Mike Hobart Quintet

“Evidential”

(Another World Music)

Mike Hobart is the jazz correspondent for the Financial Times but he is also a talented saxophonist who has performed with saxophonist Maceo Parker, vocalist Esther Phillips and the New York performance poet Barry Wallenstein among others. His influences range from Evan Parker to Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk to Ray Charles to the Ethio-jazz of Mulatu Astatke.

Hobart plays tenor, alto and baritone saxophones but for this recording focusses on the tenor. His main creative outlets are this quintet, once known as Mike Hobart’s Urban Jazz Collective (under which name he recorded the earlier “The Third Fish”) and the jazz/funk sextet Motiv.

For this album, recorded in London at Derek Nash’s Clown’s Pocket Studio,  Hobart is joined by Pigbag trumpeter Chris Lee , Australian born bassist Greg Gottlieb and Partikel drummer Eric Ford with keyboard duties split between Adrian Reid and Danny Keane. The material consists of six originals composed by Hobart and his associates plus a cover of Mal Waldron’s enduringly popular “Soul Eyes”.

The programme commences with Hobart’s energetic Monk inspired title track (it’s based on the pianist’s “Evidence”)  which develops from a suitably Monk like horn motif to incorporate heavy funk derived bass grooves courtesy of Gottleib allied to gritty Blue Note style solos from Hobart and Lee. The glue binding these elements together is Keane who appears on this track exclusively playing both acoustic and electric keyboards. Hobart takes the first solo, his muscular playing bolstered by the powerful grooves generated by Gottlieb and Ford, these two aided and abetted by Keane on dirty sounding Fender Rhodes. Keane then switches to acoustic piano for his own cleverly constructed solo which sees him gradually ramping up the tension with his increasingly percussive playing, clearly inspired by Monk, but in no way imitative and very much his own. Lee goes next on bright and breezy trumpet, informed by the hard bop tradition but with an agreeably contemporary edge. In this introduction to the band we also hear from Gottlieb and Ford in a lively bass and drum dialogue before the piece resolves itself with an rather abrupt return to the opening motif.

“Rosie” is credited to Absaroka/Cliffe/Hobart/Sincock and would appear to come from the repertoire of Motiv whose line up includes guitarist Loz Cliffe and trumpeter Steve Sincock. The piece has an attractive and memorable lilting melody that sees Reid taking over keyboard duties, appearing here on acoustic piano. It’s less frenetic than the opener, yet not a ballad, and includes flowingly lyrical solos from Lee on flugelhorn and Reid on piano while Hobart deploys something of a ‘tough but tender’ sound on tenor.

Hobart’s “Bellies on the Roof” honours the hard bop virtues of Blue Note with its strong, hooky theme and propulsive grooves plus a string of fine solos beginning with the inventive Reid on piano. He’s followed by Hobart on gruffly authoritative tenor who enters into an engaging series of exchanges with Lee’s pinched, high register trumpet. There’s also a drum feature for the excellent Ford, the member of the quintet whose playing I’m most familiar with thanks to his association with both Partikel, the Samuel Eagles Quintet and the Leo Appleyard Quintet.

Lee’s “Victory to the Underdog” begins as a kind of contemporary ballad, the soul/jazz/fusion feel exemplified by Reid’s softly trilling Rhodes and the composer’s plangent trumpet. Bass and drums adopt a harder, funkier groove for Hobart’s searching but hard hitting tenor solo which temporarily steers the music into choppier, more turbulent waters with more than a hint of the avant garde about them. Suddenly the talk about the Evan Parker influence begins to make sense although the tune resolves itself quite mellifluously by the end.   

It’s a very different Parker, this time Maceo, that informs the hard hitting jazz and funk of “Maces Paces”. Hobart leads off the solos with a typically punchy and gritty outing that sees him really digging in, he’s very much the jazz component. Reid’s keyboards, sometimes approximating the sounds of a clavinet, add the funk and Lee’s trumpet solo, heavily processed through a wah wah pedal takes the music into the heart of fusion territory.

Pianist Mal Waldron’s “Soul Eyes” has become a modern jazz standard, the familiar melody seeming to offer a myriad of possibilities. For the Hobart quintet it’s the album’s only true ballad with the leader revealing his gentler side on warmly rounded tenor as Lee demonstrates similar qualities with his most lyrical trumpet playing of the set. Gottlieb is similarly melodic and lyrical on double bass as he solos at length. Reid’s limpid piano weaves in and out of the piece and Ford offers sympathetic brushed support from behind the kit.

Despite the delightful group ballad performance on “Soul Eyes” the Hobart quintet is basically a hard hitting, high energy unit and these qualities come to the fore on the closing “Bass to Base” which begins (naturally) with the unaccompanied sound of Gottlieb’s bass before gently expanding to incorporate the rest of the group. The music develops slowly and quietly at first with Hobart’s quietly probing tenor leading the way, gradually leading the music into more forceful and energetic areas. The transformation is unhurried and is skilfully handled with the music developing organically as the quintet builds up a head of steam with Ford’s crisp drum grooves fuelling a lengthy solo from Lee. The drummer is also featured at length, his solo incorporating his now trademark sound of foot operated cowbell that will be familiar to Partikel’s many followers.

Although a little derivative at times “Evidential” is an enjoyable album that covers a number of jazz bases. In a well programmed set the playing is excellent throughout with some impressive solos from all members of the group, but particularly from leader Hobart. However good as the album is one suspects that this group’s true home is in the live environment where Hobart’s punchy, powerful exciting saxophone style can be appreciated at its best. He certainly doesn’t pull any punches with his solos, although “Soul Eyes” reveals that he’s a highly capable ballad player too. 

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