This is a new project from veteran Scottish jazz composer and drummer Tom Bancroft and is part a vehicle for his distinctive compositions and partly a tribute to one of his greatest heroes and role models. That is the American-Armenian drummer and composer Paul Motian, who died in 2011 after a long, varied, and creativity-centred career.
The Motian hat-tipping happens in two ways – in addition, of course, to the Motian influence discernible in Tom’s drumming! The group plays a mixture of Paul Motian and Tom Bancroft compositions in their concerts. And the group’s line-up echoes Motian’s later band-leading career – when he would play with the cream of young talent from the New York scene.
This lineup features Tom and his brother Phil on tenor saxophone with three significant younger musicians from the Scottish scene.
Brodie Jarvie is a very fine composer and bandleader and a bass player with a massive, beautiful sound and total solidity tethering this music firmly to the ground.
Norman Willmore is from Shetland and is one of the strongest new voices on the Scottish Jazz scene combining a deep knowledge of traditional music with genuine mastery of the jazz tradition and a real propensity for playing free.
James Mackay is part of the exciting new wave Glasgow jazz scene touring the world with corto.alto and others. And as with many of the musicians in that scene he has a deep grounding in jazz and a natural jazz intelligence and economical openness in his playing. In this recording he reveals a truly original guitar voice – both in his soloing and accompanying.
Phil and Norman had never played together before until this project and there is an alchemy between them as two of Scotland’s most original and inventive saxophonists meet, whose playing isn’t about power and dominance but intelligence, intuition and beauty. They are definitely kindred saxophone spirits and this is the start of a rare partnership.
This new group explores some very beautiful and joyful melodic and rhythmic areas, with also the power and experience to take you on a wild sonic improvised ride and bring you safely back again.