serpents are playing the chorus. The edginess of the saxophones weaves their spells over an insistent percussion. Contrast this with “Passing Clouds” and the bells, the piano and a saxophone solo that demands to be listened to. “Chinese Whispers have a gentle percussion under repetitive figures.
Rules are broken, your rules, but their rules are in their heads and they are following them exactly and with relish.
The startling aspect of this music is that it is so good. There are enough starting points here (musical seeds) that you could start a musical market garden with them. There are ideas here that, could have, should have, been developed. Music like this should open doors. There is learning to be done.
Trevor Watts or one of his disciples should reform this group and bring out the joy and diversity that we can all share. There is enough here to point the way to other directions.
I am so pleased that JIB has decided to release this music as a limited edition of 300. There is nothing else like this in their catalogue. Jazz In Britain has decided to launch a budget series of releases. “The Lantern Tree” is the first release.
