Julian Arguelles

“Let It Be Told”

(Basho Records SRCD 47-2)

I remember a twenty year old Julian Arguelles as the “baby” of the Loose Tubes line-up after he followed his drummer/percussionist/  brother Steve into the band and appeared on both the “Delightful Precipice” and “Open Letter” albums.

Since those heady days Arguelles has evolved into one of the UK’s most respected jazz musicians, a supremely accomplished saxophonist, composer, arranger, bandleader and educator. He has recorded a total of twelve albums as leader in formats ranging from solo (“Scapes”,1996 and “Inner Voices”, 2009) to big band and all points in between. I’m particularly partial to the music of the octet that graced such albums as “Skull View” (1997) and “Escapade” (1999).

During the 21st century he has continued to lead small groups (a trio and a quartet) but has also worked with larger ensembles, sometimes involving the use of strings. “Let It Be Told” represents his second collaboration with the Frankfurt Radio Big Band and follows “Momenta”, another Basho Records release dating back to 2009.

Whereas “Momenta” featured Arguelles’ original compositions “Let It Be Told” examines the legacy of the exiled South African musicians, the Blue Notes, who left apartheid South Africa in 1964 to settle in London. These five musicians left an indelible impression upon the British jazz scene, their music influencing several generations of UK jazz musicians.

The informative liner notes for “Let It Be Told”, written by the estimable Richard Williams, offer a perceptive insight into the influence of the Blue Notes and the way in which they had a profound effect upon the British musicians who worked with them.

The Blue Notes themselves had been influenced by American role models ranging from Duke Ellington to Ornette Coleman via Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus and Sun Ra. They took these raw materials and forged them into a language of their own, a unique style that became known as “Township Jazz” which mixed memorable melodies and strong grooves with elements of dissonance inspired by the American 60s avant garde. This mix of the accessible and the experimental was to influence British musicians such as saxophonists Evan Parker and Mike Osborne, pianist Keith Tippett and trumpeter Harry Beckett.

Williams describes Arguelles and his Loose Tubes colleagues as being among the “second wave” of British musicians to be influenced by the Blue Notes’ sound. The music of Loose Tubes was thrillingly multi-cultural and eclectic and borrowed from musical styles from all around the globe but their compositions often reflected the profound influence of South Africa and the Blue Notes. Steve Arguelles and Loose Tubes keyboard player Django Bates also played with Blue Notes saxophonist Dudu Pukwana in his band Zila. Julian, meanwhile, played in the final edition of Blue Notes pianist Chris McGregor’s large ensemble Brotherhood of Breath.

Of the five members of the Blue Notes only drummer Louis Moholo Moholo remains alive with Pukwana, McGregor, trumpeter Mongezi Feza and bassist Johnny Dyani all departing this life far too soon. Tragic as their early deaths might have been the Blue Notes and their later offshoots have left a rich legacy of music behind them, something that has already been explored by the Dedication Orchestra, a large ensemble dedicated to playing the music of the Blue Notes and raising funds to help the development of talented young musicians in contemporary South Africa. The Orchestra has a fluid line up and has included many of Britain’s leading jazz musicians, among them some of the names mentioned above - Evan Parker, Keith Tippett and Django Bates. 

“Let It Be Told” re-unites Julian and Steve Arguelles together with Django Bates to pay homage to the Blue Notes and their music. Although some of the material has previously been covered by the Dedication Orchestra Arguelles has expanded his remit to include compositions from other influential South African artists including pianist Abdullah Ibrahim and vocalists Miriam Makeba and Joseph Shabalala, the latter the leader of the vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Of the nine pieces eight have been arranged by Julian Arguelles, the exception being Chris McGregor’s “Amasi” which retains the composer’s original arrangement.

The album features the three core British musicians Julian Arguelles (alto & soprano saxes), Steve Arguelles (drums & percussion) and Django Bates (piano & keyboards) with the fifteen musicians of the Frankfurt Radio Big Band (FRBB) who line up as follows;

Heinz Dieter Sauerborn - flute, clarinet, alto sax
Oliver Leicht - clarinet, alto clarinet, tenor sax
Tony Lakatos - tenor sax
Rainer Heute- bass clarinet, baritone sax

Frank Wellert, Thomas Vogel, Martin Auer, Axel Schlosser - trumpets and flugelhorns

Gunter Bollmann, Peter Feil, Christian Jaksjo, Manfred Honetschlager - trombones

Martin Scales - guitar

Thomas Heidepriem - acoustic & electric bass

Jean Paul Hochstadter - drums

Arguelles has stated that in arranging for the FRBB he tried not to change the original music too much as he wanted the focus to remain on the people who originally created it. “I wanted the vibrancy that made it so remarkable to shine through” he comments.

The album commences with Pukwana’s “Mra Khali” which also opened the first Brotherhood of Breath album in 1971. That vibrancy of which Arguelles speaks is immediately apparent with Scales’ guitar helping to establish a tight groove featuring drums, percussion and electric bass. This meshes well with the punchy, incisive, exuberant horn charts. Bates on piano and the leader on alto sax eventually emerge as the featured soloists. Arguelles is a master saxophonist who plays all four of the main horns but it’s rare to hear him on alto these days so this solo is a particular delight. Of course the alto was Pukwana’s horn and it’s his role that Arguelles is filling here and elsewhere on the album.

A free jazz style squall introduces Johnny Dyani’s “Mama Marimba” but on the whole the album doesn’t concentrate too much on this aspect of the Blue Notes’ music, the members of the FRBB are not primarily free players. They are however skilled interpreters of arrangements of tunes as joyously lilting as Dyani’s main melody. Here Arguelles devolves some of the responsibilities and the featured soloists are trombonist Christian Jaksjo and and tenor sax specialist Tony Lakatos. The trombonist is warm toned and admirably agile, Lakatos hard hitting and incisive as the FRBB blows up a storm around him.

Miriam Makeba’s “Retreat Song (Jikele Maweni)” is the first piece sourced from outside the Blue Notes/Brotherhood canon. Sauerborn’s unaccompanied alto opens the piece, its initial sadness soon giving way to the warmth and joyousness of Makeba’s melody. Peter Fell’s vocalised trombone solo is irresistible and Arguelles himself also features on alto, including a brief but enjoyable dialogue with brother Steve on drums. Bates delivers some of his trademark quirky keyboard playing and overall the whole piece is just lovely.

The enduring and popular “You Ain’t Gonna Know Me (‘Cos You Think You Know Me”, written by Mongezi Feza is a tune that was also recorded by the Dedication Orchestra. Arguelles’ arrangement is initially more reflective, opening with a delightful dialogue between Oliver Leicht on clarinet and Bates at the piano. The celebratory aspect of the piece emerges later, propelled by Heidepriem’s electric bass groove and exultant reeds and brass and with an idiosyncratic Bates synthesiser solo that Williams likens to a kalimba. For me conjures up happy memories of Django’s always distinctive playing of the instrument with both Loose Tubes and the small group Human Chain.

Pukwana’s “Diamond Express” is a joyous, high octane township romp with an exuberant high register trumpet solo from Axel Schlosser followed by an inspired Arguelles on alto, channelling the spirit of the composer brilliantly.
Incidentally, it’s just occurred to me that the this piece was probably the inspiration for “Eden Express”, the Django Bates composition that opened the very first Loose Tubes album.

The delicate but richly colourful horn voicings on Abdullah Ibrahim’s “The Wedding” demonstrate Arguelles’ arranging skills at their best. He is well served by both the ensemble as a whole and by the two principal soloists, Rainer Heute on bass clarinet and Heinz-Dieter Sauerborn on alto, who both deliver perfectly judged contributions that enhance the timeless beauty of Ibrahim’s much loved and perennially popular tune.

McGregor’s “Amasi” retains the composer’s original percussion fuelled arrangement with kit drummer Hochstadter and Steve Arguelles on percussion sharing a brief cameo and receiving great support from the bright and punchy massed horns. 

“Amabutho”, a traditional tune adapted by Joseph Shabalala of Ladysmith Black Mambazo features a horn chorale replicating the acapella voices of Shabalala’s vocal ensemble as the rhythm section sits it out entirely. The rich, warm, multi hued textures offer further testament as to Arguelles well honed abilities as an arranger.

The album closes on a celebratory note with “Come Again”, jointly written by Martha Mdenge and Dudu Pukwana. Its rapturous kwela style grooves fuel a brief but wildly exciting series of exchanges between Arguelles on alto and Schlosser on trumpet plus a wild, rock influenced solo from Martin Scales, the guitarist clearly relishing being let off the leash. 

“Let It Be Told” has received almost universally positive reviews and it is a very good album that is packed with strong tunes, imaginative arrangements and some excellent playing, both individually and collectively.

There’s so much to like that it seems churlish to introduce a hint of criticism and perhaps question the relevance of this record. But the fact remains that the original Blue Notes and Brotherhood of Breath recordings are now available on CD and the repertoire has already been extensively revisited by the Dedication Orchestra.

However the truth is that Arguelles probably felt that this was a record he HAD to make, his love of this music runs so deep it’s practically in his DNA and has been such an influence on his own career both with Loose Tubes and beyond. It’s clearly something felt by Bates and Steve Arguelles too and both make significant contributions to the success of this recording - given that both were once involved with Zila it is perhaps significant that Dudu Pukwana has more tunes featured on the album than any other composer. Julian’s arrangements certainly shed fresh light on some of these tunes and he also successfully extends the remit by including the pieces by Makeba, Ibrahim and Shabalala and ensuring that they remain true to the overall aesthetic of the project. 

Also let’s not forget that in an increasingly intolerant world the music and message of the Blue Notes deserves to be heard more than ever and it’s this fact, along with the excellence of the music itself,  that helps to make this album relevant.

I particularly like the way in which Andy Robson signed off his supportive review in the May 2015 edition of Jazzwise Magazine - “Enjoy, celebrate and dance in Frankfurt, Cape Town and Frith Street. And never forget”.

Amen to that. 

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