(photograph by Russ Escritt)
Thanks to everyone who came down to Jazz Club at The Rainbow last wednesday for the invigorating performance by The Sub Ensemble. Please have a read of Peter Bacon’s review ( Jazz writer at The Birmingham Post and Birmingham Blogger).
Jazz Club, The Rainbow
26-08-09
Getting the right band together is difficult enough in itself; keeping them together down the years in an uncertain world needs great determination and forbearance. Bassist Chris Mapp is managing just fine with the band that grew out of Sugarbeats, but last night illustrated the ongoing challenge.
It was the last gig for the drummer who has been there from the start, Alan Gardiner. He is sliding south to Brighton, and will, I reckon, be sorely missed. His ability to play a rock solid groove and yet bring light and energy to it as well has always been one of the band’s strong points.
But it was also the first gig with the band for trumpeter Aaron Diaz, and here there is great cause for celebration. Slightly reticent at first (or rather slightly down in the mix due to his softer tone when compared with that of fellow trumpeter Mike Adlington), he quickly started to look and sound at home and played some of the evening’s strongest solos. The two-trumpet line-up was one of the things I liked most about later incarnations of Sugarbeats, and the chrome brightness it gives to the horn section suits perfectly the shiny vibe of the music.
So, as one door closes another opens, then… and I am sure there are some hot drummers around just longing to lock into the tight rhythm team of Mapp, keyboardist Rob Norman and percussion man Mark Robertson.
And up front? Needless to say Adlington continues to do the business, in his cool, always assured manner, and Colin Mills provides the wild card on baritone. There was one tune last night which paired Mills’ and Mapp’s bass clef instruments that I thought was particularly effective, and points to how Mills might be best used in the future. There is a tendency for his excellent solos to get lost in the mix if they are treated as conventional horn improvs against full rhythm backing (especially if Norman is feeling enthusiastic, as he was last night).
The band played lots of familiar favourites – 22-21, For You, Dual-eyed Entity, Beautiful Spring – and they were all sounding as fine as I have heard them, but the real stand-out of the evening was the band’s reworking of the 4Hero piece Humans. Like the encore, a Dee Dee Bridgewater tune (”done in one of my favourite styles: fast latin!” as Mapp told us), it showed the originality the band can bring to other material (though it must be stressed, Humans, is a near fresh creation compared to the original).
It is this strong and individual band character, and the huge bonus of the tunes former Sub saxophonist Mike Fletcher has bequeathed to them, that ensures them a healthy future. The cast may change but the story continues.
From Peter Bacon’s Blog : http://thejazzbreakfast.wordpress.com/
www.myspace.com/thesubensemble
1 Comment »
