1. Cleaning Windows (Van Morrison)
2. Baby Plays Around (Elvis Costello)
3. Scarborough Fayre (Traditional)
4. Jockey Full of Bourbon (Tom Waits)
5. Don’t Give Up (Gabriel/Bush)
6. The Island (Lins/Martin)
7. The Red One (Pat Metheny)
8. First Hearing (Martin Pickett)
9. Soft Focus (Martin Pickett)
10. As Above (Martin Pickett)
11. Closing (Kenny Wheeler)
Martin Pickett - Piano
Paul Jefferies - Double bass
Ben Twyford - Drums
As a music critic, you are
expected to draw upon your knowledge of genre,
musicality and culture to analyse best where
the art form intended to lead, and whether
or not it succeeded in its endeavour. While
listening to the aptly-titled debut album
First Hearing from U.K. trio 3bpm,
I felt like the mediator between cultures,
trying desperately to define the line between
artifice and homage. The first track to catch
my eye was Jockey Full of Bourbon by
Tom Waits. Being an avid (some would say obsessive)
Tom Waits fan and completely new to the stylings
of 3bpm, I was intrigued to
hear how they would interpret the deep culture
that Tom Waits is known for stencilling. In
its original context, Jockey Full of Bourbon
is a drunken man’s lullaby – a dark portrait
of the ashes of alcoholism invoked by the
opening image of
"Sixteen men
on a dead man’s chest
And I’ve been drinking
from a broken cup
Two pairs of pants
and a mohair vest
I’m full of bourbon,
I can’t stand up"
and the repeating chorus
motif,
"Hey little
bird, fly away home
Your house is on
fire, your children are alone".
On hearing the trio arrangement
of this tune I was disappointed. Without lyrics
the tune becomes a blasé Latin melody
and the ensemble followed suit with what would
be more suited to a hotel lobby than a drunken
stupor at New York’s Chelsea Hotel. The double
bass tone of Paul Jefferies on this album
doesn’t have the guts of Greg Cohen’s original
line and Ben Twyford’s ticking rim shot, while
tasteful, did little to resemble the hollowed
sound of Waits’ original percussion drive.
The inclusion of both a percussion and bass
solo redeems the style of the song somewhat,
drawing on the rougher side of the tune, and
while the dull ring of Twyford’s toms aids
this redemption, Jefferies’ bass solo would’ve
been more successful if it had extended further
into the more guttural tones of the bass.
Unfortunately, this timbral
clash tainted my listening of First Hearing
and the connections I drew were of hotel foyers
and champagne, a far cry from both the Chelsea,
and the early pioneers of jazz. This response
is not purely a negative one, because it is
undeniable that the jazz genre has expanded
to include both the smooth and rough sides
of improvised music: the clash is merely a
shift from what was invoked in my mind by
the acoustic trio setting. Additionally, it
is also undeniable that these musicians are
accomplished performers on their instruments,
and special mention must be given to Ben Twyford
in this regard.
Stylistically, I had higher
hopes for Martin Pickett’s piano playing and
although he exercised his knowledge of jazz
repertoire through quoting numerous standards
in his solos, this album seemed to reveal
itself as a vehicle for his own compositions,
buffered by arrangements of better-known tunes.
Perhaps First Hearing would have been
a stronger album if it were released as a
shorter EP, if only to avoid the connotations
of some of the covered material. For example,
Van Morrison’s position within the popular
music world, Tom Waits’ heavily defined beat
poetry style, and the obvious invocation of
Jacques Loussier’s Play Bach arrangements
in Scarborough Fayre. This is not to
mention the massive cultural implications
of Elvis Costello and Peter Gabriel.
The strongest chart on First
Hearing is without a doubt The Red
One, partly for the drum and bass energy
in the opening groove and partly for the stylistic
freedom which allowed Martin Pickett to aurally
escape from the tungsten glow of hotel lobbies.
As Above highlights very similar ideas
for the entire ensemble, and Closing
is melancholic and haphazard, a musical reflection
of blurred traffic lights on the way home
from a jazz dive. One cannot help but wonder
whether the last six tracks would have, released
on their own, formed a better album.
First Hearing is a
strong debut for those interested in the smoothness
that jazz trios have been known to employ
at dinner parties. It is an album which starts
tentatively and grows strongest within the
concluding exploration of style. With a smaller
track listing, the album would have a stronger
overall reception, but unfortunately the stylistic
intervention on well-known songs lets the
programme down. There is a reward for persistence
with this album, but within the multitudes
of jazz releases, the relative similitude
of the first few tracks might see this album
set aside before it has reached its musical
peak.
Sam Webster
CD Reviews
Slam
Productions SLAMCD 274
