Dave Stapleton

“Flight”

(Edition Records EDN 1032)

In recent years pianist and composer Dave Stapleton has attracted more attention as a record label than as a musician. Co-founder, with photographer Tim Dickeson, of the Cardiff based Edition Records Stapleton has established a highly successful label with a strong brand identity. Edition has a policy of treating its musicians well and the label has become the “go to” outlet for many of Britain’s leading jazz musicians. Increasingly Edition is also gaining a reputation in Europe with Norwegian saxophonist Marius Neset an auspicious addition to the label’s roster.

Among Edition’s impressive back catalogue are a number of Stapleton’s own recordings. A graduate of the acclaimed Jazz Course at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff Stapleton first formed a punchy hard hitting quintet featuring his former tutor Paul Gardiner ( bass) and ex students Jonny Bruce (trumpet), Elliott Bennett (drums) and Marcin Wright, later Ben Waghorn, (saxophones). The quintet updated the Blue Note sound for the 21st Century on three excellent albums “When Life Was In Black And White” (2005) , “The House Always Wins” (2007) and “Between The Lines” (2010) . These popular releases helped to bring Stapleton to the attention of the national jazz audience but he also has a more experimental side to his musical character that has found expression in “The Conway Suite”, a duo recording for pipe organ and saxophone made in 2005 with Deri Roberts and “Dismantling The Waterfall” (2008) a set of piano duets recorded with the mercurial and often provocative musical iconoclast Matthew Bourne. He also worked with Bourne in the free improv quartet Full Circle.

The two sides of Stapleton’s music came together on 2008’s “Catching Sunlight”, a suite written for the rhythm section of of his quintet plus trumpeter Neil Yates, the Apollo Saxophone Quartet and guest vocalist/lyricist Julie Tippetts. The album is reviewed elsewhere on this site. While retaining some of the characteristics of the well established quintet sound “Catching Sunlight” also embraced Stapleton’s more experimental side with its ambitious writing and arrangements.

His new album “Flight” can be seen as a continuation of that recording with Stapleton working alongside an all star international group including Edition label signings Marius Neset (tenor sax) and Dave Kane (double bass). The core quartet is completed by Finnish drummer Olavi Louhivuori, leader of the group Oddarrang and a member of the ensembles led by Norwegian bassist Mats Eilertsen and veteran Polish trumpeter Tomasz Stanko. Louhivuori is a tasteful, resourceful player with a growing international reputation. The line up is augmented by the London based Brodowski String Quartet led by violinist David Brodowski and also featuring Catrin Win Morgan (2nd violin), Felix Tanner (viola) and Reinoud Ford (cello). At seventy four minutes plus “Flight” is Stapleton’s most ambitious recording yet and marks a welcome return to the studio after a couple of years spent “taking care of business”. 

Stapleton was the subject of an extensive feature, written by Stuart Nicholson, in the May 2012 edition of Jazzwise magazine. Here he revealed that the inspiration behind the music on “Flight”  came from his father’s involvement in the 1974 Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race, titles such as “Running East” and “North Wind” offer plenty of nautical allusions and the cover shot of an albatross in flight was sourced from the Stapleton family photo archive. Some jazz fans may notice a striking resemblance to Michael Manoogian’s sleeve photograph for Chick Corea’s 1972 ECM release “Return To Forever” (the album, before it was a band).

“Flight” takes advantage of Edition’s increasingly secure European connections and was recorded in Copenhagen with Phronesis engineer August Wanngren at the helm. The ten part suite begins with “Before”, a brief overture featuring the rich textures of the Brodowski String Quartet. There’s a melancholia about their sound that seems to encapsulate the emptiness depicted on the album cover.

The following “Polaroid” expands upon this feeling of isolation with the lonely sound of Neset’s unaccompanied tenor sax, but the mood soon changes as Neset’s horn suddenly takes flight (pardon the pun) accompanied by the animated chatter of Louhivuori’s drums. The music subsequently ebbs and flows, a sometimes jaunty theme is periodically punctuated by either more reflective moments or the occasional squall of dissonance. With Stapleton’s chunky, percussive piano driving the music the sound is superficially similar to that of DSQ but is more nuanced and descriptive thanks to a tour de force of a performance from Neset and the flexible, intelligent work of Kane and Louhivuori who both provide colour as well as rhythmic impetus.

The title track is another brief, but haunting episode for strings that segues into “Henryk Part 1”, another extended piece that builds from gentle beginnings to a more wide-screen approach that merges the sounds of the strings with the jazz quartet. The mood is generally reflective with Nerst’s keening tenor inevitably catching the ear. Stapleton’s own playing is more lyrical here and Louhivuori once again justifies Stapleton’s decision to select a colourist rather than a mere timekeeper for the drum chair. In keeping with the nautical theme there are passages that ruffle the waters before the piece segues into “Henryk Part II” which begins in achingly lush and lyrical fashion with piano and strings before Neset picks up the theme and gently needles away at it. The ever shifting textures of the album are clearly meant to reflect the changing moods of the ocean, Stapleton has mentioned the strings giving the music a “wave like feel” and that is reflected in another lushly lyrical passage for piano and strings before Neset returns to solo more expansively, soaring above the ensemble in the manner of Jan Garbarek.

“Unity” begins with the resonances of Kane’s solo bass later joined by the sound of the string quartet. Stapleton’s writing for strings is impressive, the quartet sound fully integrated into the ensemble rather than being “grafted on” as some sources have suggested. This is a slow burner of a piece that gradually builds momentum in the manner of a slow march with Neset once again cutting through the string arrangements.

“OTS” begins in impressionistic fashion and is initially more freely structured than the rest of the album, a reflection of Stapleton and Kane’s love of improvisation. Later it becomes a musical depiction of a storm at sea with Neset’s squalling sax buffeted by Stapleton’s block chords and the restless chatter of Louhivuori’s drums. Later the storm blows itself out and another passage of atmospheric group improvisation follows with Stapleton on electric piano. It’s very different to anything else on the album.

At first “Whisper” appears to be suitably low key but is full of a brooding menace that finds expression when Neset finally cuts loose above a backdrop of piano, strings and Louhivuori’s richly nuanced drums and percussion.

Stapleton saves his two lengthiest pieces until last. The ten minute “Running East” opens with a prolonged fanfare for strings before Stapleton takes over at the piano slowly ushering in Louhivuori and Kane and eventually Neset. There’s a Garbarek quality about the theme that eventually emerges and provides the springboard for a brilliant Neset solo backed by Lohivuori’s colourful drumming and Stapleton and Kane’s elastic rhythmic drive.

At thirteen and a half minutes “North Wind” closes the album in style beginning with the haunting sound of the strings before the jazz quartet takes over and maintains the atmosphere of fragility before the keening sound of strings returns, fully integrated with Louhivuori’s delicate percussion shadings. The piece almost appears to be divided into movements, the second begins with spiky strings, the motif being taken up by the jazz quartet and transmuted into a vehicle for the dynamic Neset, his impassioned solo powered by Stapleton’s piano, all tumbling runs and Keith Tippett style dissonance, and Louhivuori’s busy, virtuosic, often volcanic drumming. In time the piece resolves itself by returning to the lyricism of its opening section, that wave like quality again.

“Flight” is easily Stapleton’s most ambitious album to date and for the most part it succeeds brilliantly. The music captures the sense of space and freedom of the Southern Ocean superbly, the writing is evocative and the sounds of classical and jazz instruments are skilfully merged to create a convincing single musical entity. At seventy four minutes the album is arguably over long and I know that there are some jazz fans who don’t like strings but overall “Flight” is a resounding success. The presence of Neset is a huge plus, he excels throughout and almost steals the show, Stapleton himself is happy to be part of the ensemble and undertakes few if any conventional jazz solos. As his own Edition album “Golden Xplosion” attests Neset is a monster soloist and THE major saxophone discovery of the last couple of years. He should have a new Edition album coming out in 2013 which should be quite something.

Returning to Stapleton’s use of strings I think it’s fair to say that jazz composers and arrangers are now far more adept at writing for classical players. Similarly contemporary young classical musicians are far more comfortable with the concept of improvisation. It’s a happy meeting of minds that has produced some excellent collaborations in recent years. I used to be in the “anti strings” camp but recordings such as this have forced me to reconsider my position. 

   

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