The initial impetus for Green Prism came from composer Hilary Jeffery asking the late Keith Tippett to compose some music for Berlin-based group Zinc & Copper. This was originally premiered in Berlin in 2019, but unfortunately Keith was too ill to attend and sadly died soon after.
In a form of tribute, Hilary took some of the pieces that Keith wrote and re-imagined them for a brass ensemble. Enlisting help from Paul Dunmall and Tobias Delius on saxophones and Eleni Poulou on synths and melodica, he prepared a selection that would take these original pieces on an unexpected journey and with Julie Tippetts adding voice and words as the finishing touch, Green Prism was born.
It is an impressive feat that Hilary has managed, tracking all the brass sections and the opening track sets a mournful tone, the slow, sad creep of the brass revisiting Keith’s “A Song” and allowing Paul’s sax to inject some contrasting energy into the gloaming. It skips through the brass motion, highlighting the possibilities and introducing Julie’s paean to a pair of gloves. It is amazing what she can do with the simplest of themes, her voice strong and full of character, mellowing as time goes on but still sounding like no-one else. The duet of sax and voice against the ranks of brass are part of this album’s charms, seeming unlikely but working so well. There is something forceful and insistent about the brass, an immutability that gives a strong backdrop to Julie’s vocal freedom, but playfully; one may follow the other, breaking the spell a little and showing another side to the sternness of the instrumentation. A skitter of playful sax blasts across “Dancing”, whinnying like the horses mentioned in the poem, and you can see them wheeling and bucking in a frost covered field as the sun starts to rise. This is very much pastoral autumnal music which at times, as on “Green Prism Parthers” conveys a level of tension, a slow awakening that sees clarinet poking its head up carefully, its warm tone inhabiting the silent spaces that loom large and frame the recurring motifs.Julie’s voice is really one in which to lose yourself, the words simple yet carrying such resonance. The backing, as on “In Breath”, is subtle yet gradually expanding, with the pace so slow that every nuance is magnified, while “Thoughts” is much more buoyant, the brass tempo strident and the sax more skittish and excitable. Hilary and Eleni both play melodica which, along with some fizzing electronics, bring a real change in atmosphere. This playful wash of sound is a real antithesis to what has come before, but also stands as break before the more sombre passages to follow.
Green Prism — The Rock” is another slow-moving piece, with scattered woodland echoes that react against the strength of the brass stabs and bass echoing trombone. Julie’s voice works the middle ground, the long considered passages and varying sounds reflected beautifully in the up-close recording that highlights every breath and movement in the quieter passages. Penultimate track “One Year On” is a powerful love letter from Julie to Keith, the mournful brass lending emotional support. Closer “The Sigh”, which was apparently the last piece Keith wrote as a love letter to Julie, is a perfect riposte, stripping everything else away leaving a brief brass passage that searches for light and finds it in the ascending notes.If you are a fan of Keith Tippett then this is essential, but it is very much Hilary’s album. Recording the brass and tracking it has taken place over a number of years and is clearly a labour of love; but to turn it into something which is so different from the source material, for it to have its own presence is really impressive. Assistance from the guests was necessary and the whole is a work that gives more up with each listen.
-Mr Olivetti-
