Sid Peacock and Surge

“La F?te”

(Peacock Angell Records Surge02)

Originally from Bangor, Northern Ireland guitarist, composer band-leader and educator Sid Peacock has been based in Birmingham for many years. I first encountered him only recently, unassumingly playing guitar behind his partner the violinist and vocalist Ruth Angell at a recent gig at The Hatch near Tenbury Wells.

That performance was essentially folk orientated but Peacock is also a significant figure on the Midlands jazz and improv scenes. The first edition of his “Surge” big band was formed in 2003 to perform a commission to mark Birmingham’s St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. The band has also appeared twice at Cheltenham Jazz Festival in 2005 and 2010, the latter performance earning a glowing appraisal from Phil Johnson of the Independent On Sunday.

The music on “La F?te” is the result of Peacock enjoying a three month composer residency at the Irish Cultural centre in Paris. The album was subsequently recorded in Birmingham with Peacock utilising the talents of many of that city’s finest young musicians, many of them students at, or graduates of, the acclaimed jazz course at Birmingham Conservatoire.

Peacock’s writing for Surge encompasses many genres and is infused with the anarchic spirit of composers such as Carla Bley, Frank Zappa and especially the UK’s own Django Bates. Indeed it’s Bates who’s the most obvious influence on the music to be heard on “La F?te”. It is therefore perhaps appropriate that the launch of the album, scheduled to take place at Birmingham’s newly refurbished Midlands Art Centre on March 24th 2011 should feature a guest appearance from Bates on keyboards and tenor horn. Peacock describes the sound of Surge as being “a hallucinogenic, uplifting, chaotic, exciting and emotionally charged musical landscape” and acknowledges Bates and the contemporary composer Brian Irvine as primary influences. The conscious Bates-isms even extend to Peacock’s brief comments about the seven tunes. 

Not that the obvious debt to Bates in any way invalidates the record. Surge’s music embodies everything Peacock describes above, making “La F?te” a supremely energising album with some terrific playing from the (mostly) young members of the orchestra who line up as follows;
Kiki Chen ?- Violin, Ruth Angell ?- Violin & vocals, Max Gittings ?- Flutes & whistles, Lluis Mather ?- ?Soprano sax, ?Huw Morgan - Alto sax, Chris Morgan ?- ?Tenor sax, Nick Rundle ?- Baritone sax, Mike Adlington - Trumpet, Aaron Diaz ?- Trumpet & fx, Rob Anstey ?- Trombone, Simon King ?- Guitar, Steve Tromans ?- Piano, Jason Huxtable - Marimba, Ryan Trebilcock - Double bass, Steve Tchoumba - congas, John Randall ?- Drums.

Peacock conducts these impressive players in an invigorating programme which kicks off with “Pixel Carnage”, a tune Peacock dedicates to street artist Invader who has prophesied that the alien invasion of the Earth will begin in Paris. The music is a heady melange of flutes, horns, strings , percussion and more with Diaz’s electronic effects adding an appropriately other worldly element.
There’s a dazzling, fiery trumpet solo from Mike Adlington that soars above the forest canopy of instruments bubbling and fermenting beneath. He’s followed by Steve Troman’s wonderfully percussive piano solo which simultaneously brings to mind both Thelonious Monk and Keith Tippett, it’s both tumultuous and torrential and drives the rest of the band on to a storming finish as the invaders take over.

“Hallucinogenic Garden” is a title that fits in neatly with the Peacock ethos. It’s initially a little more measured with a cheery almost Latin vibe and hosts some excellent ensemble playing plus a slow burning tenor solo from Chris Morgan. Like all Peacock pieces the styles and moods are constantly evolving, there are passages of rousing big band passages punctuated by brief impressionistic moments featuring Angell’s wordless vocals. Great stuff.

“The Left Direction” (“we are all leaning a certain way"notes Peacock) is presumably a not very veiled reference to Peacock’s political stance. There are no orthodox jazz solos, indeed the nature of the music suggests that at least some of it may be freely improvised. It’s all very brief , sometimes angry and certainly represents the most avant garde music on the album.

“Bit of Peace” is more serene and features the dreamlike wordless vocals of Ruth Angell, soaring above a backdrop that features Tromans at the piano and the feathery soprano sax of young Lluis Mather. 

Peacock describes the track “Kora” as a journey. The piece incorporates both rock and African rhythms with Huxtable’s bubbling marimba and King’s effects drenched guitar adding greatly to the gently exotic atmosphere generated by the horns and strings.

The joyous title track revels in the kind of controlled anarchy that Bates’ former band Loose Tubes used to excel in. Thrillingly dense, feverish, genre straddling modern big band arrangements plus an inspired solo from guitarist Simon King help to keep the pot bubbling.

Peacock’s note regarding “Bronze Bling” (it’s about the 2008 Olympics and major 3rd intervals”) is pure Bates and the music taps into the same rich vein as the preceding “La F?te”. Max Gittings’ solo brings back memories of Steve Buckley on Loose Tubes’ “Sad Afrika” and trumpeter Aaron Diaz also weighs in with a rousing solo before the band power into the finishing straight via way of a drum solo from the impressive John Randall.

“La F?te”, the album, is a fine example of contemporary big band writing and Peacock has inspired some great individual and collective performances from his talented crop of young musicians. The compositions and arrangements are bright, colourful, imaginative and consistently interesting.

If one has a criticism it’s that Peacock is too much in the thrall of Bates, but to his credit he makes no secret of this. Indeed with Django himself now increasingly reliant on vocalists (after long years as a fan of Bates’ music I’ve found it hard to warm to projects like “Quiet Nights” and “You Live And Learn, Apparently” and even the largely enjoyable StoRMChaser album still has too much singing) “La F?te” comes as a breath of fresh air, reminiscent both of Loose Tubes and classic Delightful Precipice recordings such as “Summer Fruits” and “Winter Truce”.

Despite the obvious comparisons “La F?te” stands on its own and succeeds as an album in it’s own right. Peacock captures some of that Loose Tubes/early Django magic and the result is a thrilling and consistently engaging album. I’m now looking forward to that show with Surge and Django at the MAC.

COMMENTS

Where can I buy this, It sounds really interesting.
James Goodall, 21/04/2011

Ian says;
Try Sid’s website http://www.sidpeacock.com

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