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MUSIC AND CDs Tim Garland Some of his high-speed ostinatos in support of his partners' solos were stunning in their density and unerring adherence to the beat. Garland was surefooted and secure of tone at the extremes of the tenor's range, and broadened the band's scope considerably with his authority on the bass clarinet. He added further textural materials to the trio by blowing a tenor-sax prelude to the Beatles' Blackbird on to the soundboard of Keezer's piano, and dueting with the resulting eerie overtones. Keezer, a young pianist with an encyclopedic sweep across jazz piano history, delivered a beautiful keyboard improvisation on this piece. His own elegant but rather somber feature Shelter had the soprano sax and vibraphone declaring a poignant theme over a dark, repeating piano heartbeat, and Garland's spooky but lively After Dark brought some of the best bluesily collaborative ensemble playing out of all three. It would tax the imagination of the best improvisers on the planet to keep the vitality free of longueurs, but these three make an accomplished job of it.From his early career in Ronnie Scott's band Tim has since played with all of the UK leading jazz musicians including John Dankworth, Kenny Wheeler, John Taylor, Ralph Towner, Jason Rebello. He has developed an instantly recognizable style born of his interests not just in jazz, but in folk and world music traditions. He is now expanding his international career with frequent performances in Europe and the USA. Garland is now Chick Corea's tenor player in the globetrotting band Origin, and is signed to Stretch Records, his latest CD is "Made By Walking". He continues to live in the UK but is a frequent traveler to the USA.
Gwyn Herbert/ Will Rutter
Rating:
Twenty-one-year-old English singer Gwyn Herbert turned up here last year with a demo that ended up in the bin. Then it was rescued and subsequently propelled her to her own shows at Pizza Express and now a debut CD. Hype aside, the quietly assured Herbert certainly sounds like a star, destined to dominate the slice of the almost-jazz marketplace occupied by Stacey Kent and Diana Krall. Herbert's voice is less feathery than Kent's (though she doesn't yet possess the expatriate American's fine-tuned jazz timing), but she can be as eloquently and dramatically emotional as Krall at her best. The seamless interplay between those two established stars and their musicians is a different story, however, and one that Herbert and her circle (the presence of the great UK vocalist Ian Shaw on Herbert's touchline is a big bonus) will have to work on over the coming months. Here, Herbert launched her first CD in the company of her regular playing and composing partner, guitarist Will Rutter, and with a rhythm section of Mark Hodgson (bass) and Josefina Cupido (drums).
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Like many young jazz
singers from the late 1990s onward, Herbert likes classic standards, but
mingles them with songs by Ray Charles, Burt Bacharach, Carole King,
Elvis Costello and others. On Don't Worry About Me, she immediately
quietened the room with the sumptuous authority of her mid-range and the
conversational ease with which a superior singer turns every member of
an audience into a personal confidante. Bacharach's Trains and Boats and
Planes was given a Latin groove, but the band sounded a little adrift.
Herbert and Rutter's slow original duet No Other Life was affecting,
though a guest appearance by trumpeter Guy Barker - who could usually
turn Three Blind Mice into a miniature improvised masterpiece - didn't
overcome the band's rather tentative air. But these are early days. Gwyn
Herbert is a name we're all going to get to know.
Surpsingly this is the first time that Phil Woods has made an album of standards; though he's not averse to playing other people's tunes, he's tended to go for the more obscure gems rather than the selection of old chestnuts we find here. He's accompanied by his trusty quintet, two of whom have been with Woods for over thirty years (new boy pianist Bill Charlap has already served for over ten). As you can imagine, this is a band that's pretty much played in and their warm, relaxed interplay is apparent from the opening bars of "A Foggy Day".The arrangements are pretty straightforward; Woods isn't much of a revisionist and doesn't claim to be. The nearest he gets is a polite remolding of "I've Got You Under My Skin" into a Latin groove. Nevertheless, his solos still have the power to surprise and are never less than engaging. Unfortunately a rather sterile and fussy production job doesn't do the music too many favors; even Brian Lynch's sleekly incandescent trumpet sounds strangely recessed here. Whatever, watch it win the Downbeat readers poll...Reviewer: P. March CONTINUES ON P72
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Phil Woods Quintet