Howl Quartet

“Night Song”

(Howl Records – HQ003CD/LP)

Harry Brunt -tenor saxophone, Dan Smith – alto saxophone, Pete Komor – double bass, Matt Parkinson – drums

“Night Song” is the third album released from the London based ensemble Howl Quartet. They take their name from the celebrated Allen Ginsberg poem “Howl”, the idea for the band name coming from tenor saxophonist Harry Brunt, a former English Literature student.

The group first came to my attention through their bassist, Pete Komor, whose playing I know from his tenure at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (RWCMD) in Cardiff. During Komor’s time in Wales I enjoyed seeing him perform at various venues in Cardiff, Brecon and Abergavenny in a variety of musical contexts. These included the RWCMD Big Band, the Afro- Cuban ensemble The Mañana Collective and with smaller groups led by saxophonists Glen Manby (alto) and Joe Northwood (tenor) and by pianists Philip Clouts and Juan Galiardo

Saxophonists Dan Smith (alto) and Harry Brunt (tenor) also studied at RWCMD and by 2015 they and Komor had moved to London to further their studies at the Royal Academy of Music and at The Guildhall. It was in the English capital that they met drummer Matt Parkinson, with whom they formed Howl Quartet in 2017.

Howl Quartet’s debut album was released in 2021, the boldly titled “Life As We See It”,  an excellent recording which is reviewed here;
https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/howl-quartet-life-as-we-see-it

This was followed in 2023 by “Airglow”, which consolidated the quartet’s success with another series of inspired original composition delivered in the increasingly distinctive Howl Quartet house style. This second album is reviewed here
https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/howl-quartet-airglow

In April 2025 the band released the digital only concert recording “Fully Alive”, recorded at a live performance at the Pizza Express Jazz Club, Soho in October 2024.

“Night Song”, the Quartet’s third studio album presents nine more original compositions, this time credited to ‘Howl Quartet’ rather than to individual writers. It’s indicative of the fact that the pieces have been worked on together by the band members, collectively developing individual ideas. As regards musical influences the band members cite saxophonists Warne Marsh and John Coltrane, guitarist Bill Frisell,  drummer / composer Brian Blade and the bands The Bad Plus, Endangered Species and Claudia Quintet.

Howl Quartet have described themselves as “a garage rock band at heart, with a ferocious energy for artistic expression and improvised music”. They have also spoken of a “collective passion for improvisation and composition”. 

During the Covid lockdown period the band streamed a number of live performances. I remember tuning in and enjoying one of these, which I think acted as the official launch for “Life As We See It”. They weren’t actually in a garage, but could quite easily have been, such was the spirit of the performance.

With their distinctive twin sax front line and flexible and intelligent rhythm section it always seems to me that Howl Quartet represent the natural heirs to the much missed Polar Bear, albeit minus Leafcutter John’s electronics. Although less wilfully eccentric than Seb Rochford’s outfit there’s still something vaguely whimsical and undeniably British about Howl Quartet’s music that I find very appealing. As writers they exhibit a genuine gift for melody and their arrangements are consistently interesting and highly effective.

The press release accompanying the album offers tantalising insights into the individual tracks. The opening “Tolls” is said to “offer a sombre reflection on consequence and choice”. Introduced by the deep resonances of Komor’s bass and the shimmer of Parkinson’s cymbals it subsequently features the delicately interlocking lines of the two saxes, with Brunt and Smith combining very effectively as a unit. Sax melodies unfold and evolve above a constantly mutating rhythmic backdrop as the music passes through a range of emotional dynamic shifts. Even when the saxophonists make individual statements there’s no sense that they’re competing with, or trying to outdo each other and they come together again very effectively towards the close. It’s very much a coalition. a ‘brotherhood of breath’, if you will.

Title track “Night Song” seeks to capture “the shifting emotional landscape of new parenthood, drawing on quiet intensity and tenderness”. I know that Brunt recently became a father, so the initial idea for this piece may well have been his. It kicks into action with Parkinson’s drums, which combine with Komor’s big toned bass to create an implacable,  but free-wheeling, groove above which the saxophonists weave their melodic inventions, both individually and collectively.

“Falling Man” honours Brunt’s late great uncle, who died in a plane crash just after the second world war. The Band’s Facebook page states;
This piece of music is the first from our upcoming album and was written in memory of Harry’s great uncle Colin.
Colin Branch served with 626 Squadron RAF and flew Lancasters. He survived the war, but died on 7 August 1945 when the aircraft he was travelling in crashed in the south of France on the way to Naples to pick up released British POWs. He was 23.”
Based around Parkinson’s gently marching rhythms, indicative perhaps of Colin’s forces background, this is a tender tribute that variously evokes the sounds of New Orleans and of 1940s big bands, but which does so in a pared down and very contemporary manner with Brunt’s tenor sounding particularly expressive. There’s also some solo space for Komor’s double bass, working in conjunction with Parkinson’s militaristic drumming.

“Smallhope” also takes inspiration from Brunt’s family history and is dedicated to “a much loved family home of Harry’s grandparents in the Gloucestershire village of Compton Abdale”. One of the album’s gentler tracks the music is intended to evoke feelings of warmth and nostalgia, which it does very successfully, the reeds gently intertwining above the soft but resonant sound of Komor’s double bass and Parkinson’s brushed drums.

“Gwdihw” is named for the now defunct, but fondly remembered Cardiff venue that Brunt, Smith and Komor used to play at during their RWCMD days. The introduction features the same kind of rosy, nostalgic glow as “Smallhope”, but the creation of Komor’s bass groove sees the music begin to gather momentum as the saxophonists stretch out individually, sometimes pausing for reflection along the way, before coalescing joyously towards the close of a piece that serves as both a lament and a celebration.

“Embers is a reflection on “the quiet, transformative energy of a fire’s dying glow”. It’s something you can hear in the music, with folk inspired melodies paced by Komor’s languid bass undertow and Parkinson’s delicately brushed drums. The piece represents something of a feature for Komor, whose bass is at the heart of the music and also features as a solo instrument with an expansive double bass excursion.

“Renjo” takes its inspiration from “the drama and exposure of a high altitude journey through the Himalayas”. It starts tentatively, with whispering saxes accompanied by the soft patter of Parkinson’s brushes. It’s a piece that unfolds slowly and organically, with gentle sax meditations underpinned by double bass and brushed drums, but eventually the Quartet up the ante, the energy levels increasing exponentially as the promised drama eventually comes to the fore, embodied in some passionate sax soloing and more forceful rhythmic accompaniment.

The Japanese idea of “inner space” provides the title for “Oku”, ironically the most outgoing piece on the album with its frantically intertwining sax lines propelled by frantic, bustling rhythms. By way of contrast this “journey inwards” finally comes to a quieter conclusion as bass and drums drop out, leaving just the two saxes, tentatively still searching for that “inner space”.

The album concludes with “Lanterns”, a brief atmospheric finale featuring the sounds of saxes intertwining above the sounds of mallet rumbles and cymbal shimmers. It’s an apposite title.

“Night Song” represents another impressive statement from Howl Quartet, delivered in their signature style with the loose limbed rhythmic grooves of Komor and Parkinson the perfect foil for the complementary saxophone voices of Brunt and Smith.

Collectively realised the compositions are intelligent, intriguing and centred around strong melodies, which the band then explore in consistently interesting ways. Less quirky than Polar Bear, less aggressive than Led Bib the members of Howl Quartet have drawn on the inspiration of both to create their own distinctive collective voice.

With its unusual chordless, twin sax line-up the music of Howl Quartet isn’t always easy to describe – although it is immensely enjoyable to listen to.  With this in mind I’m shamelessly going to reproduce the following paragraph from my review of “Life As We See It” for a third time, as it does genuinely seem to sum up what Howl Quartet are all about;

“Smith and Brunt make a great team. The two horns often provide unison theme statements but are also adept at playing off each other, introducing counter melodies and other elements of counterpoint. They complement each other superbly throughout the recording, and even during their individual solo statements one never gets the impression that they are competing with each other. Komor combines a huge tone with rhythmic intelligence and flexibility, plus an admirable dexterity. Drummer Parkinson’s playing is bright, crisp, colourful, supportive and imaginative throughout.”

Howl Quartet’s recordings can be purchased here;
https://howlquartet1.bandcamp.com/music

Howl Quartet will be touring in the UK and Europe during October ans November 2025. I hope to cover their EFG London Jazz Festival performance at the Pizza Express Jazz Club in Soho on the 18th November. The full tour schedule is below;

30.10. 25 - Die Brass, Saarbrucken, DE
01.11.25 - Chameleon, Bremen, DE
02.11.25 - Jazz Cafe De Muse, Antwerp, NL
09.11.25 - Ashburton Arts, Devon, UK
10.11.25 - North Devon Jazz, Devon, UK
11.11.25 - Flute & Tankard, Cardiff, UK
12.11.25 - Growlers & Cans, Guildford, UK
13.11.25 - Arthur’s, Dublin, IE
14.11.25 - Scott’s., Belfast, IE
15.11.25 - Bennigan’s, Derry, IE
18.11.25 - PizzaExpress Soho, London, UK
20.11.25 - Bebop Club, Bristol, UK
22.11.25 - The Jazz Centre, Southend, UK

 

 

 

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