The latest F-ire Collective band to make waves on the British jazz scene is Porpoise Corpus, an excellent young sextet led by the talented composer and keyboard player Dave O’Brien.

Their eponymous debut album features eight of O’Brien’s engaging compositions and embraces a wide range of styles, sometimes in the course of a single piece. There is a sense of adventure and a breadth of colour to O’Brien’s writing that makes these stylistic shifts seem natural and unforced.

In the main the music is a bright, intelligent and particularly British brand of jazz-rock that borrows from 70’s funk and fusion, the M Base stylings of Steve Coleman plus more overtly British influences such as Nucleus, Partisans and label mates Polar Bear and Acoustic Ladyland. Indeed “Predicted Consequence”, the albums shortest cut at just fifty-three seconds is a vicious but uplifting squall of Ladyland style skronk.

Porpoise Corpus should have the same kind of crossover appeal as Polar Bear and Ladyland and deserve to win the ears of discerning rock listeners. There is scope here to attract a following beyond the normal jazz demographic.

The music is not without it’s gentler moments, the opening track “Neverending” and “Out Of Sight, Out of Mind” and “Silence Is Gold And Diamonds” feature attractive melodies and showcase the leader’s skills on acoustic piano.

Elsewhere “Severage On All Other Lines” “Blind, Insane” and “The Seventh Trip” are lengthy funk inspired excursions but the strength and originality of O’Brien’s writing means they avoid all the standard jazz-rock clichés. The band also revisits “Neverending” in this vein to close out the album.  Strong themes, odd time signatures and killer riffs abound giving the music an unfolding, cinematic quality. There are powerful solos from saxophonists Tom Ward (alto) and Tom Challenger (tenor) plus Jonathan Bratoeff on guitar. The guitarist is also highly effective as a texturalist throughout the recording.

Bratoeff is of course a leader in his own right and his albums “Between The Lines” and “Points Of Perception” also appear on the F-ire label. The latter is particularly impressive in it’s imagination and execution and features Guy “Wampa” Wood as a key collaborator. Wood is heard behind the drumkit with Porpoise Corpus where he forms a flexible, powerful and intelligent rhythmic alliance with bassist Spencer Brown.

Porpoise Corpus have already gathered a good deal of attention and the critical response to their album and live shows has been universally favourable. The album arrived a little too late for the “best of” lists of 2007 but I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see them as Mercury Music Prize nominees when the time comes around. Definitely one of the acts to look out for in 2008.

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