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Review

Will Butterworth’s Hatton Hill Quartet

Will Butterworth’s Hatton Hill Quartet, The Assembly Rooms, Presteigne, Powys 17/04/2010


by Ian Mann

April 19, 2010

/ LIVE

This may not have been Butterworth at his best but he's a huge talent and his unique blend of a classical technique with an improviser's instinct makes him a figure worth keeping an eye out for.

Pianist Will Butterworth’s fourth visit to Presteigne saw him unveiling yet another new line up and the first to feature a quartet. Now re-badged as the Hatton Hill Quartet this was the same line up that Butterworth had deployed under the banner of the Will Butterworth Project at his gig at The Globe in Hay-On-Wye last December, a performance reviewed elsewhere on this site.

In Presteigne Butterworth was again joined by youngsters Tom Harvey (alto sax) and Pete Ibbetson (drums) with the more experienced Marcus Penrose on double bass. Tonight’s show was substantially different to the Hay-On-Wye performance with Butterworth making use of the Assembly Rooms’ Steinway Grand instead of the electric Fender Rhodes he’d deployed at Hay. The choice of material too was significantly different. At Hay the group had largely played standards or “real book” numbers albeit in expansive and subtly funky fashion. Tonight the emphasis was largely on original tunes written by members of the group with only Sam Rivers’ “Cyclic Episode” and Miles Davis’ “Solar” plus Ibbetson’s own “Melody For Emily” remaining from the previous performance.

Indeed it was “Melody For Emily” that opened tonight’s proceedings, an impressionistic ECM style ballad that began with a gentle bass and piano intro with Harvey later adding long, graceful melody lines occasionally punctuated by Ibbetson’s drum explosions. Butterworth’s passage of solo piano then provided the bridge into the quartet’s version of Paul Motian’s “Split Decision” a more groove orientated piece that featured a lengthy solo from Butterworth and a drum feature from Ibbetson.

After this first segue it was apparent that there was a problem with the sound balance. Butterworth’s piano was far too low in a mix dominated by the sound of Ibbetson’s drums. I’ll gloss over the details but the problem was partially rectified half way through the next number, an original blues by Penrose with the title “December 7th”. The bassist is also a talented composer and this attractive tune contained solos from all four members of the group.

With the technical problems largely sorted out the quartet really hit their stride with another Penrose tune entitled “Time Changes”. This began as an alto feature for Harvey who names Lee Konitz as his principal influence. It’s good to hear a young alto player who is not in thrall to Charlie Parker and although inexperienced (he’s only nineteen) and tonight a little tentative at times Harvey is still a player with considerable potential. Following Harvey’s lyricism the music moved up a gear as Butterworth delivered a stunning solo, easily his best of the night full of percussive runs and dazzling clusters as Ibbetson built up a ferocious swing punctuated by his trademark explosions, “dropping bombs” I guess you might call it, not an expression you hear used much any more. In any event this was a sparkling conclusion to a first half which had been enjoyable but could have been better. There was no escaping the fact that the technical difficulties had put a bit of a damper on things.

Butterworth’s own “Some Days” opened the second set, an abstract ballad featuring solos from Harvey and the composer. This was followed by Sam Rivers’ “Cyclic Episode” which introduced an element of conventional swing with Penrose’s bass walk providing the springboard for Harvey’s best solo of the night, the young saxophonist visibly growing in confidence over the course of the second set. Penrose is an accomplished bass soloist and demonstrated his fluency and dexterity before Butterworth and Ibbetson took over for a good natured piano/drum duel that recalled Butterworth’s work with Dylan Howe.

Penrose was emerging as the main composer of the evening and “Tom’s House” proved to be yet another winning tune with solos from Butterworth, followed by the increasingly authoritative Harvey and finally drummer Ibbetson. The drummer had proved to be a bit of a problem for many audience members. Even with the piano having been boosted the general opinion was that Ibbetson was simply too loud and was drowning out his colleagues. I don’t recall having a problem with him at Hay or at the more recent Butterworth trio gig in Abergavenny. The Assembly Rooms has a high ceiling and can sometimes be a little echoey and it may just be case that he was too loud for that particular room. It’s a problem that a more experienced musician might have dealt with but at twenty two it’s possible that Ibbetson’s youthful exuberance rather got the better of him.

As a writer Penrose had left his best to last. “Lament For Titus” was a beautifully lyrical tune with gorgeous solos from Harvey on alto and Butterworth at the piano. The quartet maintained the air of fragile beauty throughout helped in no small measure by the fact that Ibbetson had put down his sticks and picked up the brushes. He can play with sensitivity as he demonstrated here but many wished that he’d made the switch somewhat earlier. Such was the quality of this final number that it almost seems churlish to point out that the “Titus” of the title is actually a deceased pig. Harvey mentioned that Ibbetson’s cat Max had also recently passed away. Did the drummer perhaps name his feline friend after the great Mr. Roach?

The strong second half performance prompted the small (numbers were down from Butterworth’s previous visits) but enthusiastic Presteigne crowd to call the quartet back for more. They romped through a breakneck version of Miles Davis’ “Solar” with Harvey throwing his head back and really letting rip on the alto to a backdrop of busy bass and propulsive drums. Butterworth then delivered a typically mercurial piano solo to round things off.

It had been a bit of a curate’s egg of a performance and elements of it were, by Butterworth’s high standards a little disappointing. Much of this was due to the early technical glitch but there was no getting away from the fact that on this occasion the group dynamic wasn’t right and that Ibbetson’s loud and overly busy drumming presented many listeners with a problem. On the plus side was the high standard of playing overall and the quality of the original compositions, particularly those from Penrose. Butterworth hopes to record the quartet at some point and there can be no doubt that this is a group capable of making a strong recorded statement.

This may not have been Butterworth at his best but he’s a huge talent and his unique blend of a classical technique with an improviser’s instinct makes him a figure worth keeping an eye out for.

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