Gramophone – September 2019

gramophone.co.uk GRAMOPHONE SEPTEMBER 2019 113

ScottHamiltonQuartet

DanishBallads...&More

StuntFSTUCD 18102

Havingpreviously

recordedanalbumfor

Stuntthatconcentrated

onSwedishballads,

Hamiltonnowshiftshis

attentionto 10 moreeven-pacedpiecesbut

thistimeofDanishorigin,withthesame

trioinsupport.Whilesomeofthese

themesmaybefamiliar,theircomposers

maybelessso.OscarPettiford,whohad

settledinCopenhagen,wrote‘Montmartre

Blues’atthetimeheandDexterGordon

wereoftentobeheardatthatcity’sClub

Montmartre;Hamiltondigsinhappilyon

thisone,theenergybuildingnicely,

Lundgrenintohisstride.‘MyLittleAnna’

isbythelateDanishbassplayerNHØP

andwaswrittenforhisdaughter;it’sa

prettytuneandallowsHamiltonto

meanderpleasantlyaroundthetheme.

That,tobehonest,isprettymuchwhathe

doesthroughoutthisengagingifrelatively

undemandingouting.Hamiltonfounda

waytoplaythatsuitedhimdecadesagoand

hecontinuestopleaseaudienceswherever

hegoes.Unblemishedsound,unhurried

melodiccontrol,acentredapproach,and

yes,asensethatallisrightwiththeworld.

PeterVacher

MarkLockheart&RogerSayer

SalvatorMundi

EditionF 1132

Withinsixmonthsof

releasingMark

Lockheart’spainterly

orchestralprojectDayson

Earth,EditionRecords

nowpresentstheLooseTubesandPolar

Bearsaxophonist/composerimprovisingon

AnglicanhymnsinaduowithRogerSayer,

theorganistofLondon’sacoustically

hauntingTempleChurch.Onthesoftly

pipingtitle-trackby17th-centuryorganist

JohnBlow,Lockheartgracefullysustainsits

discreettripletbounceinhisimprovisation,

andSayer’sghostlyorganostinatoswirls

aroundmurmuringsopranosaxrepeat-

notesandpurringrunsasthefamous

traditionalthemeof‘InDulciJubilo’

acceleratesfrommeditationtoagentle

churn.Tallis’s‘ThirdTuneforArchbishop

Parker’sPsalter’getsaminimalism-driven

organpartandamoreruggedappearance

forthetenorsax.Theshapelylyricismof

thismusicmakesitaworthyshelf-

companiontoGarbarek’sOfficium,or

Surman’sABiographyoftheRevAbsalom

Dawe,thoughit’salittlemore

improvisationallycautiousthansuch

stablematesasthose.JohnFordham

DebashishBhattacharya

Joy!Guru

UnzippedFlyRecordsFUFCD014

‘HereComestheMoon

King’,the12-minute

openingtrack,setsthe

mood.Itbeginswitha

preludeoftingling

stillness;theslideguitarhighinthenight

sky,shimmeringlikeafirefly.Apartfroma

Hawaiianmoment,mostoftheseventracks

herehaveanighttimeflavourforthe

obviousreasontheywererecordedinanall-

nightsessioninastudioatPolishRadio.

The14-minute‘MidnightRaga’once

againbringsuscalm,delicacyandmagic,

withnotesthatslide,bendandgodownto

thesublimelowerregistersofBhattacharya’s

chaturanguiguitar.It’sfollowedby

‘ChaturanguiExpress’–afour-minute

shootingstarflashingthroughtheheavens.

BhattacharyaisjoinedbytwoPolish

musicians,WojtekTraczykondoublebass

andHubertZemlerondrums,andthey

respondsympatheticallytoBhattacharya’s

musicandbringacoupleofcompositions

byTraczyk.Itwasaclearlyathrillingand

productivenight’swork.SimonBroughton

VariousArtists

TheLostWords:SpellSongs

QuercusRecordsFQRCD04

SpellSongsmadeitsstagedebut

earlierthisyear,itsmusic

sprungfromthe‘spellsongs’of

naturewriterRobert

Macfarlaneandthenature

imagesofartistJackieMorris.Eachofthese

‘spellsongs’isdedicatedtobringingwords

thathavebeguntovanishfrom21st-century

children’svocabularies–acorn,adder,

bramble,conker...It’samusicalcompanion

piecetothebook,andnowcomesasa

CD-bookordeluxevinylset,completewith

newspellsbyMacfarlaneandpaintings

byMorris.

Theeightmusicians–KarinePolwart,

JulieFowlis,SeckouKeita,KrisDrever,

KerryAndrew,RachelNewton,Beth

PorterandJimMolyneux–congregated

underthepatronageofFolkbytheOakin

January,recordedimmediatelyafterwards

atRockfieldstudiosandperformedfour

sell-outshowsinFebruary.

SpellSongsprovestobeexquisitemusical

reimaginingsandsettings,withastrong

collaborativespirit,especiallyonthelikes

of‘Willow’,featuringSeckouKeita’skora

andvoicepairedwiththevoiceofRachel

Newton.‘Scatterseed’isanotherhighlight,

aKrisDreverspecialwithKeita’skora

shimmeringagainstDrever’sguitar.An

outstandingproductionandkeepsake.

TimCumming

Jazz

World Music

Gramophone, Jazzwise and Songlines are published by MA Music, Leisure & Travel, home to the world’s best

specialist music magazines. To find out more, visit gramophone.co.uk, jazzwisemagazine.com and songlines.co.uk

The Editors of Gramophone’s sister music magazines, Jazzwise and Songlines,

recommend some of their favourite recordings from the past month

Brought to you by

Brought to you by

JAZZ & WORLD MUSIC REVIEWS