Mark Lockheart, ‘Dreamers’ Quartet,  The Hive Music & Media Centre, Shrewsbury, 19/02/2022.

Mark Lockheart – tenor & soprano saxophones, Dan Nicholls – keyboards, Tom Herbert – electric bass, Dave Smith – drums

At first sight it may appear to be a little perverse that I am reviewing a second show by saxophonist and composer Mark Lockheart’s new ‘Dreamers’ quartet just a couple of weeks after covering their show at Kidderminster Jazz Club.

Tonight’s Shrewsbury Jazz Network event formed part of the same tour,  one supported by the West Midlands Jazz Promoters Network that had seen several performances taking place in the region.

Lockheart’s latest release “Dreamers” (Edition Records, 2022) is his first small group recording for some time and introduces a new band, the ‘Dreamers’ soubriquet being a group name as well as an album title, and a new musical approach. 

Nevertheless the musicians of Dreamers are closely linked to the leader’s musical past. Drummer Dave Smith played on Lockheart’s 2009 “In Deep” quintet album, while Lockheart and bassist Tom Herbert worked together as members of Polar Bear. Lockheart is also an acclaimed educator and taught at Trinity Laban in London, where his pupils included the brilliant young pianist and keyboard player Elliot Galvin, the fourth member of the Dreamers group.

Essentially Dreamers is an electric band. At Lockheart’s request Herbert plays bass guitar rather than double bass while Galvin deploys a range of synths and other keyboards. The range of influences is wide, ranging from Duke Ellington through Weather Report and John Zorn to The Beatles and Kraftwerk, with some commentators also citing Berlin period David Bowie. Personally I was also reminded of a more English version of Bowie associate Donny McCaslin’s ‘Black Star’ quartet featuring keyboard player Jason Lindner, electric bass specialist Tim Lefebvre and drummer Mark Guiliana.

The “Dreamers” album was recorded in 2020 and features nine original compositions by Lockheart in addition to two collective improvisations credited to the whole band. The music was conceived before the pandemic and It had been intended to tour and ‘road test’  the material prior to recording, but lockdown put paid to that. Indeed Lockheart suffered a nasty bout of Covid himself, but has thankfully made a full recovery.

The current tour was due to have taken place earlier, but was inevitably postponed because of the pandemic. The delay has cost the quartet the services of Elliot Galvin, who together with his partner, trumpeter Laura Jurd, has recently become the parent of a baby boy, Henry.  Once again congratulations to all concerned from everyone at The Jazzmann.

At Kidderminster Galvin was replaced by guitarist John Parricelli, a long time musical partner of Lockheart’s, their association going all the way back to the halcyon days of Loose Tubes in the late 1980s / early 90s.

Parricelli stepped into the breach brilliantly, seamlessly blending into the group and rising to the challenge of playing music originally written with keyboards in mind with considerable aplomb. Indeed he very nearly threatened to steal the show, as my account of the Kidderminster performance reveals.
https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/mark-lockheart-dreamers-quartet-kidderminster-jazz-club-corn-exchange-room-town-hall-kidderminster-03-02-2022

The Kidderminster review also includes a fuller history of Lockheart’s musical career ranging through Loose Tubes, Polar Bear, Perfect Houseplants, Malija and his admirably diverse solo projects, which I don’t intend to reproduce here.

The Shrewsbury date saw Dan Nicholls stepping into the Galvin role, stationed behind a rack of keyboards and returning the band to the same instrumental format as the album. He and Smith had previously worked together as members of the London based Loop Collective, another example of the close links between the musicians of Dreamers. This, plus Nicholls’ involvement in the realms of electronic music, made him an excellent fit for the band and a more than adequate replacement for Galvin.

Although the set list was broadly similar this edition of the band sounded very different to the version with Parricelli at Kidderminster. Even though the guitarist was able to deploy his various effects pedals to create colour, texture and atmospherics he also featured prominently as a soloist, sharing this role with Lockheart.

Tonight Nicholls occupied more of a textural role, creating soundwashes and sonic landscapes via his bank of keyboards and skilfully deploying a range of sounds ranging through electric piano, synth and organ. A greater onus was therefore placed on Lockheart as a soloist, who again moved freely between tenor and soprano saxes.

With Nicholls keyboard drones and soundscapes filling out the sound Herbert and Smith were afforded more space and their burgeoning rhythmic relationship was much more in evidence than it had been at Kidderminster, with Herbert, in particular, now appearing to play a more prominent role in the music.

With Covid rules at The Hive now relaxed SJN were rewarded with a bumper crowd. The attendance at Kidderminster had also been excellent, further proof of the high esteem in which Lockheart is regarded by British jazz fans. The Shrewsbury crowd may also have remembered a previous visit to The Hive by Lockheart with the Malija trio featuring pianist Liam Noble and bassist Jasper Hoiby in December 2018, a performance that marked some of Lockheart’s first experiments with electronic music and which may have acted as a seed for this current project. My review of Malija’s show at The Hive can be found here;
https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/malija-the-hive-music-media-centre-shrewsbury-08-12-2018

I have to confess that I actually missed the start of tonight’s show. The threat of potential flooding caused by Storm Eunice had caused the closure of my usual parking place and I struggled to find an alternative, meaning that I arrived a few minutes late, only catching the later stages of the opening number.

It was perhaps appropriate that this was ‘Weird Weather”, a tune from the new album with a title that could equally be a reference to the threat of climate age or a veiled homage to Messrs. Zawinul and Shorter and the mighty Weather Report. I was still able to catch the solos from Lockheart on tenor and Nicholls on keyboards, both fuelled by Herbert’s electric bass grooves and Smith’s agile drumming. It also saw Lockheart’s first switch of the evening as he moved from tenor to soprano.

“Jagdish”, a phrase meaning ‘King of the World’ in Hindi was inspired by Lockheart’s pre-pandemic trip to India and the music that he heard there. This emerged from an unaccompanied tenor sax intro which saw Lockheart deploying echo effects and introducing a motif that drew on Indian scales. Nicholls deployed both Rhodes and Hammond sounds on his keyboards while Smith utilised a variety of small percussive devices, his playing sometimes reminding me of that of free jazz drummer Mark Sanders. The piece sounded very different to the Kidderminster performance and more like the version on the album.

The as yet unrecorded “Beat Of The Heart” has emerged as something of a tour favourite, combining strong melodies with powerful odd meter grooves. Solos here came from Lockheart on tenor and Nicholls on keys, primarily utilising a synthesiser sound. Tonight the piece was merged with the album track “Marmalade Skies”, the title representing Lockheart’s homage to The Beatles. Herbert’s ethereal electric bass and Nicholls’ spacey keyboards provided the link between the two items, with Lockheart emerging to blow an extended but graceful tenor solo above a circling keyboard motif that subtly alluded to “Lucy In The Sky”.

The Banksy inspired “Gangster Rat” didn’t feature at Kidderminster but closed the first half here. This emerged from a free jazz style intro featuring tenor sax squawks, glitchy synths and electric bass effects to embrace a fractured, fidgety, urgent, urban drum groove. This helped to fuel a suitably powerful solo from Lockheart, stretching out on tenor above the relentless rhythms and the clouds of swirling synths. This was a rousing, high energy way to end an excellent first half.

Set two commenced with the title track of the “Dreamers” album, arguably the piece perhaps most reminiscent of Kraftwerk or Bowie’s Berlin  with Herbert’s electric bass motif pointing the way. Lockheart was able to range freely on tenor once more, accompanied by the sounds of atmospheric, dark edged synths and Smith’s increasingly dynamic drumming. Nicholls was also afforded the opportunity to stretch out on keys in a manner that sometimes reminded me of his own Strobes project with drummer Josh Blackmore and guitarist and electronic musician Matt Calvert.

“Fluorescences” borrows its title from the 1996 Stereolab album upon which Lockheart appeared. With its urgent unison riffing and jagged rhythms this was arguably the most rock influenced piece of the night.  I’ll admit to not knowing a whole lot about Stereolab, but the power and complexity of the piece, and particularly its unison staccato riffing,  did occasionally remind me of both King Crimson and Van Der Graaf Generator - which is praise indeed. The presence of Nicholls and his array of keyboards brought more of a prog rock feel to the set overall. More than anything this piece also revealed just what a powerful rhythmic juggernaut Herbert and Smith have become, although, of course, both can also be highly sensitive and sympathetic when required.

Another as yet unrecorded item, “Distant Bells”, was a demonstration of just how quickly a piece can develop as the result of touring. Tonight’s interpretation was radically different to the Kidderminster version and was introduced by an extended solo drum passage from the excellent Smith, a neatly constructed episode featuring hand drumming,  mallet rumbles and cymbal shimmers, splashes and scrapes. The drums were eventually underscored by Nicholls’ synth drones and the recorded sounds of distorted church bells, manipulated directly by Herbert via his phone through a floor mounted effects unit. These elements combined to form an atmospheric and impressionistic backdrop for Lockheart’s long tenor sax melody lines.

The epic “Nature V Nurture” closed the show, introduced by Herbert’s bass and featuring Lockheart on soprano sax, dancing lithely above the sounds of church like organ, bass and drums. The leader’s switch to tenor and his extended solo above Smith’s relentless drum groove imparted the music with an anthemic quality, with Nicholls eventually taking over to solo with a mix of synth and organ sounds as Lockheart moved back to soprano. The twists and turns of this episodic piece were skilfully negotiated by Herbert and Smith, again emphasising the fact that this is a rhythm team that is fluid, supple, powerful and, most important of all, supportive.

Exciting and beguiling in equal measure the ‘Dreamers’ quartet went down a storm with the Shrewsbury audience and SJN chair Mike Wright didn’t even need to prompt an encore. The band already had matters in hand and wrapped things up with the album’s closing track, “Mingle Tingle”, which teased with a quiet introduction before exploding into a propulsive and powerful groove, Lockheart soaring on tenor as Herbert and Smith locked together to slam out the rhythms and Nicholls added deliciously weird ‘Dr. Who’ like keyboard sounds. A terrific end to an excellent group performance that even delighted the jazz purists, despite the presence of electronic instruments.

As one observer noted Lockheart’s playing is always inherently tasteful and melodic, whatever the musical context may be. He’s developed a sound that is instantly recognisable, yet profoundly malleable. As an instrumentalist and composer Lockheart has convinced in formats ranging from duo to big band to orchestra, acoustic and electric, and across a variety of jazz styles, but without ever hinting at compromise.

“I like the unpredictable” he says, and the two Dreamers shows that I have seen have been very different, both in terms of tune selection and personnel and the varying approaches taken to the material itself, which on record reveals new facets with each new listen. 

Remaining dates on the ‘Dreamers’ tour are;

Feb 22nd - Listen, Cambridge
Feb 24th - Seven Arts Leeds, Leeds
Feb 25th - Sheffield Jazz, Sheffield
Feb 26th - The Vortex Jazz Club, London [two shows]

For further details and ticket links please visit http://www.marklockheart.co.uk

I’d also like to draw attention to the current fund raising appeal being undertaken by Dave Smith on behalf of the Gambian musician Laity Faye.

Dave Smith writes;

Rebuild Laity Faye’s House.

I first met Laity Faye on a West African culture residency in Njawara, The Gambia in 2002. Laity is a super talented singer, drummer and kora player and has taught me so much. This inspirational experience led me to make many return trips to study Sabar drumming. In 2007 I put together Outhouse Ruhabi which features Laity and four other Gambian drummers. We made two albums together and toured in The Gambia, UK and France.

We’ve been out of touch for some time but recently a close friend of his, Batch Jaw, reached out to ask for help…

In July 2021 a devastating wind storm affected over 100 Gambia communities including Laity’s family compound. Batch hopes to help rebuild the compound in time for the raining season this summer. He will oversee the project, buy materials and feed the workers. I’ve put this fundraiser together to help raise some money for the rebuild. Any contribution is much appreciated and I am happy to send you a download of the Ruhabi album as a thank you.

CD copies of the “Outhouse Ruhabi” album are on sale at gigs.

Please donate via;
https://www.paypal.com/pools/c/8Hh4Z8satg

 

blog comments powered by Disqus