Number Junky

“Birak”

(Cool it1 Records)

Kristian Borring – guitar, Zac Grafton – double bass, Peter Evans – drums
with guest Will Vinson – alto saxophone (tracks 1,4,6)

Number Junky is a trio based in Western Australia led by the Danish born guitarist and composer Kristian Borring.

Borring’s name is familiar to British jazz audiences as he spent a number of years in London after completing a Masters Degree at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in 2006. Among his tutors at The Guildhall was former Loose Tubes guitarist John Parricelli.

After establishing himself on the London jazz scene he released his début album “Nausicaa” in 2011, made in the company of a British quartet featuring Arthur Lea (piano), Spencer Brown (bass) and Jon Scott (drums). The album also featured a guest contribution from saxophonist Will Vinson, a British musician now based in New York City.

The excellent “Urban Novel” (2014) saw Borring maturing as a musician and composer and featured a quintet line up including Lea, Scott,  Irish born bassist Mick Coady and vibraphonist Jim Hart.

Another impressive album, 2016’s “Silent Storm” built upon this success and was recorded with the quartet of Lea, Coady and Scott.

All three of the above albums are reviewed elsewhere on The Jazzmann.

In 2017 Borring released the digital only concert recording “Live at The Vortex”, documented at a 2016 appearance at the London venue by a quartet featuring Scott, pianist Rick Simpson and bassist Dave Whitford.

Borring has also recorded in a duo format with pianist Bruno Heinen, the pair releasing the album “Postcard To
Bill Evans” in 2015. Review here;
https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/bruno-heinen-kristian-borring-postcard-to-bill-evans

During his London days Borring also recorded two albums with the organ trio Acrobat, featuring Will Bartlett on Hammond B3 and Pat Davey at the drums. The second of these, 2019’s “Make Your Stand”, is reviewed here;
https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/acrobat-make-your-stand

The members of Acrobat still continue to work together when they can and Borring is intending to make a temporary return to the UK later in 2025 to perform a series of live dates with the trio.

Borring also worked prolifically as a sideman on the London scene working with vocalists Monika Lidke and Sara Mitra and with saxophonist Tommaso Starace among many others.

I was lucky enough to see him play live with Starace’s quartet in Shrewsbury back in 2011 and was highly impressed with his contribution and by his virtuoso, but understated, technique. My review of that Shrewsbury show can be found here;
https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/tommaso-starace-quartet-the-hive-shrewsbury.-10-09-2011

 Borring is now based in Perth, Australia, where he holds a teaching post at the Western Australian Academy of the Performing Arts. He has also immersed himself in the local jazz scene, performing with the bands Number Junky, Canto Brazil and The Awakening Ensemble among others.

Borring’s most recent solo album, “Out of Nowhere”, was recorded in London 2019 with a British / Irish quartet featuring pianist Rick Simpson, bassist Mick Coady and drummer Jon Scott. It was released in 2021 following his move to Australia and was favourably received in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. The Jazzmann’s review, from which much of the above biographical detail has been sourced can be found here;
https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/kristian-borring-out-of-nowhere

Since moving to Perth Borring’s primary creative outlet seems to have been his trio Number Junky featuring the Australian rhythm pairing of bassist Zac Grafton and drummer Peter Evans. The trio’s debut album “Earth Matters” was released in 2022 to considerable critical acclaim and includes contributions on three of the ten tracks from the Cuban / American pianist Fabian Almazan.

On the group’s second album the featured guest is the UK born, New York based alto saxophonist Will Vinson, who also featured in a similar capacity on Borring’s 2011 debut “Nausicaa”.

The band name Number Junky comes from the trio’s fascination with unusual time signatures, as Borring explained at the time of the “Earth Matters” release;
“The exploration of numbers for us really concerns time and rhythm. While we play with polyrhythmic ideas what we explore in particular is the notion of complex musical meter, in the jazz world referred to odd as odd meter or mixed meter”.

This time round the trio begin their explorations in the company of Vinson as they tackle the eight and a half minute plus “Unfinished Puzzle”, a piece that moves through a series of distinct phases. A gently atmospheric introduction features the softly keening sound of Vinson’s alto sax, accompanied by the leader’s delicate guitar arpeggios allied to Grafton’s double bass and Evans’ mallet rumbles and cymbal shimmers. The bassist and drummer then establish a fluid groove that the trio describe as being “nebulous, but consistent” as it ebbs and flows, providing an ever evolving framework for the melodic inventions of Vinson and Borring, who both explore fluently and at length. A more loosely structured passage sees Grafton’s double bass come to the fore as he solos briefly against a backdrop of brushed drums and delicate guitar tracery. A final sax led section then mirrors the atmospheric intro.

Since moving to Australia Borring has also immersed himself in the local culture. The name of the title track, “Birak”, is sourced from the indigenous Noongar people and refers to one of the two summer seasons in their six season year. Written by Borring as a response to the sweltering heat of an Australian summer the tune is languid and develops slowly, just guitar and bass at first, these then joined by softly brushed, delicately nuanced, drums. The music continues to unfold gradually, the gentle twang of Borring’s guitar sometimes reminiscent of Pat Metheny and Bill Frisell. This may be music inspired by the Australian climate and landscape, but nonetheless it still has something of an Americana feel about it. Gradually the energy levels begin to increase as Borring solos, rambling melodically above Grafton’s sturdy underpinning bass lines and the splashes and shimmers of Evans’ brushed cymbals. A gently rolling vamp at the close of the tune is meant to represent the beckoning of a metaphorical horizon.

Also by the core trio the sprightly “Basel’s Return” refers back to bebop with its tricky melody lines and the leader’s agile, fleet fingered guitar soloing. As I remember from that Starace show in Shrewsbury, the only time I have seen Borring perform live, he is a phenomenal technician, a guitarist capable of contorting his fingers into almost impossible shapes and playing the most difficult and complex of chords. But for all his dexterity Borring is never a show off, his virtuosity is deployed to solely musical ends and he could never be accused of being flash for the sake of it. On the contrary, his playing is consistently tasteful and sophisticated and his demeanour undemonstrative, almost too much so at times. “Basel’s Return” also includes a double bass solo from Grafton, another virtuoso instrumentalist, whose playing impresses throughout the course of this album. A word too for drummer Peter Evans whose playing is consistently bright, imaginative and inventive, with a fine eye for nuance and detail always apparent.

At nearly nine minutes duration “Straight South” is the lengthiest track on the album and sees Vinson returning to the fold. His pure toned, highly melodic alto sax states the theme, subtly supported by the core trio. Vinson then steps aside as Grafton delivers a delightfully melodic double bass solo, followed by Borring, whose gently spiralling melodic inventions are subtly shadowed by bass and drums. Borring, Grafton and Evans have developed a truly impressive rapport during their time together and this is something that is in evidence throughout the album. Vinson returns in the latter stages of the tune to deliver a languorous restatement of the main theme, followed by a more vigorous alto solo on the outro as the trio suddenly increase the tempo.

“Birthday Song” is a contrafact written by Borring that features a new melody above the chord structure of the John Coltrane composition 26/2, which was itself based upon Charlie Parker’s “Confirmation”. Are you confused yet? A gently atmospheric intro features Borring deploying FX for almost the first time, there’s also a brief example at the close of “Basel Return”. Naturally he uses these extremely tastefully. The main body of the tune features a complex 11/8 rhythm and draws subtly upon the bebop tradition, with both Borring and Grafton featuring as soloists. Evans’ drum commentary is again a thing of wonder, and he’s even rewarded with his own brief feature prior to the atmospheric fade out.

Vinson’s final contribution to the album comes on “Into The Night”, an uptempo tune that still manages to retain a suitably moody, nocturnal edge. Following a short introduction by the core trio Vinson states the main theme before handing over to Borring for the first solo, a typically fluent excursion from the leader, who is skilfully shadowed by Grafton and Evans, the latter’s neatly energetic drumming helping to keep the pot simmering. Vinson returns for a sinuous alto solo, probing subtly as the piece continues to twist and turn.

As its title suggests “Bass Interlude” is a passage of unaccompanied double bass from the excellent Grafton. A solo double bass episode has also become a regular feature of Number Junky’s live performances.

“Pop Queen” is a dedication to Borring’s Perth born wife Genevieve. The couple first met in London before eventually moving to her native Western Australia. The tune itself is a tender ballad featuring the leader’s relaxed and lyrical guitar meditations, sympathetically supported by melodic double bass and Evans’ delicate brush work, the latter full of subtle nuance and small, pinpoint details.

The album concludes with “Etude no. 12”, introduced by an arpeggiated guitar motif and distinguished by a lattice of interlocking rhythms variously generated by guitar, bass and drums. For all its complexities it’s a jaunty, uplifting piece that incorporates a double bass solo from Grafton, paced by Borring’s sophisticated guitar chording and the playful chatter of Evans’ sticks on rims. Borring delivers his final solo of the set, a typically fluent guitar excursion performed with his characteristic technical skill and innate musical good taste.

When reviewing Borring’s “Out of Nowhere” album I described the recording as being “a typically classy, intelligent, and sophisticated offering”  and these qualities can be applied to the music of Number Junky too. This is a particularly well balanced trio that has developed a close and very impressive rapport, intimate and intelligent and with a keen eye for detail. It makes for absorbing and very satisfying listening. Vinson is an old friend of the leader’s and fits in well with the group’s aesthetic, making telling and substantial contributions to the three tracks on which he appears. The album is arguably Borring’s most satisfying recording to date.

“Birak” sees Borring continue to develop as a composer and while the use of unusual time signatures is an important characteristic of Number Junky’s music one never feels that the trio is trying to be clever just for the sake of it. Flashiness has never been Borring’s style, for all his undoubted virtuosity he’s an understated and innately tasteful and intelligent guitarist whose flawless technique is always deployed to serve the music, with his collaborators also playing an important part in the creative process. For all its rhythmic complexities the music of Number Junky remains eminently melodic and accessible and has the potential to appeal to a broad jazz listenership.

Borring has expressed a wish to bring Number Junky across the globe to perform live in the UK. Let’s hope he succeeds, as I really enjoyed this album and it would be good to catch up with him again and to see the music performed in person.

“Birak”, plus other Number Junky and Kristian Borring recordings, can be purchased from Borring’s Bandcamp page, which can be accessed via his website;

http://www.kristianborring.com

 

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