Winner of the Parliamentary Jazz Award for Best Media, 2019

Review

by Ian Mann

October 12, 2022

/ ALBUM

This is a brave and very personal album that also manages to be whimsical and charming, eclectic and eccentric, and very English.

Raph Clarkson’s Dissolute Society

“This Is How We Grow”

(Migu Records MG001)

Raph Clarkson – trombone, vocals, Fini Bearman - lead vocals, Laura Jurd – trumpet, Mark Lockheart – tenor & soprano saxes, Naomi Burrell, Sophie Cameron – violin, Alison D’Souza – viola, Zosia Jagodzinska – cello, John Parricelli, Sonny Johns – guitars Phil Merriman, Tom Cawley – piano, keyboards, Arthur O’Hara – electric bass, Simon Roth – drums, Steve Baker – percussion John Merriman, Alisa Clarkson – backing vocals
with
Gillespie Primary School Choir, London
Camden New Voices, London
Durlston Court School Choir, Dorset
Prospect House School Choir, Putney, London


“This Is How We Grow” is the second album from Dissolute Society, the London based collective led by trombonist, vocalist, composer, improviser and educator Raph Clarkson.

Clarkson first came to my attention as the trombonist with the band WorldService Project, led by keyboard player and composer Dave Morecroft. He appeared on that band’s first four albums, before eventually leaving to pursue his own projects, notably Dissolute Society.

Originally an octet Dissolute Society is now best regarded as a ‘collective’ guided by Clarkson’s unique vision. The first Dissolute Society album, “Soldiering On”, was released in 2018 and represented a highly personal project for Clarkson, a kind of musical autobiography that dealt with themes of love, loss and family and personal history. Review here;
https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/the-dissolute-society-soldiering-on

The album had actually been recorded in March 2016 but the music had already been premièred at a packed out Vortex as part of the 2015 EFG London Jazz Festival, a performance that I was fortunate enough to witness and which was reviewed as part of my Festival coverage here;
http://www.thejazzmann.com/features/article/efg-london-jazz-festival-2015-second-sunday-22-11-2015/

Clarkson’s other projects have included The Vanderbilts, a contemporary cross discipline project with keyboard player Elliot Galvin and dancer Kasia Witek. He’s also been a member of the freely improvising Spreckles Brass Ensemble and of The Old Bone Band who specialise in the trad and swing jazz of the 1930s and 40s. Clarkson has also worked with various theatres and as a sideman / session musician across a variety of musical genres, ranging from jazz and hip hop to classical and opera.

In 2019 he recorded with the ensemble Resolute, a group featuring Dissolute Society’s Simon Roth and Phil Merriman plus Led Bib bassist Liran Donin and Nigerian performance poet Gboyega Odabanju.

Clarkson has also contributed to recordings by trumpeter Laura Jurd, guitarist Paulo Dias Duarte’s large ensemble Overground Collective and guitarist Alex Roth’s ‘virtual big band’  MultiTraction Orchestra.

“This Is How We Grow” has its roots in Clarkson’s educational work, which has seen him acting as a workshop leader for various London based projects involving children with special educational and social needs.  This led to a fascination with the concept of childhood as a whole and during the pandemic he released the EP “Songs For Childhood”, a collection of four songs, each dedicated to an individual young person. 

Clarkson’s website http://www.raphclarkson.com explains further;
“ I originally wrote these songs as gifts near the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, and since then have become more and more passionate about childhood, and celebrating it: whether the childhoods of others experiencing it now, the childhoods of those of us for whom that time is now memory, and the childhoods of those to come in the future”.

“Songs For Childhood” is specifically aimed at children, “This Is How We Grow” less so, but the concept of childhood is still very much at its core. Like “Soldiering On” it addresses a variety of subjects as Clarkson explains in his album liner notes;
“This record is about many things; childhood, the joy of singing and making music together, love, connection, technology, machines, nature and our relationship with the world around us. At its heart is a passionate conviction that we should take childhood and the voices of children deeply seriously. Young people have so much to teach us – from their playfulness, creativity and imagination to their curiosity about the world and humanity and what it could and perhaps should become.
By reflecting on our own childhoods and listening to and learning about those childhoods that are happening now, our lives can surely be brightened, the well of our joys replenished, our intellectual and emotional worlds made richer, our compassion and wisdom given space to breathe and grow. I can say emphatically that this has been my own experience and I hope that this music provides a window into and perhaps an invitation to you to take part in such a journey”.

In addition to the personnel of the Dissolute Society collective “This Is How We Grow” features the voices of children on every track with Clarkson collaborating with the four children’s choirs listed above. His decision to include ‘amateur’ musicians on this recording is explained by his comment about this album on his website;
 “My contention is that music making with young people / communities should be taken seriously as ‘mainstage’ artistic work. This is one reason I’ve made this album, to bring together varied parts of my practice and show that young voices are to be taken deeply seriously in terms of what they express and what they teach us.”

Now, I’ll admit that I’d normally avoid any record that features the voices of children, which are usually deployed to ghastly saccharine effect, as those of us old enough to remember the hits of Clive Dunn and St. Winifred’s School Choir will recall with horror. There are a few honourable exceptions such as the Stones, Pink Floyd and Ride but as a general rule kid’s voices on a record have been a no-go area as far as I’m concerned.

Which makes “This Is How We Grow” such a pleasant surprise. The album consists of ten relatively short songs and Clarkson deploys the voices of the children so skilfully that they never become truly irritating. He’s not afraid to let them sing aggressively or to tackle some pretty dark and grown up lyrical content, while in musical terms the voices integrate perfectly with the playing of a supremely skilled set of instrumentalists.

The compositions embrace elements of jazz and improv, poetry, and contemporary classical music with pop / rock songwriting. At times I’m reminded of Django Bates’ excursions into the world of vocal music.

The album commences with the assertive and uplifting “With The Power Of My Voice”, a real statement of intent. This features the combined forces of the Durlston Court and Prospect House choirs. Sample lyric; “with the power of my voice I will tell you how I feel, I will tell you all the stories of my heart”.

“I Sing With The Earth” features the only appearance by the Camden New Voices on another vibrant, energetic and uplifting piece. The New Voices harmonise and soar, combining very effectively with the instrumentalists, among them Laura Jurd who delivers a blazing trumpet solo.

“Please”  features the Gillespie Primary pupils, who sing aggressively alongside the adult vocalists with Bearman delivering a virtuoso vocal performance. Influenced by prog rock the piece features the powerful guitar playing of Parricelli, but despite the general air of shoutiness the message is still a positive one, “I want you to enjoy yourself, so please listen well”.

“If You Only Knew” begins as a conventional love song, beautifully sung by Bearman and featuring the sounds of piano and string quartet alongside the intertwining of Clarkson’s trombone and Lockheart’s tenor sax. The voices of Gillespie Primary are also featured, the lyrics now expressing a more general hope for humanity. There are some rousing instrumental passages too, with Clarkson and Lockheart continuing their exchanges as the music builds to a climax.

An element of funkiness is introduced on the joyous “It’s A Love Song”, a celebration of the birthday of Clarkson’s partner Sophie. The Gillespie choir are featured alongside Bearman’s lead vocals.

The lengthiest track on the album is also dedicated to Sophie and named for her. The melody was written by the late, great Kenny Wheeler with words later added by Clarkson himself. From an atmospheric introduction it develops into a beautiful love song, delightfully sung by Bearman with Clarkson the featured instrumental soloist, his trombone sound rich and rounded. The Gillespie and Prospect choirs later emerge as the song builds to an uplifting, anthemic finale.

There’s a musical history lesson on “Ada Lovelace”,  a song that tells the tale of the English mathematician and computer pioneer, who lived between 1815 – 52. String quartet and piano accompany the children’s voices on the first verse, a brief summation of Lovelace’s life and career. This is fleshed out in the more vigorous second section with its staccato rhythms and lyrics referencing “counting machines”.

Thus “Message To A Machine” follows on nicely, again making use of staccato rhythms replicating the clatter of machinery. Lockheart’s saxophones are heard to good effect in two instrumental cameos.

“Itself And One” is a rowdy paean to prime numbers and features some searing, rock influenced guitar from Parricelli. It’s tempting to think of this, “Message To A Machine” and “Ada Lovelace” as a trilogy, certainly these pieces seem to be thematically linked.

The album concludes with the title track, a celebration of the challenges and pitfalls of childhood and of how they make us stronger. “We all make mistakes sometimes, we all fall down as we walk along the road, getting back on our feet again is how we grow”.

Like its predecessor “This Is How We Grow” is a highly personal record, but it’s arguably more accessible and positive. In addition to the singers and instrumentalists great credit should also be given to off stage lyricist Hazel Gould who wrote many of the words, sometimes jointly with Clarkson. It’s a shame that these aren’t reproduced as part of the album packaging as this would add greatly to the overall listening experience.

First impressions of “This Is How We Grow” are overwhelmingly positive. This is a brave and very personal album that also manages to be whimsical and charming, eclectic and eccentric and very English, with shades of Django Bates, Canterbury style prog and even Judge Smith’s ‘song stories’. The songs are uniformly strong and the playing excellent throughout. Only time will tell if the sound of the children’s voices begins to pall, but they are so well integrated that one hopes not. I don’t know what Clarkson’s plans are but a live performance of this project would make for fascinating viewing and listening.

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