Aidan Thorne / Jason Ball Duo

“Poems of a Space”

(Cambrian Records CAM035)

Aidan Thorne – six string electric bass, sound design,  Jason Ball – guitars, sound design

In March 2025 I saw the duo of bassist Aidan Thorne and guitarist Jason Ball give a delightfully intimate performance in the beautiful setting of Station Arts, an arts centre and cafe located at the former Erwood station in the heart of Mid Wales.

The beauty and quality of the music, allied to the uniqueness of the setting, plus some delicious locally sourced food,  combined to make this an unforgettable musical experience. My account of that memorable day, from which much of the later biographical detail has been sourced, can be found here;
https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/aidan-thorne-jason-ball-duo-station-arts-erwood-builth-wells-powys-02-03-2025

The Erwood date was part of a wider tour in support of the duo’s then current album “Archwilio’r Traddodiad: Exploring The Tradition”, a digital only release also issued by Cambrian Records. Both this recording and the Erwood gig saw the pair improvising on double bass and electric guitar around the themes of traditional Welsh folk tunes.

Before the Erwood show began Thorne told us something about the duo’s approach explaining that they were going to improvise around traditional Welsh folk melodies, these typically being pretty simple and around eight bars long, thus offering plenty of scope for further embellishment and for improvisation. In this way he compared it to modal jazz, also adding that the lyrics of the source material would be ignored and that all the  music would be purely instrumental. We were promised “improvisation, jazz and minimalism under an ambient backdrop” and ultimately this was what the duo delivered, their delicate and intimate musical rapport honed by fifteen years of playing together.

“Poems of a Space” takes things a stage further by removing the ‘musical safety net’ represented by the traditional Welsh folk melodies. This time round the written elements are the duo’s own as they again combine composition and improvisation, with a considerable premium placed on the latter.

Here’s how the Cambrian Records Bandcamp page summarises the new album;
“The concept of the album was to invoke nostalgia, rekindle a memory of a time and/or place. The pieces are engulfed in a fog of guitar ambience and measured 6 string bass textures.  Deeply rooted in jazz, the style carefully glides between written and improvised elements. Some of the compositions were realised and refined from recordings of loose jam sessions. One may hear nods to influences from 70’s ECM records such as Terje Rypdal or Bill Frisell”.

The duo are also keen to emphasise that “Poems of a Space” represents a follow on to “Archwilio’r Traddodiad: Exploring The Tradition” in that it draws its inspiration from “experiences within the Welsh landscape”.

I’ll find room here for a little biographical detail before I take a fuller look at the music.

Aidan Thorne is best known as the leader of the Cardiff based quintet Duski, whose two albums “Duski” (2016) and “Make a Wish” (2020) have both been reviewed elsewhere on The Jazzmann, together with several of the group’s live performances. A slimmed down duo version of Duski, Thorne and saxophonist Greg Sterland, released the largely improvised “Pillow Talk Sessions” in 2021.

Although Duski largely features Thorne playing electric bass he is also an accomplished jazz double bassist and is a busy and popular presence on the South Wales jazz scene. I’ve seen Thorne playing jazz double bass in a variety of contexts including performances with trumpeter Tomos Williams,  trombonist Gareth Roberts, saxophonists Alex Clarke, Ben Treacher and Martha Skilton, drummer Ollie Howell and as a part of the groups Burum, Coltrane Dedication and Slowly Rolling Camera. He has also accompanied the Spanish musicians Arturo Serra (vibes) and Juan Galiardo (piano) and has recorded with Burum, Slowly Rolling Camera and guitarist Dan Messore’s Lacuna group.

Thorne is also a member of saxophonist Joe Northwood’s Tuk Tuk trio and was a part of Khamira, Burum’s collaboration with the Indian musicians Aditya Balani (guitar), Suhail Yusuf Khan (sarangi, vocals) and Vishal Nagar (tabla, vocals). He has recorded with folk singer Julie Murphy and appeared on the soundtrack of the cult Welsh TV series Hinterland, a programme that was subsequently distributed to the rest of the UK.

Since moving from Cardiff to Mid Wales Thorne’s interest in folk music forms has expanded and with Duski currently on something of a hiatus he has been working in the duo with Ball and also in a different duo with another guitarist, Toby Hay, the founder of Cambrian Records, the label that is home to the first Duski album, the “Archwilio’r Traddodiad: Exploring The Tradition” recording and the Aidan Thorne / Toby Hay album “After a Pause” (2024). With the Thorne / Hay duo there is a greater focus on original material, with Hay favouring acoustic guitar rather than the electric instruments played by Ball. Shortly after the Erwood gig I enjoyed a performance by Thorne and Hay at Ludlow Assembly Rooms, a performance that was subtly different to the \erwood show, but equally immersive and satisfying. Review here;

Thorne has also become a member of guitarist and composer Will Barnes’ quartet and appears on that group’s latest album release “Outside The Light”, which also appears on Cambrian Records. Based in Mid Wales the Barnes Quartet has accrued a loyal local following and also captured the interest of the national jazz media, featuring in Jazzwise magazine and on the UK Jazz News website. The group also performed live on BBC Radio 4’s Loose Ends on the occasion that the programme visited Hay Festival. Thorne and Barnes have also performed occasional gigs as a duo.

I’ll admit to being less familiar with the work of guitarist Jason Ball, although I remember being impressed with his playing when he was part of the very classy ‘house band’ at the 2013 Wall2Wall Jazz Festival, staged by Black Mountain Jazz at the Swan Hotel in Abergavenny. Together with bassist Alun Vaughan and drummer Phill Redfox O’Sullivan Ball accompanied visiting London based soloists such as trumpeter Damon Brown and the late saxophonist Christian Brewer. I also recall seeing him perform with saxophonists Martha Skilton and Ben Treacher.

The new album commences with the suitably atmospheric “Mist”, which features the swirl and twang of Ball’s guitars, together with their attendant effects, allied to the melodic underpinning of Thorne’s electric six string bass. It’s richly evocative and slightly unsettling and it should be remembered that the work of David Lynch ( 1946 - 2025) was a profound influence on Duski’s music, and one senses something of his presence here.

The opening to “Keep Going” is centred around a recurring, possibly looped, guitar motif, this acting as the fulcrum around which Thorne’s melodic bass inventions revolve. The piece evolves slowly and organically, adding layers of guitars and electronic effects along the way. Tellingly both instrumentalists are also credited with ‘sound design’ and this aspect of their craft is very much in evidence here.

The lazily loping “Tour Ford”, presumably named for the battered old car that features on the album cover, evokes the jazz Americana of Bill Frisell and Pat Metheny.

“Banc y Celin” takes its title from a hill overlooking the Welsh town of Builth Wells, currently Thorne’s place of residence. The chemistry between the members of this long running duo finds expression in their unhurried bass and guitar exchanges, these further enhanced by the skilled and judicious use of effects.

There’s a real sense of place about “Banc Y Celin” that continues into “Clouds”, another site specific composition that was written after hiking up the Sugar Loaf mountain near Abergavenny. The appropriately wispy, but melodic,  duet captures the beauty and mystique of the cloud topped peak.

“New Spirit” commences in ethereal fashion via a haze of effects. Subsequently the music becomes more melodic, with a wistful feel that ties in perfectly with the ‘nostalgia’ theme of the album, sometimes punctuated by darker, more unsettling moments as the effects return.

The eerie “Sleep Now” is even more disturbing, a nocturnal soundscape with dystopian undertones.  Ball’s gently nagging guitar motif and Thorne’s bass pulse are enveloped in in a swirling haze of effects conjured by these two sound designers.

“Stung” is more cheerful and light hearted, a guitar and bass duet featuring the ringing sounds of open guitar strings and warmly rounded bass resonances. At other times Ball deploys the sound of dampened guitar strings. It’s a charming piece that rather belies its title. At times I was reminded of the 1998 Marc Johnson album “The Sound of Summer Running”, a record led by bassist Johnson that features the twin guitars of Metheny and Frisell.

The album concludes with “Let’s Talk”, a fitting title for an album of such intimate musical dialogues. Gently melodic, but cloaked in that fog of nostalgia that the trio wish to evoke, the music is both elegiac and gently anthemic, gradually gathering momentum during the course of its near seven minute duration. It’s the only piece to feature anything approaching a conventional guitar solo. There’s also a brief coda, almost presented as a ‘secret track’.

“Poems of a Space” is intimate, evocative and beautifully crafted, with the use of electronic effects, or ‘sound design’,  carefully and skilfully stitched into these delicately woven guitar and bass conversations. Recorded at Thorne’s home studio in the post Covid years of 2021-2022 it was subsequently mastered by Tim Hay at Autumn Giant Studio and produced by Thorne and Ball. Essentially it’s a bespoke product and the sound quality is excellent throughout.

This is music that straddles the boundaries between jazz, Americana and ambient music and I appreciate that there are some listeners who may find it all a little bloodless. Personally I found it totally immersive and often downright beautiful. It’s a worthy follow up to “Archwilio’r Traddodiad: Exploring The Tradition” and represents a further fruitful chapter in the duo’s musical story.

Having enjoyed the duo’s performance at Erwood I’d like to take the opportunity of seeing this latest material played live, but the latest round of gigs didn’t come quite close enough to my location. Nevertheless I’m confident that the chance will come in the not too distant future. In the meantime there’s always this excellent album to enjoy.

“Poems of a Space” is available via the Cambrian Records Bandcamp page here;
https://cambrianrecords.bandcamp.com/

 

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