Pentangling for jazz
I recently went to see the Pentangle on their UK tour and came out with a mind roughly 20 per cent wider than when I went in. I've been listening to them on MP3 and vinyl for a while now but I was amazed at just how incredible they were live. Unfortunately I don't think I'm going to be able to go and see any local bands now without the nagging feeling that they're being more than a little bit lazy by not even attempting to play the sitar or perform a five minute double bass solo in the middle of an ancient folk ballad.
Anyhow, it set me on a small voyage of jazz discovery. I do like Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins et al but they don't set my world alight, however I have now found there's a steady trickle of really interesting new young jazz groups making very interesting and very original sounds - with the same kind of care-free don't-look-back attitude that Jansch, Renbourn, McShee and co did 40 years ago. My first new discovery was Polar Bear (post-jazz?), then The Blessing (made up of half of Portishead), and just a couple of days ago the quite incredible Portico Quartet.
Anyone else care to share any recomendations?
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Some suggestions...
Neil Cowley Trio
The Bad Plus
Acoustic Ladyland
All very full-on, all with an occasionally almost punkish ferocity. Definitely jazz, but full of modernity and youthful exuberance. If you like Polar Bear, then there's a good chance you'll enjoy this lot.
Oh, and thanks for the pointer to the Portico Quartet - I'd not heard of them before, but they sound fantastic - I've just downloaded their album from eMusic. Ditto The Blessing. Excellent stuff!
Polar Bear/Accoustic Ladyland....
...share a drummer, in the exuberantly haired Seb Rochford.
For a slightly less full on experience, he also features on the Basquiat Strings first CD, imaginatively called the Basquiat Strings with Seb Rochford, a mercury prize nominee last time around. For that pastoral hinterland between classical and jazz.
I would also recommend Accoustic Triangle, currently on a tour of cathedrals, who offer further classically hued jazz, with sax, accoustic bass, french horn/piano tempered with 4 violins, viola and cello. I saw/heard this at Lichfield Cathedral last week, where else, and tremendous stuff it was too.
...some more...
There's always the Scandinavian contingent:
Tord Gustavsen Trio sound deceptively mellow and minimalist at first hearing, but there's real intensity (albeit quiet intensity) at work there, too. If it's possible to be excited and chilled-out simultaneously, then that's the way I feel when listening to their albums. Damned fine band live, too - saw them in Lichfield (where else?) a couple of years ago.
Esbjorn Svensson Trio (or E.S.T.) are more directly exciting and playful: standard piano/bass/drums line-up, but they mix acoustic and electric, including occasional forays into power-chords and triggered synths. Great stuff, and absolutely tragic that Svensson died recently.
Yes yes
Listen to Neil Crowley Trio - Loud, Louder, Stop.
I've been banging on about this album for weeks. It's my album of the year so far.
Ta
for the suggestions chaps, I'll try and track them all down.
Glad to know I have spread the word about Portico Quartet. They are astonishing, I discovered them through eMusic - they lull you into a trance with some dreamlike melody and then slap you in the face with a crazy freaky breakdown, best jazz I've heard in ages.
The Tangle
I saw them in Cambridge and they were indeed fantastic. The time just shot by and they could have happily started again and repeated the gig for me.
Hilarious remark of the day - queuing for the parking payment machine, the bloke behind me's grumpy sounding wife saying "they're basically a Dave Brubeck ripoff, aren't they!". Hmmmm.
I was at Cambridge also
What a wonderful night, I always thought Bert Jansch was the most talented one in the band but I was bowled over by John Renbourn and spent half the night waiting for Danny Thompson to go off on one again. I took along a freind who had never heard them before and he hasn't stopped raving about it since.
Live On The BBC
was my listening on the 8.55 to Paddington this morning, and what a way to whisk away the journey. Stunning.
I saw John Renbourn once when he was doing a two-hander tour with Stephan Grossman. They played separate sets, as far as I can remember, and while the ragtime stuff, and the banter between numbers was good, it was Renbourn who blew me away. Lord Franklin seemed to stop time, and I had tears running down my face with the sheer brilliance of his performance.
Yeah...
...saw the Cardiff show, was right at the front. Brilliant performance, I love their jazzy instrumentals too. The band really seemed to be enjoying themselves. Hope there's a DVD forthcoming of this tour!
I heartily agree with the nominations for Acoustic Ladyland; saw them on Later... and thought they were great, something akin to Colosseum on speed- high energy stuff indeed. Know less about The Bad Plus but I seem to remember being impressed with them on Later... too. If you're looking for a current band that reminds one of the folkier aspects of Pentangle's sound, you could do a lot less than check out Espers.
More jazz
Hi Niks, I'd agree about e.s.t., their From Gargarin's Point of View and their recent Live In Hamburg are both terrific. Also Manu Katche's Neighbourhood has some superb moments. When I first started listening to jazz I found a lot of stuff on the ECM label very approachable, especially early Pat Metheny Group, Eberhard Weber and acoustic guitarist Ralph Towner, whose Sound and Shadows album has some folky moments. Sorry, you got me started on one there!
I'd also like to give a shout for Little Barrie.
I know little or nothing about them, and there are only two albums to their name, but they can really play, and it's not really jazz and it's not just pop, and it's sort of blues. I discovered them by accident when I picked up a promo single, and there isn't another current band I've heard that have impressed me as much for ages. I think if you like Pentangle, you'll appreciate the fact that they have a similar attitude, if not style, backed up with the chops, or at least the ambition, to match.