Barely a year has passed since The Bass Speaks, Uroboro‘s third album was released, but for the fourth collection of Keith Jafrate‘s open-ended collective, things have taken a more succinct turn.
Outside contains only a single disc of material, compared to the last two double albums, and of the eight tracks collected, only four contain words. Keith’s vocals only appear on one piece, with the other three beautifully rendered by the returning Faith Brackenbury.
The rest of the line-up is pretty much as before, with the Hunter Brothers, Laura Cole and John Pope also making welcome returns. This familiarity with one another, plus the fact that they are all exemplary musicians in their own right, having released a myriad of albums on Discus between them, means that right from the off we and Keith’s ideas are all in good hands.The sparse notes that introduce the album convey a lack of momentum; it is a dreamer’s welcome, a drawn-out awakening from a year’s slumber as violin and bass notes crackle in the open air and Faith’s voice sparkles, its jazzy tones highlighting Keith’s simple, sensitive words. Nobody rushes here and there is room for all players to add their own ingredients to a constantly evolving sound.
Sax, bass, piano and guitar are all in step on the instrumental “Hobgoblin”, adding and subtracting as Keith’s sax shimmers above. The improv sensibilities throw up unexpected notes and there is a sultriness to the sax, which offsets a partial rhythmic awkwardness as some players nag at a motif while others skip around them. Their willingness to draw on ancient traditions comes to the fore on the ballad-like “Gog & Magog”, with Laura’s piano sparkling like sunlight on water, its timeless flow and percussive fills gentle and soothing, old friend Michael Bardon filling in on bass. The slinky guitar and purring percussion of “Adobe House” reminds me a little of Tortoise in its sense of purpose and chiming guitar, yet there is a definite building of pressure, the simmering guitar nagging as the sax swirls.The variety of tones speaks of endless imagination and for the centrepiece, a thirteen-minute meander through WS Graham‘s “Imagine A Forest”, the group construct a suite of bewitching simplicity that ebbs and flows, Faith’s voice delighting in the tangle of imagery as the instrumental intensity rises and falls.
The variety at play here is impressive, with the descending bass line of “A Spell To Unknot Buds” giving it a playful buoyant groove while the sax trades places with the guitar. The palpable freedom felt by the group is uncluttered and warming, although some histrionic bursts assail “Sara”, the scuffling drums keeping up a constant barrage. The last piece, “The sky Is Always Open”, finally finds Keith and Faith trading verses, Keith’s careful intensity vying with Faith’s more carefree approach. The sparse backing suits the delivery and the violin’s curious tone acts like a third vocal, some alien language that is as yet undiscovered.The bright-eyed yearning that all the players show throughout is what makes the album so listenable. Once again, Keith and the players have concocted a collection that is easy on the ear but with hidden depths.
-Mr Olivetti-
