Richard Fairhurst’s Tryptych

“Amusia”

(Babel Records BDV 1087)

Keyboard player Richard Fairhurst is something of a under appreciated figure on the UK jazz scene.
He made his recording début for Babel in 1995 when he was barely out of his teens heading a group he called The Hungry Ants. That first album featured a guest appearance by saxophonist Iain Ballamy, one of Fairhurst’s early champions. Impressive as the first album was the next two Ants albums “Formic” (1998) and “Myrmidons” (2001) were even better as Fairhurst continued to develop as both writer and player. Inspired by another early influence, Django Bates, he developed a distinctive touch on both Rhodes and synthesiser to complement the piano skills that had brought him the Daily Telegraph Young Jazz Pianist of the Year Award in 1994.

I saw Hungry Ants play a hugely enjoyable afternoon set at the 1999 Cheltenham Jazz Festival in the cellar of the town’s Subtone venue. Frighteningly it still feels like it was almost yesterday. Fairhurst was back at Cheltenham in 2003 with an expanded sextet line up (he’d dropped the Hungry Ants tag-line by then) to perform music commissioned for the Jerwood Rising Stars programme. Another excellent performance was enjoyed not only by myself but also by a Mr. Django Bates who was attending the festival with his family even though he wasn’t actually playing that year. The music eventually found it’s way on to record in the form of the album “Standing Tall” , another worthy addition to Fairhurst’s impressive catalogue.

He’s been somewhat quieter in recent years working in a duo with trumpet/flugel horn player Tom Arthurs which resulted in the beautiful “Mesmer” (2007), an intimate album of mainly Arthurs penned material. Now in 2010 Fairhurst remains with Babel for the release of what is amazingly his first recording as the leader of a piano trio. He has recruited two of the best young London based musicians for this project in the form of Danish bassist Jasper Hoiby (Phronesis, Kairos 4tet, etc. etc.) and American drummer Chris Vatalaro who was recently heard on record as part of a duo with F-ire Collective guitarist Jonathan Bratoeff. The material comprises of nine Fairhurst originals plus three improvisations which involve writing credits for other members of the trio. Fairhurst’s decision to use the group name Tryptych suggests that group interaction is important to him and emphasises the inherent democratic nature of the trio.

Fans of Hoiby’s own Phronesis will no doubt appreciate this music. It’s melodically inventive and rhythmically complex as demonstrated on the opening title track. Not that this is “difficult” music. Fairhurst has always had an ear for a good tune dating back to his Hungry Ants days and there are plenty of these here. Fairhurst’s solo on “Amusia” may probe deeply but he never completely loses sight of the melody. Beneath him Hoiby’s flexible bass and Vatalaro’s pattering percussion weave intricate patterns. The net effect is sometimes baffling but always invigorating.

“Dense Fur” initially appeared on the “Standing Tall” album. The trio version is shorter and inevitably more intimate, beginning with a limpid solo piano introduction from the composer. Fairhurst’s early association with Bates and Ballamy has resulted in much of his music having an unmistakable English quality. The melody of “Dense Fur” is a case in point as heard on the second part of the piece with Hoiby and Vatalaro adding their skills to the performance. 

“Figments” combines the groove based approach of Hoiby’s Phronesis with freer, more impressionistic episodes that incorporate an artful dissonance. It’s fiendishly clever and at times undeniably thrilling.

Despite the unpromising title “Bouts Of Agony” contains some of Fairhurst’s most lyrical playing on a ruminative piece for solo piano.

“Daringly Poised” dates all the way back to Hungry Ants’ 1998 album “Formic” and is another example of Fairhurst’s wilfully English eccentricity. However with Hoiby and Vatalaro on board the trio stretch out imaginatively with Vatalaro’s busy, delightfully detailed cymbal work particularly impressive.

“Love & Light” is a sparse, brooding duet between Fairhurst and Hoiby with the bassist’s famously woody tone imparting a considerable emotional impact.

The lengthy “Fish Magic” is as darting and mercurial as a shoal of herring, constantly shifting shape and containing some sparkling playing from the trio. Fairhurst’s rippling solo is particularly dazzling. The wildlife theme continues into “Confused Wasp”-typical Fairhurst title- a surreal but highly descriptive stop/start solo piano piece that seems to sum up the semi sentient state of a dozy insect awakening after a cold winter. Still in the realms of natural history “Sticklebacks” is a group improvisation with Vatalaro’s distinctive percussive patterns leading the way.  The title may be a nod to Fairhurst’s formative Loose Tubes influences, a Chris Batchelor tune of the same title appears on the third and final Loose Tubes album “Open Letter” (1988, for goodness sake). Whether Fairhurst conceived these three pieces as a trilogy is uncertain but all impress in their own very different ways.

“Scourge” features Fairhurst’s piano probing over compelling odd meter grooves and the following “Empty Corridors” takes a similarly elastic, if rather more lyrical approach to time signatures.

The album closes with “Out At The Deep End”, a smouldering group improvisation that sees Fairhurst operating at the extreme ends of the piano’s dynamic range. Hoiby’s bass murmurs darkly and Vatalaro supplies delicate filigree percussion. At a little over three and a half minutes it’s a mere cameo in free improv terms but a wholly convincing one.

“Amusia” is a worthy addition to the already impressive Fairhurst canon. The spirit of group interaction is high throughout and Fairhurst’s writing is clever, sometimes quirky and always sophisticated. In an age when the piano trio has been reinvented as one of the most expressive and adventurous vehicles in jazz Fairhurst deserves to do well with this album. It’s the kind of record that reveals something new with each listening and this trio is right up there with the best of them. I’ve admired Fairhurst’s work for a long time and with Hoiby’s involvement pretty much a guarantee of quality this album doesn’t disappoint. Hopefully Fairhurst, a fiercely individual and very British talent will now begin to reap the acclaim that is surely his due.

Triptych are due to appear at London’s Vortex Jazz Club on the 7 & 8 July 2010 as part of a double bill with pianist Vijay Iyer’s trio. Sounds like a couple of great nights. If you live in London I’d strongly urge you to attend.

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