IAN’S REVIEW

Billy Jenkins

“I Am A Man From Lewisham”

(VOTP Records VOCD 105)

Musical polymath Billy Jenkins was once regarded as the “enfant terrible of British Jazz.” Now in his early 50’s Jenkins is still as subversive as ever and this latest release in a long and productive career ranks as one of his best. Jenkins first came to public attention back in the 1980’s at around the same time as the similarly iconoclastic Loose Tubes. Indeed many former Tubes and their musical relatives and descendants have appeared on Jenkins’ albums, which now number some forty plus.

Jenkins has also been described as “the British Frank Zappa” but many of Jenkins’ lampoons have been more affectionate than those of the notoriously misanthropic Zappa. Jenkins is more the great British eccentric but he’s still a pertinent social commentator and satirist, especially on the process of music making itself.

It doesn’t always work, sometimes Jenkins is just too plain daft and wilfully eccentric and his self consciously naff vocals sometimes get in the way of the music. But Jenkins always employs great players, even if he sometimes urges them to forget their hard earned technique, and his records always contain something interesting. I’ve never seen him live but I’m sure that this is where the subversive, madcap side of his musical personality comes out totally, thereby making this the context in which to enjoy him best. His records are almost certain to be uneven by definition.

Jenkins is also defiantly British. Many of his albums are part homage/part lampoon of his patch in South East London, mainly Bromley but latterly Lewisham and its environs. “I Am A Man…” continues Jenkins’ ongoing process of turning London’s suburbia into a breeding ground for the blues, using the traditional American form as an outlet for the grumbles of everyday London suburban life. It’s part piss take, partly a serious attempt to create something uniquely English out of the blues form, and more often probably both at once.

Jenkins has attracted a compelling amount of critical praise for “I Am A Man” and also made a recent appearance on Radio Four’s “Midweek” programme discussing both his music and his new role as a celebrant at Humanist funerals. With all this exposure it could well be that “I Am A Man..” is his biggest album to date.

Jenkins is joined on the album by some outstanding musicians, some of them long term collaborators. The core group consists of Jenkins on guitar, vocals and harmonica, Nathaniel Facey on alto sax, Gail Brand on trombone, Oren Marshall on tuba, Dylan Bates on violin and pocket cornet plus Charles Hayward on drums, percussion and melodica. Jenkins successful appearance on “Midweek” led to a similarly interesting appearance from improvising trombonist Brand a few weeks later.

There are guest appearances from organist Dave Ramm, trumpeter Jim Howard, violinist Charlie Hart and backing vocalists Carol Grimes, Ayanna Witter-Johnson and Merlin Hayward. Most of the album cast plus a few other guests feature in the VOGC Junior League Choir, a long running Jenkins institution that appears on the closing track “Throw Them Blues In The Recycling Bin”.

And it’s with the blues that the album starts, lurching out of the blocks with the title track as Billy’s plays ragged, distorted guitar and sings gutturally about helping the neighbours and the culinary delights of low sugar jam. The backing singers chorus along in gospel fashion. Meanwhile Marshall fashions a whamping bass line, Faceys sax wails and squawks the blues and Brand’s trombone adds a soup?on of lyricism. So far, so much fun but the birdsong sound effects are brutally interrupted by the sounds of a drive by shooting, a stark reminder that life in Lewisham can also be harsh and brutal. Bates’ crazed violin scrapings emphasise the point before Jenkins returns to wrap things up.

“On (Catford) Broadway” is a typically punning Jenkins title and the music comes across as a bizarre free jazz version of the “Steptoe And Son” theme tune. It’s brassy, energetic and sounds like great fun to play as the horns squall at each other over Jenkins’ scratchy guitar and Hayward’s boxy drums. For the listener it’s deliciously daft and hugely invigorating.

Apparently Jenkins was captain of the “Francis Drake Bowls Club” for three years. He’s seen in action on the rink on the front cover. The tune of the same name features Bates’ woozy violin (Jenkins refers to him as the “Paganini of Penge”) circling above Marshall’s lugubrious tuba in the most skewed kind of waltz imaginable. Its unspeakably weird but utterly compelling.

Billy lets the blues loose again on “Deptford Market”, a kind of blues shuffle with Marshall’s bouncing tuba lines, dazzling synchronised passages and Jenkins on blueswailing harmonica and   crazed guitar. Everybody seems to get involved on this frantic jam of a number, there’s feverish violin from Bates and a blistering r’n'b alto solo from Facey. Once again everybody sounds as if they’re having a ball and that sense of fun communicates itself to the listener.

The same thing applies to “Church Of The Ford Transit Minibus”, a kind of deranged barn dance with everybody playing fit to bust. There’s down home fiddle from Bates, gutbucket trombone from Brand and the whole thing is utterly, delightfully bonkers.

“Terraced Fast Food” is presumably a tribute to South London’s multiculturalism. The mood though is much darker with powerful, minimalistic drumming from Hayward and improbable dark, breathy rumblings from Marshall’s tuba. Violin and trombone swim in and out of focus on the Middle Eastern style melody as Jenkins’ guitar adds unsettling textures. The mood is a good deal more sombre than the rest of the album but the results are never less than fascinating.

“Clock Tower Of Power” (great title) begins as a New Orleans style rave up but is quickly sabotaged by Billy’s anarchic guitar wailings and mutates into a delicious musical free for all with Bates chameleon like violin also prominent.

The album ends with another piece of arch Jenkins blues humour. “Throw Them Blues In The Recycling Bin” is a raucous closer complete with the VOGC Choir and Billy’s own unholy howl. For me the vocal pieces don’t work quite so well, the jokes are a bit too obvious and wear thin pretty quickly. The humour in the instrumentals is more long lasting and should continue to entertain for years to come. The fact that the players are brilliant and can make humour in music look easy is a huge plus. There is some brilliant musicianship throughout this album and the majority of it is a joy to listen to.

Billy Jenkins is the kind of cult figure who can evoke either total dedication, bemused indifference or outright antagonism. But there must be others like me who find his albums to be a bit like a selection box, for every tasty morsel-and there are plenty of them here-there are other bits that you could well do without.

Nonetheless in an increasingly bland musical landscape we need musical mavericks like Billy Jenkins and Django Bates (also from South East London, it must be something in the water) to give the prevailing musical and cultural landscape a kick up the arse from time to time. Jenkins’ surreal musical concoctions are inspired by Frank Zappa and Carla Bley but are all the more remarkable for being wholly British, simultaneously defiant and self deprecating. This is the sound of a man having serious fun. More power to his elbow.

BILLY’S REPLY

After the above review was posted, originally using the summary “This is the sound of a man having serious fun. More power to his elbow.” I received a very rapid and highly interesting response from Billy Jenkins himself.
The bulk of Billy’s reply is reproduced below. It offers a fascinating and often entertaining insight into his working methods and overall musical philosophy-and I’ve allowed him a little bit of self promotion too!

Dear Jazzmann

Just discovered your thoughtful and thorough review of LEWISHAM and I write to thank you so much for listening and the inspired thoughts and well researched observations.

I am always intrigued how listeners hear ‘satire’ and ‘eccentricity’ in my work.

All I do is put a bunch of musicians in the studios, run through the scored head, put the red light on and WHAM - an instant zen painting, sand painting or aural cartoon. The stuff of LIFE! Sex without exchanging bodily fluids!

No wonder there’s laughter in it, as parimeters are pushed, mistakes made and sure disaster saved at the last minute by sharp ears, fleet physical feats or inspired musicianship.

It is the sound of human JOY! And, perhaps. the pure ethics of what ‘jazz’ should be?

There’s a v.good feature where I address this at

http://www.billyjenkins.com/Greenwich%20Time%206.4.10.pdf

And, perhaps irked by observers saying over the years ‘but he’s not serious’ is partly why I thought ‘I’ll show you serious’ and have been conducting the Humanist funerals for two years now. Now that is serious!

I’m intrigued that you have never seen me live as this gives you a unique perspective on my recorded works.

Unfortunately, I am very good at it - so much that folks say ‘he’s much better live than on record’ - to which I repeatedly say ‘recordings are recordings and performance is performance’.

And unlike most ‘jazz’ musicians - I will not repeat myself by regurgitating recorded works in imitation thereof….

You can see examples of my performance modus at

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=D204FAE8CA745E0D

But, since I hardly perform live these days (my heart is just not in it and my body just doesn’t like to travel), you may well retain this unique perspective!

Thank you once more

Billy

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UNCOMMERCIALITY Vol 1 - 3 RE-ISSUED ON DOWNLOAD - **** IN THE GUARDIAN!!
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CLASSIC BILLY ALBUMS REMASTERED FOR DOWNLOAD!!
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ONE STEP ON FROM THE BLUES!!
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All the news at http://www.billyjenkins.com

 

 

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