Julian Costello & Vertigo

“Julian Costello & Vertigo”

(Elsdon Music EM 08)

Julian Costello – tenor & soprano saxophones, Natalie Rozario – cello, Stefanos Tsourelis – guitar, oud, Sophie Alloway – drums

with guests; Iqbal Pathan – tabla, voice, David Beebee – double bass

Released on June 28th 2024 this is the debut recording from Vertigo, a new quartet led by the London based saxophonist and composer Julian Costello.

Costello is something of a Jazzmann favourite, a genuinely nice guy and a skilled saxophonist and composer who is the leader of a number of different projects.

He has released three albums as the leader of a comparatively orthodox jazz quartet, all of which have been favourably reviewed on the Jazzmann. Transitions” (2017) and “Connections; without borders”  (2020) feature a quartet including guitarist Maciek Pysz and drummer / percussionist Adam Teixeira. Yuri Goloubev plays bass on the first release, with Jakub Cywinski taking over for the second. Both appear on 33 Jazz and both albums feature Costello’s original compositions exclusively.

For 2024’s “And All The Birds Were Set Free” (33Jazz) Costello introduced a new quartet line up featuring John Turville on piano, Andy Hamill on bass and harmonica and Tom Hooper at the drums. The recording also featured a guest appearance from vocalist Georgia Mancio. Review here;
https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/julian-costello-quartet-and-all-the-birds-were-set-free

Prior to the album release the Costello / Turville / Hamill / Hooper quartet had been out on the road and I enjoyed a live performance by this line up at Kidderminster Jazz Club in July 2023.
https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/julian-costello-quartet-kidderminster-jazz-club-45-live-venue-kidderminster-06-07-2023

Another current project is the Perhaps Trio, a more song orientated ensemble featuring the cello and vocals of Natalie Rozario and the guitar of Patrick Naylor, the latter a long time Costello collaborator. This line up has gigged widely, but is yet to record.

Vertigo represents Costello’s ‘world jazz’ project and features Rozario concentrating exclusively on cello alongside guitarist and oud player Stefanos Tsourelis and drummer Sophie Alloway. The quartet’s debut album also includes guest appearances from bassist David Beebee and tabla player Iqbal Pathan.

Costello’s quartet recordings have revealed him to be a writer with a good ear for melody and his compositions are also rich in terms of harmonic and rhythmic ideas, giving his chosen musicians plenty of stimulating material to work with. The title of the album “And All The Birds Were Set free”  is a reference to Costello’s remit that “the musicians should be free to express themselves and be able to fly”.

It’s a principle that Costello also brings to the Vertigo group, but with its distinctive instrumentation this is a recording that inevitably sounds very different to his previous quartets. Nevertheless the penchant for melody remains, as do the interesting harmonic, textural and rhythmic ideas.

The album commences with the sound of Alloway at the drum kit, her neatly constructed intro including the effective use of toms and cymbals ushering in Costello’s composition “Sorry But No”. The textures are gorgeous with the rich warm sounds of Rozario’s cello and the leader’s tenor sax contrasting with the gentle keening of Tsourelis’ effects drenched guitar. It’s Tsourelis who emerges as the featured soloist,  soaring with a choked intensity and still making astute use of his range of FX.

In Vertigo’s early days Costello specialised on soprano sax and it’s this instrument that winds gently and sinuously through “Inspector Morse”, an evocative composition that also features Alloway’s delicate brush work and the mellifluous cello soloing of Rozario. Tsourelis is featured in more of a supporting role.

Pathan guests on “Stonehenge”, a composition that features him both on tabla and vocal percussion, aka konnakol. Tsourelis is featured on oud, the instrument that I most associate him with, although he is also a very fine guitarist. Costello continues on soprano and this piece is also notable for the dialogue between Pathan on tabla and Alloway on kit drums.

The sumptuous sounds of Rozario’s cello introduce the seven minute epic “The Whale”, at first working in conjunction with Tsourelis on guitar. The introduction of drums and tenor sax gradually increases the momentum, but there are reflective cello led moments too, the melancholy sounds of Rozario’s playing perhaps reflecting the environmental crisis facing the world’s cetaceans. Pathan’s tabla is in the mix too, while the anger at the plight of the titular whale is expressed via Tsourelis’ soaring, distortion heavy guitar solo. At Costello’s insistence the guitarist plays a Fender Stratocaster throughout the album, drawing on the influence of Jimi Hendrix, as here, and of Jeff Beck.

Costello reverts to soprano for the dreamy “To Be Fair”, again combining effectively with Rozario’s cello. The leader’s gently squiggling soprano solo is followed by a fluent guitar solo that adds a subtle blues element to the proceedings, ruffling the waters before Costello restores the more pastoral mood.

The brief but atmospheric “Still Water” features the melancholic instrumental interplay of cello, oud and tenor sax,  subtly paced by Alloway’s drums. The drone of the cello and the presence of the oud ensure that this represents one of the album’s more obviously ‘exotic’ sounding cuts. Costello has expressed his admiration for the music of the Tunisian oud master Anouar Brahem and something of that fondness can be detected here.

The composition “Why” appeared as a song on “And All The Birds Were Set Free”, with guest vocalist Georgia Mancio singing lyrics written by Costello’s wife, Anna Stearman. This wordless version features Rozario’s cello and the leader’s tenor as the primary instrumental voices as the pair weave beguiling melodic spells via their introductory interplay and subsequent solos. Tsourelis is also featured with a gently meandering guitar solo.

The jokily titled “Ooh I Like Your Shirt” is a quirky Balkan flavoured dance featuring the sounds of oud and gently squiggling soprano sax.  These are underpinned by a rolling drum groove, with some of the rhythms sounding as if they may be being played by bare hands.

Unaccompanied cello introduces “Look At Yourself With A Smile”, with Rozario’s deep,  rich bowing followed by a pizzicato passage that establishes the airy groove above which soprano sax and guitar can dance. Following Alloway’s introduction Rozario takes up the bow once more but it’s Tsourelis who takes the first solo, again utilising his range of effects wisely. Costello takes over on subtly probing soprano, subsequently combining with the guitarist.

“42 Sydney Street” is the most loosely structured item on the album, with an introductory section that sounds as if it might have been entirely improvised as soprano sax and guitar lines intertwine, paced by sparse and economical drumming. Gradually a kind of structure begins to emerge, with Costello’s keening soprano leading the way and with Rozario’s cello eventually joining the proceedings. A short unaccompanied drum passage concludes the piece.

“The King Cobra” is one of the album’s most evocative pieces, with an opening passage featuring Costello’s coiled soprano circling threateningly and promising to strike, as Rozario’s cello drones and Alloway’s percussion shimmers, rumbles and rustles. There’s a change of direction with the introduction of oud and tabla, with Tsourelis taking over as the main soloist, followed by Pathan with an unaccompanied tabla passage. Costello remains involved, circling around the periphery, before returning to restate the main theme at the close.

The album concludes with the brief “Sorry But No Reprise”, featuring the deep,  rich sonorities of Rozario’s cello.

The album was recorded at David Beebee’s Beeboss Studios with Beebee acting as recording, mixing and mastering engineer. His bass playing isn’t particularly noticeable and doesn’t draw attention to itself, but his contribution in this department is probably greater than is first apparent.

As for the other musicians they are all superb throughout. Costello leads from the front with fluency and a quiet authority, Rozario’s cello playing is consistently beautiful and Alloway gives a finely nuanced display behind the kit, her drumming combining the necessary rhythmic propulsion with a wealth of fine detail. Tsourelis is a revelation, I know him best as oud virtuoso but his guitar playing is exceptional throughout, an excellent display of controlled dynamics and the intelligent use of guitar technology. Pathan also impresses with the quality of his guest contributions.

The unusual blend of instruments is consistently beguiling but it’s the quality of Costello’s writing, and particularly his gift for melody, that ensures that this is an excellent album, one of the best that I’ve heard this year and even better than the earlier quartet album.

The album will be officially launched on July 23rd 2024 at Pizza Express Jazz Club, Soho, London. See http://www.juliancostello.co.uk for details of all live shows featuring his various different projects.

 

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