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Review

by Ian Mann

March 21, 2018

/ ALBUM

The album again highlights Siegel’s abilities as both a musician and a composer and he is once again supported by an excellent hand picked band.

Julian Siegel Quartet

“Vista”

(Whirlwind Recordings WR4717)

The Nottingham born saxophonist, clarinettist and composer Julian Siegel is one of the most significant figures on the contemporary UK jazz scene.

I have long been an admirer of his playing and composing,, whether fronting his own trios and quartets or co-leading the long running jazz rock group Partisans in partnership with guitarist and composer Phil Robson. In addition Siegel is also an in demand sideman, whether as a guest soloist with small groups or as a skilled and versatile section player in larger ensembles, these ranging over the years from the BBC Big Band to Django Bates’ Delightful Precipice.

Despite being a highly creative musician with an international reputation Siegel has been comparatively under recorded. Partisans have released five albums over the course of their twenty year existence while this is only the third offering from Siegel in the acoustic quartet format.

The first of these, “Close Up”, dates back to 2002 and features the leader in the company of pianist Liam Noble, bassist Jeremy Brown and drummer Gary Husband. “Close Up” was good but 2011’s follow up “Urban Theme Park” was even better, a modern British jazz classic featuring Siegel’s now regular working group comprised of Noble, bassist Oli Hayhurst and Partisans drummer Gene Calderazzo.

It hasn’t been quite such a lengthy hiatus this time, although plenty long enough, and Siegel is back with another excellent quartet album. “Vista” features ten new original Siegel compositions plus an arrangement of “Un Poco Loco” by the late, great American pianist Bud Powell. Once more the recording features the quartet of Siegel, Noble, Hayhurst and Calderazzo with the leader credited with tenor and soprano saxophones plus bass clarinet.

Besides his work with the quartet and with Partisans Siegel has also led two other landmark projects. In 2008 he fronted a collaborative trio featuring the American musicians Greg Cohen (double bass) and Joey Baron (drums). This fruitful Trans-Atlantic alliance is documented on the excellent two CD recording “Live At The Vortex” (Basho Records). Review here;
http://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/julian-siegel-trio-live-at-the-vortex/

In 2017 Siegel fulfilled a long term ambition by assembling his own stellar Jazz Orchestra to play his compositions, the majority of which were new pieces commissioned by Derby Jazz. Taking the lace making industry of his native Nottingham as a source of inspiration Siegel composed a suite titled “Tales From The Jacquard” which was performed by his Jazz Orchestra as the ensemble undertook a short tour of the UK. The programme also included new big band arrangements of older pieces initially written for the quartet or for Partisans. The ensemble’s performance in Nottingham was broadcast on Radio 3 and it would be good if Siegel were able to document the music on disc at some juncture. I was fortunate enough to cover the date at the CBSO Centre in Birmingham and my review of that performance can be read here;
http://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/julian-siegel-jazz-orchestra-town-hall-birmingham-19-03-2017/

The release of a new recording by Siegel is always a major event in the British jazz calendar and “Vista” is no exception. The album commences with the simply titled “The Opener”, a typically engaging Siegel composition that combines complex harmonic and rhythmic ideas with a very human expressiveness. Often the written themes act as jumping off points for fiercely interactive passages of collective improvisation. This is a band that has been playing together for a long time, the familiarity of the musicians with one another’s playing leading to a highly creative musical environment. Siegel’s tenor gently prods and probes on his opening solo, moving easily between the written and improvised passages. He’s followed by Noble, one of the UK’s most distinctive and imaginative piano soloists.

“I Want To Go To Brazil” is Siegel’s homage to Brazilian music and composers such as Antonio Carlos Jobim, Hermeto Pascoal and Elis Regina. Yet it sounds nothing like any of these as Siegel puts his own stamp on the music of the country that inspired him. The piece commences with an intimate musical conversation between the leader on tenor and Noble on piano before the full quartet combine to shape the direction of the music. Hayhurst’s buoyant bass lines and Calderazzo’s crisp, dynamic drumming help to fuel joyously fluent and exploratory solos from Siegel and Noble. The piece may be inspired by Brazil but it’s very much Siegel’s own and is happily free from the usual samba and bossa clichés.

Simple one or two word titles are a characteristic of this album. “Song” proves to be a tender and elegant ballad featuring the sometimes wispy sound of the leader’s tenor sax plus a gloriously melodic double bass solo from Hayhurst. Noble is at his most lyrical at the piano while Calderazzo performs with great sensitivity and restraint at the kit, impressing in his role as colourist.

Siegel moves to soprano for the agreeably quirky “Pastorale”, his tone almost flute like at times. Initially it’s a breezy piece that sees the leader’s airy soprano exchanging ideas with Noble at the piano as Hayhurst and Calderazzo provide imaginative rhythmic accompaniment. In time this leads to a more reflective central passage with the dialogue between Siegel and Noble still at the heart of the music.

Calderazzo’s drums introduce Siegel’s brilliantly inventive arrangement of Bud Powell’s “Un Poco Loco”. It’s lively and dynamic with mercurial , interlocking melody lines darting hither and thither as the quartet warm to their task. This is the sound of a band having some ‘serious fun’ with their chosen material. As on “Pastorale” the intuitive rapport between Siegel, this time on tenor, and Noble is at the heart of the music with Hayhurst and Calderazzo also fully attuned to Siegel’s vision. The drummer’s busy, colourful performance helps to propel soloists Noble and Siegel to fresh heights.

“Billion Years” embraces a more contemporary feel and sees Siegel stretching out on tenor in the saxophone trio format as Hayhurst’s propulsive bass and Calderazzo’s busy, feverish drumming help to drive the music along. There are shades here of the saxophonist’s earlier trio with Cohen and Baron. Hayhurst weighs in with a muscular bass solo and there’s also something of a drum feature for the consistently excellent Calderazzo.

Noble returns for the title track, which embraces a more orchestral style of writing with the pianist’s ascending/descending motif at its heart. Siegel’s fluent, melodic tenor ranges widely across the musical landscape that the quartet have created as Calderazzo’s dynamic drumming helps to shape the music. Noble is finely liberated from his role to deliver a flowingly expansive, richly inventive piano solo.

“Full Circle” commences with the sound of the trio of Noble, Hayhurst and Calderazzo and is the kind of spacious, abstract ballad that wouldn’t sound out of place on an ECM recording. Siegel subsequently enters on soprano sax, circling airily above the delicate rhythmic patterns generated by his colleagues.

“The Goose” was initially written for Siegel’s Jazz Orchestra project and was played by that ensemble. The title comes from the name that Partisans colleague Phil Robson coined for Siegel’s bass clarinet, although the leader actually plays tenor here. All the members of the quartet were part of the larger ensemble and all excel on this vibrant, blues inflected, highly rhythmic take on Siegel’s theme with the leader soloing in ebullient manner on tenor followed by Noble at the piano and Hayhurst on double bass.

“Idea” actually sees Siegel taking up the ‘goose’, the animated and engaging dialogue between his bass clarinet and Calderazzo’s drums introducing the piece prior to a spirited band finale. It’s energetic, dynamic and great fun with some virtuoso playing, particularly from Siegel and Calderazzo.

The album concludes with the nine minute “The Claw”, the album’s lengthiest piece and a composition that seems to owe something to the ‘spiritual’ jazz of John Coltrane. Siegel positively smoulders on tenor as he builds his solo, this evolving into a series of increasingly intense exchanges with the Tyner-esque Noble as Calderazzo and Hayhurst feed the rhythmic furnaces.
Having reached a peak of intensity the piece plateaus out somewhat and resolves itself with an equally engaging passage of soprano sax from the leader.

Like its predecessor “Urban Theme Park” “Vista” has been widely acclaimed by the critics, and rightly so. The album again highlights Siegel’s abilities as both a musician and a composer and he is once again supported by an excellent hand picked band that are more than capable of dealing with the musical challenges that Siegel throws at them and creating something fresh and special out of those ideas. “It’s a shared experience” explains Siegel, “It’s a great opportunity writing for this band because you know they’re going to make it sound good”. It’s an observation with which one can only concur.

The Julian Siegel Quartet are currently touring the UK in support of “Vista”. Forthcoming dates are listed below;


March 21st NOTTINGHAM Jazz House Bonington Theatre
March 28th STRATFORD UPON AVON,  Stratford Arts House
April 12th CAMBRIDGE, Modern Jazz Club
April 14th SHREWSBURY Jazz Network,  The Hive
April 15th BRISTOL, The Hen & Chicken, Bedminster
April 26th BIRMINGHAM Conservatoire, Eastside Jazz Club


Julian Siegel: http://juliansiegel.tumblr.com/

Whirlwind Recordings: http://www.whirlwindrecordings.com/

I intend to cover the event in Shrewsbury in due course.

 

 

 

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