Friday at Titley Jazz Festival, The Rodd Farm Estate, Titley, Herefordshire, 26/07/2013.

Photograph of Peter King by Paul Bentley http://www.jazzimages.co.uk

Sourced from the Titley Jazz website http://www.titleyjazz.com

David Masters’ bold decision to reincarnate the spirit of the much loved Appleby Jazz Festival in the heart of the Herefordshire countryside has been vindicated several times over. Incredibly this was the fourth Titley Jazz Festival and once again the “Titley Family” of fans and musicians descended upon the delightful rural location of The Rodd to enjoy the bucolic ambience ? not to mention the real ale and, most importantly, the jazz.

The history of the festival and its location has been more fully charted in my coverage of the previous years so I’ll press straight on with the music, beginning with;

TITLEY JAZZ SEPTET

It’s become something of a tradition that the festival weekend should open with a session led by festival stalwart Alan Barnes. Equally it has also become customary that the size of the group should increase year on year so this time the opening band was a septet with multi reed player Barnes joined by a bunch of Titley regulars including tenor saxophonist Don Weller, happily back in harness after missing the 2012 festival through ill health. Welcome back Don. The line up also included trumpeter Steve Waterman and trombonist Mark Nightingale plus a rhythm section featuring pianist David Newton, bassist Andy Cleyndert and drummer Steve Brown.

The septet’s two sets represented a restatement of Titley’s core jazz values with the band tackling a selection of familiar jazz standards with an emphasis on the music of Duke Ellington. The Duke’s composition “Cottontail” was a brisk introduction to the voices of the band with Weller signalling his return by taking the first solo followed by Waterman on trumpet, Barnes on alto, Newton on piano and Cleyndert at the bass. A furiously swinging Steve Brown rounded things off with a flurry of fiery drum breaks.

Manchester born Barnes is something of a raconteur and his dry Northern wit and bantering with the audience is an integral part of the Titley ambience. He handled most of the announcements here   and introduced “Blue Monk” as having “the correct middle eight”. Apparently Miles Davis’ recording of the tune diverged from Thelonious Monk’s original. Whatever.
In the hands of these seasoned Brits the old favourite still sounding good with Weller delivering an outstanding tenor solo and Newton displaying some suitably Monkish idiosyncrasies during the course of his feature. We also heard from Nightingale on trombone, Barnes on alto, Waterman on trumpet and Cleyndert at the bass. Once again Brown enjoyed a series of flourishes as he traded choruses with the horns.

Ellington’s “In A Sentimental Mood” represented this set’s ballad interlude and was a feature for the “brass section” as Barnes and Weller left the stage. Waterman and Nightingale demonstrated a sweeter, more lyrical side to their playing backed by Brown’s subtly brushed grooves. Newton and Cleyndert displayed similar qualities with the bassist picking up his bow to accompany the final horn exchanges.

Barnes and Weller returned as the first half concluded with a Latin tinged version of “Lover Man”  with Weller stating the theme above the clatter of Brown’s sticks on rims. Subsequent solos came from Barnes on alto, Nightingale on trombone and Waterman on fiery, high register trumpet. Weller then returned to the fray to deliver a full length tenor solo followed by Newton at the piano before Brown rounded things off with a stunning drum feature, his imaginative use of toms replicating the sound of timbales. A high octane conclusion to an enjoyable opening set.

Andrew Cleyndert is very much one of the cornerstones of the festival. As well as playing bass in a number of ensembles (including on the Saturday one of his own) he also helps with the sound in conjunction with sound engineer Paul Sparrow. The first set had been affected by an annoying glitch but Cleyndert worked to fix it during the break and it wasn’t to surface again throughout the weekend. Indeed congratulations to Paul and Andy for the superb sound throughout the festival. The programme featured a diverse array of instrumental configurations and everybody sounded good with the balance virtually always “spot on”.

The hard working Cleyndert was back behind his bass for a version of Ellington’s “Caravan” which opened the second set, further Latin inflections underpinning more stunning high register trumpet pyrotechnics from Waterman and a playful, quote filled alto solo from Barnes. Weller, Newton and Nightingale also featured with Brown again rounding things off with a dynamic drum feature.

Weller took the first solo on “I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart” before the impish Barnes and the drier Newton traded quotes in their solos (“Pop Goes The Weasel, if you please!). Waterman and Nightingale delivered some tasty trumpet and trombone exchanges before Cleyndert rounded things off at the bass.

The laconic Weller introduced a lovely version of the classic Mal Waldron ballad “Soul Eyes” , a feature for the reed players mirroring the brass only ballad of the first set. Weller’s tone was was gruff but tender, almost avuncular, with the breathy quality of his sound hinting at the human voice. Barnes was in uncharacteristically solemn mood for his alto solo and we also heard the lyrical side of Newton and Cleyndert. Brown’s sensitive use of mallets and bare hands contributed colour and subtlety to the music.

The full septet concluded the first concert of the day with a spirited run through of an unannounced blues (one of those jazz standards I knew but couldn’t quite hang a title on, maybe somebody could enlighten me). In any event Brown’s propulsive drumming triggered short, punchy solos from each of his colleagues, Nightingale going first followed by Waterman, Weller, Barnes (who had stuck to alto throughout), Newton and Cleyndert.

This had been an enjoyable opening performance, a good, if perhaps rather formulaic, curtain raiser that relied heavily on familiar material. Nevertheless the playing was never less than good and was sometimes exceptional, just the kind of thing the Titley faithful love to hear.

Nonetheless the programming at Titley has evolved gradually over time with each year introducing something different and slightly more adventurous. This was to be epitomised by the next set featuring another multi reed player, the excellent Chris Biscoe, on his first visit to Titley.

CHRIS BISCOE “BRITISH STANDARD TIME”.

Multi reeds player Chris Biscoe is perhaps best known for his work in the bands of Mike and Kate Westbrook and I’m also familiar with his work as part of a group led by pianist Liam Noble and as a member of trumpeter Loz Speyer’s Inner Space Music. Biscoe has also led his own Profiles group, featuring former Titley visitor Tony Kofi, which has seen him putting his own stamp on the music of Charles Mingus and Eric Dolphy. Biscoe, who has recorded prolifically in a variety of jazz styles and contexts, has the ability and versatility to move easily between the straight ahead and the avant garde. His reputation as an “out” player may have made him an unlikely choice for Titley but this set with his “British Standard Time” quintet proved to be one of the highlights of the festival.

Biscoe’s invitation to perform at Titley was probably explained by the presence in his band of the familiar figure of Alan Barnes alongside pianist bassist John Horler, bassist Dave Green and drummer Dave Barry.  The concept behind BST is to perform jazz that is not sourced directly from the “Great American Songbook” but instead celebrates the music of the land of birth of its practitioners. With this in mind Biscoe takes the music of such British songwriters as Noel Coward and Ivor Novello and arranges them for his somewhat unusual jazz quintet, in Biscoe’s words “a Drury Lane version of the Great American Songbook”.

Biscoe’s innovative arrangements are indisputably jazz with plenty of room left for incisive and expansive solos from the members of his all star band. Both Biscoe and Barnes play a dazzling variety of reed instruments and the opening piece found them locking big horns as both played baritone sax on a version of “This Is My Lovely Day”, a 1930’s song written by the celebrated British theatre composer Vivian Ellis. 

John Horler was also a welcome first time visitor to Titley. A versatile and imaginative, but sadly underrated, musician he was a welcome addition to the pantheon of superb Titley pianists. His solo introduction with its classical inferences ushered in “I Gave My Love An Apple”, a lovely adaptation of an English folk song appropriated by Vaughan Williams. Biscoe’s arrangement gave the piece a modal twist and incorporated serpentine solos from himself on soprano sax and Barnes on clarinet.

Ivor Novello’s “Music In May” featured the combination of Biscoe on baritone and Barnes on clarinet, these two dropping out for a substantial period as Horler and the rhythm section entered into trio mode with the pianist soloing lengthily and fluently. Dave Green, that doyen of British bass players took his first extended solo of the weekend and that immaculate time keeper Dave Barry enjoyed a series of sparky drum breaks.

The first set closed with a heavily mutated version of Noel Coward’s “Mad About The Boy” and featured the twin altos of Biscoe and Barnes, initially in tandem then in extended solos. Biscoe’s acerbic, blues inflected solo hinted at his avant garde credentials whereas as Barnes kept things relatively more straightforward. Further solos from Horler and Green rounded things off nicely.

An excellent, and often thought provoking, first set concluded with “The Moment I Saw You” by composer Manning Sherwin, best known for writing the music for the song “A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square”. This featured yet another combination of reeds with Biscoe on soprano and Barnes on alto and included an opening duet featuring Barnes and Horler. Biscoe’s incisive soprano danced above Green’s propulsive walking bass line as the group again pared down to a duo prior to Barry’s closing solo drum feature.

The twin alto combination opened the second half on Anthony Newley’s “What Kind Of Fool Am I?” with Barnes soloing first and tossing in a quote from another 60’s pop hit “Mona Lisa”. He was followed by Horler , Biscoe and Green with the two horns re-uniting for some tasty exchanges before the close.

Next came a version the Irish traditional folk song “Black Is The Colour Of My True Love’s Hair” . Back in 1962 the American tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin took the unlikely step of recording a quartet album of jazz arrangements of British and Irish folk songs entitled “The Kerry Dancers And Other Swinging Folk Songs” which included “Black Is The Colour”. Biscoe’s take on the tune was inspired by the Little Giant’s but in an arrangement featuring his own bass clarinet and with Barnes on both baritone and alto. The introduction featured Barnes’ playing of the melody on alto above the buzz and burr of Biscoe’s bass clarinet with the latter subsequently embarking on a Dolphy-esque solo. The excellent Horler then soloed expansively as the group slipped into trio mode with Barnes returning to deliver a brilliant solo on baritone before handing over to Green. The combination of the two low end reed instruments on the restatement of the theme was also thoroughly absorbing.

Next up was an equally engrossing (but unannounced) duet between Biscoe on soprano sax and Horler at the piano that developed from Horler’s solo introduction and probed deeply and mesmerically. The rapport between the two musicians was deep and instinctive with each responding superbly to the other’s inflections. The thread of melody around which they improvised sounded like the Christmas carol “In The Bleak Midwinter” (a piece previously tackled by trumpeter Henry Lowther’s Still Waters band in an arrangement by Julian Arguelles), an ironic choice for a lovely summer’s afternoon but so oblique was the treatment that sometimes I thought it might be something else. Comments or corrections are welcomed.

BST signed off by playing two Ray Noble tunes back to back, “The Touch Of Your Lips” and finally the more familiar (to jazzers) “Cherokee”, the latter adapted as “Ko-Ko” by the great Charlie Parker. 

The first of these was given a Latin flavour by Barry’s solo drum intro with the theme subsequently stated by Barnes on alto underpinned by Biscoe’s bass clarinet. Barnes took the first solo followed by Biscoe before the attention switched to Green who reprised the melody on his bass before improvising around it.

“Cherokee/Ko-Ko” was more of a bop tear up with the two horn men finishing as they began by roaring away on their baritones like rutting stags spurred on by Barry’s dynamic drumming. Following a final solo from the superb Horler and a further drum barrage from Barry the familiar “Cherokee”  theme finally emerged as BST finished their afternoon’s work in rousing fashion.

Despite the unlikely choice of source material and the occasional nudging of the avant garde BST’s performance was extremely well received by the Titley crowd. Biscoe had dared to do something a little bit different and had succeeded brilliantly. For me his adventurous approach made this the gig of the day, and one of the best of the entire festival weekend.

TRIBUTE TO ELVIN JONES & MARTIN DREW

This barnstorming session honouring two famously powerful drummers was co-led by the saxophonists Peter King (alto) and Alan Skidmore (tenor), two musicians with a particular affinity for the music of John Coltrane whose great 1960’s quartet featured the late, great Elvin Jones (1927-2004) in the drum chair. The performance also honoured the great British drummer Martin Drew who died in 2010 shortly before he was due to appear at the inaugural Titley Jazz as part of King’s quartet. His place was taken by the late Tony Levin who played brilliantly. Levin passed on the following year and it was perhaps appropriate that his son Miles Levin was selected to to fill the drum stool for today’s tribute. Miles’ style behind the kit is very similar to that of his father and he’s also highly adept at replicating Jones relentless polyrhythmic flow thus making him the perfect choice . The band was completed by popular Titley regular Steve Melling at the piano with Andy Cleyndert taking over bass duties from the advertised Alec Dankworth.

It’s been several years since I last saw Alan Skidmore play and I’d almost forgotten what an intense and powerful soloist he is. He fairly tore into the opening solo on “Blues Minor”, lashed on by Levin’s dynamic drumming as the young man channelled the collective spirit of Jones, Drew and his own father. King is an equally impassioned performer, inspired these days as much by tenorist John Coltrane as his original alto hero Charlie Parker. Meanwhile Melling’s solo owed something to the style of McCoy Tyner, pianist with the classic Coltrane quartet that cut the classic 1965 album “A Love Supreme”.

The ballad “Body And Soul” was recorded by a Coltrane group featuring Jones and this version was the basis for a feature for King with the altoist sharing solo duties with Melling at the piano.

Jones also recorded with saxophonist Wayne Shorter and it was the latter’s “Oriental Folk Tune” that was the next item to be tackled by the quintet. Shorter turned out to be one of the most covered composers of the weekend, his intriguing compositions always give improvisers plenty to get their teeth into. Here Shorter’s arresting faux oriental modal theme proved the jumping off point for a marathon Skidmore tenor solo full of power and invention, Skid may be seventy now but his physical resourcefulness is still astonishing. King almost matched him on alto and there were also solos from Melling and Cleyndert.

A rollicking version of Tyner’s “Passion Dance”, a modern day standard, closed the first set with Melling getting close to the spirit of the real McCoy. Skidmore’s solo was another impassioned display climaxed by some furious honking, while King’s inventive passage of scorching alto revealed him to be another veteran with plenty of life left in him. Levin closed things off with a flamboyant and hard hitting solo. The young Birmingham based drummer was to feature in a number of other collaborations over the course of the weekend and was to win himself a lot of new friends with his crisp, energetic playing.

The second half began by maintaining the energy levels with a rousing run through Jones’ own “EJ’s Blues” with solos from Skidmore, Melling and King plus the almost obligatory closing drum feature.

Skidmore’s tenor feature was to be Coltrane’s classic ballad “After The Rain” with Skid slowing down and revealing a more sensitive side to his playing. His tenor sax meditations took on a Coltrane-esque spiritual quality as he emoted above Cleyndert’s arco bass, Levin’s cymbal shimmers and Melling’s gently rumbling piano underpinning.

A shorter second set closed with a lengthy work out on Coltrane’s “Impressions” with King digging in for the first solo followed by Melling who again unleashed his inner Tyner as he swarmed all over the keyboard during the course of a brilliant solo. Skidmore’s incendiary solo mined the declamatory style of latter day Coltrane, at one point lashed on by Levin’s drums alone, in another monumental tour de force. Eventually the tenor man stepped aside to let the young Levin round off this homage to two great drum masters from either side of the Atlantic.

The sheer intensity of this performance was perhaps best summed up by the barking of a frightened dog who was spooked by the initial twin sax burst of King and Skidmore on “Blues Minor” and could be heard again at the end of the performance as Levin flailed away. One or two of the human audience found it all pretty scary too but I thought it was terrific.   

This session ran Chris Biscoe’s BST mighty close for the award of my gig of the day. Skidmore and King played with remarkable verve and panache, their blistering solos matched by the work of an immaculate and highly propulsive rhythm section. I’ll give the nod to Biscoe for taking the more original approach but there was little to choose between these two incandescent sets of excellent music.

TERRY SEABROOK’S MILESTONES

As might be guessed by the band name pianist Terry Seabrook’s group pays tribute to another giant of the music, the late great trumpeter, composer and all round icon Miles Davis. Seabrook’s sextet concentrates on the music of Davis’ “Kind Of Blue” period of the late 1950’s and early 1960’s.

I saw Milestones at the 2011 Mostly Jazz Festival in Birmingham and concluded that they were “probably the classiest tribute act you’ll ever see”, an opinion tonight’s performance did little to alter. Apart from one or two minor tweaks Seabrook stuck pretty closely to Davis’ original arrangements and didn’t bring as much of himself to the music as Biscoe and King/Skidmore did to their very different kinds of tribute. The playing, from a highly experienced line up of British pros, was as classy as you’d expect but it all sounded a little too mannered, studied and reverential. Seabrook doesn’t take too many liberties with the Davis legacy, he probably treats this era of Davis’ output with much more respect than Miles ever did.

Joining Seabrook in the classic six piece instrumental configuration that graced “Kind Of Blue” were the ubiquitous Alan Barnes on alto sax, Ian Price on tenor, Paul Whitten on bass and Spike Wells at the drums with Martin Shaw, making his first appearance of the festival weekend, fulfilling the Davis role on trumpet.

The group began with the familiar pecked theme of their signature tune “Milestones” with solos coming from Barnes on alto, Shaw on trumpet, Price on tenor and Seabrook himself at the piano.

“Nardis”, sometimes ascribed to Bill Evans, began as a bass feature for Whitten but he seemed buried a little too low in the mix. Subsequent solos came from Barnes, Seabrook and Spike Wells at the drums.

Seabrook has written his own suite, “Sketches Of Miles”, based on the music of his hero and the group next played two extracts from this work, “That’s What” and “Three Miles High”. The first was a brisk, fast moving item in the style of “Milestones” with solos from Barnes, Shaw and Seabrook.
The more meditative “Three Miles High” began with a passage of solo piano and saw Shaw switching to flugel horn with further solos coming from price and Whitten.

The sextet completed their first set by playing the first side of “Kind Of Blue” as kind of suite beginning with “So What”, proceeding through “Freddie Freeloader” and finishing with “Blue In Green”.
After Seabrook’s brief piano introduction Whitten got things moving by pumping out the familiar bass motif from “So What” with Shaw, Price, Barnes and Seabrook replicating the flow of solos on the album before the return of that iconic bass figure.
The blues “Freddie Freeloader” was announced by the three horns stating the theme in unison with subsequent solos coming from Shaw, Barnes, Price and Whitten. Shaw’s trumpet solo was particularly impressive and he was to excel throughout the course of the weekend both with this band and as part of a number of other line ups. He’s playing better than ever and was one of the outstanding soloists of the entire festival. “Blue In Green” found him deploying Davis’ patented Harmon mute sound alongside Seabrook’s Bill Evans styled piano, Barnes’ alto and Whitten’s bowed bass at the suite’s conclusion.

The second half began with the sextet playing side two of “Kind Of Blue” starting with “All Blues” with Shaw beginning on muted trumpet before switching to the open horn for his solo. Price, Barnes, Seabrook and Wells followed suit.
The more freely structured “Flamenco Sketches” engendered shorter solos with Shaw displaying commendable poise and control on muted trumpet and with further solos coming from Price, Barnes and Seabrook.

From the suite “Sketches Of Miles” Seabrook’s own “Boppin’ For MD” was inspired by Davis’ series of 50’s albums for Prestige (“Cookin’”, “Steamin’”, “Relaxin’” etc.) The tricky, appropriately boppish theme proved the jumping off point for strong solos from Shaw, Price, Barnes and Wells.

Also from “Sketches Of Miles” the piece “The Devil’s Own” was inspired by the music of Davis’ classic mid sixties quintet featuring Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams. Seabrook began the soloing here followed by Price on tenor and Shaw on flugel with a final flourish from Wells at the drums.

As this was the final set of the day and one which had been particularly well received festival organiser David Masters allowed the band to take a rare festival encore. This proved to be “Seven Steps To Heaven”, a tune written for Davis by the British born pianist and percussionist Victor Feldman. Constructed in a similar fashion to the opening “Milestones” we had, in effect, come full circle. Shaw took the first solo followed by Wells at the drums, Barnes on baritone sax and Seabrook at the piano. Finally Price’s most powerful tenor playing of the night ensured that the day finished on a suitably buoyant note.

I enjoyed the Milestones group’s performance (who couldn’t not like “Kind Of Blue”) and it was   very much appreciated by the Titley faithful. However for me this was still “jazz as repertory”, even Seabrook’s own pieces were too consciously in the style of the Davis period that he chooses to celebrate. Biscoe’s radical treatment of his source material had virtually transformed some of the pieces into virtually new compositions while the sheer energy and visceral nature of their performances saw King and Skidmore breathe new life into the Coltrane legacy.

Overall though this had been an excellent day’s music and a great start to Titley Jazz 2013.       
 

   

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