Drifter

“Flow”

(Edition Records EDN 1059)

Drifter is the new identity of the band formerly known as the Alexi Tuomarila Quartet. The Finnish pianist and composer Alexi Tuomarila studied at the Music Institute at Espoo in his homeland before completing his masters at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels. During his time in Belgium he formed a quartet with local musicians Nicolas Kummert (saxophones), Christian Devissher (bass) and Teun Verbruggen (drums). This line up recorded an album “Voices of Pohjola” for the Brussels based Igloo label. The success of the album plus the quality of the quartet’s live shows attracted the attention of Warner Brothers for whom they recorded a follow up, “02” which was actually released in 2003 under the name of the Alexi Tuomarila Quartet. This album also exhibited considerable promise although some of the more obvious “fusion” elements have dated a little with the passing of the years.

Warners’ decision to axe their jazz and classical departments affected the group badly and they split up for a prolonged period with Tuomarila subsequently re-establishing his reputation thanks to a stint with Polish trumpeter Tomasz Stanko’s “Nordic Quintet”, the line up that recorded the ECM album “Dark Eyes”. It was at this time that I first encountered Tuomarila’s playing at a Stanko concert at The Edge in Much Wenlock in November 2009.

I was impressed by Tuomarila’s contribution to the Stanko group and was delighted to take the opportunity of seeing him leading his own trio at a performance at Warwick Arts Centre in January 2013. The pianist’s group featured his fellow Finn Olavi Louhivuori on drums, a musician who had also been in the Stanko band. The line up was completed by the Norwegian bass player and composer Mats Eilertsen who had previously featured Tuomarila as a member of his own groups.

The Warwick show took place just prior to the release of “Seven Hills”, Tuomarila’s recording début for Edition Records, a superb release that featured the trio from the Warwick gig and more than consolidated the promise shown at that live performance. It was an album that helped to confirm Tuomarila’s reputation as a top rank European pianist, composer and bandleader.

Such was the success of “Seven Hills” that fellow pianist Dave Stapleton, co-proprietor of Edition Records suggested that Tuomarila reform his previous group which the Finn duly did, this time under the collective name of Drifter. Tuomarila, Kummert and Verbruggen remain from the previous incarnation but the group now has a new bass player in the shape of Axel Gilain. “Flow” features eight original compositions by members of the quartet plus an arrangement of Sting’s “King Of Pain”. A new development is the occasional use of vocals from both Kummert and Gilain.

Drifter’s music has been compared to that of pianists Keith Jarrett’s “European Quartet”, the much celebrated ensemble that featured saxophonist Jan Garbarek, bassist Palle Danielsson and drummer Jon Christensen. That particular Jarrett group was notable for the lyrical, song like quality of Jarrett’s writing, the excellence of the soloing and the well balanced feel of the ensemble as a whole, qualities personified on the classic studio albums “Belonging” and “My Song”. Live appearances were often more forceful affairs and saw the quartet stretching out more as documented on the live albums “Nude Ants”, “Personal Mountains” and “Sleeper”.

Drifter take something of the lyricism of the Jarrett group and their growing maturity also ensures that this too is a well balanced group with a distinctive sound and a tangible collective chemistry. The album begins with the sound of Tuomarila’s solo piano at the start of his melodic and evocative composition “Crow Hill”. Tuneful but resonant bass and Verbruggen’s nimble cymbal embellishments then usher in Kummert’s melodic, pure toned sax as the tune begins to develop.
Kummert’s lines are direct, expressive and eminently accessible, similar qualities to those which Garbarek brought to the Jarrett group although Kummert’s tone is substantially different. “Crow Hill” is also distinguished by an exuberant Tuomarila piano solo fuelled by the increasingly powerful and dynamic drumming of Verbruggen.

Also by Tuomarila “The Elegist” also begins with a lyrical passage of solo piano that includes a fleeting allusion to Chopin. This section acts as a kind of prelude as Tuomarila subsequently steers the music in a more rhythmic direction with a series of insistent left hand figures plus the addition of bass, drums and eventually Kummert on sax. The emphasis on the groove suggests a the more recent influence of E.S.T. and others but the music retains a strong melodic quality as it progresses through solos from Kummert and Tuomarila with Verbruggen again a distinctive presence. The drummer has won many plaudits in recent years for his work with pianist Jef Neve’s trio and thus may already be a familiar figure to some listeners.

The woody sound of Gilain’s bass introduces Kummert’s atmospheric composition “Lighthouse”,  a piece which features Verbruggen on delightfully detailed small percussion in addition to his inventive kit playing. Kummert and Gilain also work together in the soul band eNKa and both feature here as they combine on the vocal chant of “I’m looking for a Lighthouse” with Tuomarila’s piano rippling and shimmering imaginatively behind them. As the chant subsides Kummert delivers a brief but evocative saxophone solo as the tune gradually resolves itself.

Also by Kummert is “Harmattan” which evolves slowly and gradually over Gilain’s grounding bass pattern and Verbruggen’s understated but colourful and inventive drumming. Kummert’s initially long, sparse saxophone lines develop incrementally and there’s a wonderfully imaginative solo from Tuomarila above a similarly inventive rhythmic undertow. Finally Kummert cuts loose with a supremely eloquent solo that has evoked comparisons with Chris Potter. The Belgian doesn’t cram his solos full of notes and at times his playing can appear to be almost superficially simple. However he’s a musician who doesn’t waste a note and, like Garbarek, he is a great communicator.

“Nothing Ever Lasts” is a collaboration between Tuomarila who writes the tune and Gilain who provides the lyrics that are briefly heard in the latter stages of the piece. The brooding, rumbling introduction owes something to the spiritual jazz movement with Kummert at his most Coltrane like. As the music peaks in terms of both intensity and melody it falls away to leave Gilain as the featured soloist, his melodic but deeply resonant bass playing enhanced by Tuomarila’s sparse but evocative piano chording and the ticks and shimmers of Verbruggen’s cymbals. From this an evocative vocal chant again emerges with Gilain’s lyrics intoned as a kind of mantra. Kummert’s
saxophone eventually bursts free from this and soars above the still ongoing chant. It’s moving and highly effective. 

Kummert’s “Breathing Out My Soul” also incorporates vocals and begins with a wordless chant that has its roots in the American Deep South. It’s the kind of wail that has its roots in spiritual and gospel music and which expresses a hatred of slavery and poverty. Just try to forget the fact that it’s a couple of 21st century Belgians singing and it’s actually very effective. Tuomarila then sets up a funky, gospel inspired vamp at the piano and the singing again becomes a kind of mantra, the words of the title the only lyrics. Tuomarila constructs a barnstorming solo around this, again with great support from Verbruggen, before handing over to Kummert for a powerful tenor solo. The track explores broadly similar territory to “Nothing Ever Lasts” and it’s perhaps best to view these two cuts as companion pieces.

Gilain’s unaccompanied bass ushers in his own composition “Touei” and remains at the heart of the music as Kummert sketches a simple sax melody embellished by Verbruggen’s drums and cymbals. Tuomarila delivers a flowingly lyrical solo above a deep bass undertow before handing over to Kummert who probes thoughtfully as the piece gradually becomes less structured. It eventually ends as it began with Kummert’s sax melody allied to Gilain’s bass motif.

Sting’s “King Of Pain” is arranged by Tuomarila as a breezy Latin inflected instrumental that retains a strong focus on melody as well as incorporating fluent individual statements from both Kummert and Tuomarila.

The album closes with Tuomarila’s composition “Vagabond”, a highly rhythmic piece whose odd meter, hip hop inspired grooves form the basis for inspired solos from Tuomarila and Kummert as the album ends on an energetic note. 

“Flow” is an enjoyable album that features some strong compositions and some exceptional playing, particularly from Tuomarila, a musician whose skill and imagination demands that he continues to be considered as one of Europe’s most exceptional piano soloists. I was also highly impressed with Verbruggen who drums with power and invention, his playing is consistently bright and imaginative as well as being highly supportive of his colleagues. Kummert and Gilain also acquit themselves well as instrumentalists and although I was a little sceptical about their vocal contributions on the first couple of listens I’ve come to appreciate these more on the tracks “Nothing Ever Lasts” and “Breathing Out My Soul”. I’m less convinced about the singing on “Lighthouse” where it sounds more like an unnecessary indulgence, the piece is quite atmospheric enough as it is.

Minor quibbles aside “Flow” is essentially a very good album with much to enjoy and it suggests that Drifter would also be a force to be reckoned with in a live situation. Let’s hope that Edition are able to get the band over to the UK for a tour at some point in the future.     
   

blog comments powered by Disqus