RAVE REVIEW FROM TAMPERE, FINLAND
Noin etukäteen ajateltuna Impossible Gentlemenin omaleimaisuutta verotti soundillisesti se, ettei levyllä soittanut sähköbasisti Steve Swallow ollut Tampereella mukana. Englantilainen Steve Rodby hoiti kuitenkin juurevuudellaan homman kotiin, eipä tullut ketään ikävä. Rodbyn myötä bändin nallekarhumaisuus korostui, tyylikkään Gwilym Simcockin keralla lavalla oli kolme myhäilevää turilasta, mutta voi pojat, kun soitto lähti kulkemaan. Tällaista musisoinnin iloa harvoin näkee! Aina loisteliaan Simcockin ohella kitaristi Mike Walker varasti Happening-yleisön sydämet, blues Walkerin tapaan oli jotakin mahtavaa. Rumpali Adam Nussbaum soitti tällä kertaa yllättävän raskaalla kädellä. Simcockin bändeiltä odottaa yleensä tiettyä kamarimusiikillisuutta, mutta nyt mentiin kovaa ja komeasti. Pianosooloissa oli silti jäljellä kaikki se simcockmainen irtonaisuus ja lennokkuus,esimerkiksi käsien itsenäisyys, soitto eri rytmeissä Samuel Barberin musiikin pohjalta laaditussa Barber bluesissa oli liki käsittämätöntä. Ja tuon se sai vielä svengaamaan!
Impossible Gentlemenin keikkakonseptissa basisti ja rumpali keskittyivät pitämään pohjan energisenä ja eläväisenä, pianisti ja kitaristi vuorottelivat solisteina. Silti konsertissa ei ollut tippaakaan kaavamaisuuden makua. Lopetukseksi Simcock lupasi ”pienen vihaisen kappaleen”, ja tämä nelikko urku auki olikin jotakin vallan mahtavaa.
RAVE REVIEWS IN LONDON AND UK
20/06/2011 Ian Mann, The Jazz Mann 4 stars**** |
The Swansea crowd went crazy for this giving the group a standing ovation.
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15/06/2011 John Fordham, The Guardian 4 stars **** |
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The band spiritedly collides the casual song-spinning of a Pat Metheny band with scorching postbop intricacies, notably from pianist Gwilym Simcock, and bursts of raw electric blues from guitarist Mike Walker. With Americans Steve Swallow (bass guitar) and Adam Nussbaum (drums) adding dynamism and vast experience, they sound even more like a world-class jazz band than on their debut a year ago.
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14/06/2011 Jack Massarik, Evening Standard 5 stars ***** |
Crazy name, crazy group, but crazy like foxes. An OBE, please, for the anonymous producer who thought to introduce two US veterans, bassist Steve Swallow and drummer Adam Nussbaum, to a couple of Mancunian mavericks who had never worked together before.
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16/06/2011 Alyn Shipton, The Times 4 stars **** |
It is unusual for jazz groups to have a title that isnt simply the leaders name or a reference to their home town or club. But the Anglo-American quartet the Impossible Gentlemen are an unusual jazz ensemble, bridging both the Atlantic and the generations. There are 40 years between the groups oldest member, the bassist Steve Swallow, and its youngest, the pianist Gwilym Simcock. At the London launch of their eponymous album, Simcock confessed that it is also the first time in his career that there has been a T-shirt to sell as well as records.
So what kind of band are they? Combining the British players, the guitarist Mike Walker and Simcock, with the Americans Swallow and the powerhouse drummer Adam Nussbaum, they are an out-and-out improvising jazz group. Any thought that their instrumentation would lead to sameness between the numbers is banished by the sheer variety of compositions that each member has brought to the table, and by thoughtful touches that change the timbre. These range from some wistful melodica playing on the Latin theme of Walkers Wallendas Last Stand to some clever low-key funk on Simcocks You Wont Be Around to See It, on which high guitar and bass harmonics combined with inside-piano effects over Nussbaums intricate beat.
Like the best jazz groups, there is plenty of space for individual and collective improvisation. The opening Circle-maker included a delicate solo from Swallow, some exceptionally sensitive cymbal work from Nussbaum and a final jam as the drums opened up and Walker swayed into some powerful phrasing. Walker was the star of the show, ranging from beautiful finger and thumb-picked melodies to incisive rock-inflected solos, with singing harmonics teetering on the edge of feedback and distortion as he finally sent us away with the down-home blues of Nussbaums Sure Would, Baby.
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14/06/2011 Chris Parker, London Jazz |
The hallmark of the band's album is the quartet's discernible enjoyment of and respect for each other's playing; this live performance, assured and relaxed yet consistently musicianly, each participant unfussily virtuosic, was simply small-group jazz at its unequivocally enjoyable best.
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10/06/2011 Bebop spoken here |
Gig of the year so far, was the consensus of many and it certainly is a contender. I absolutely adored the CD but live! within the intimate confines of Hall Two it was something else.
Like so many good things it began with a 'calm before the storm' feel as Mike Walker gently picked his way around his axe. Enter piano, increasing the tension, showing us the way. Bass and drums change gear and suddenly! - we've got lift-off. No problem here at The Sage - Houston.
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