Best of Intentions: Martin Speake Quartet

I'd been almost unaware of altoist Martin Speake until I saw him pop up on a Colchester Arts Centre Jazz Club flyer. I vaguely recalled seeing his name around here and there, but hadn't been tempted to rush out and see him thus far.

By a strange co-incidence I unearthed his 2002 CD Hullabaloo during one of my rummages in Ray's second-hand racks a few days later. It turned out to be rather good, so I persuaded Jazzy G to venture out to CACJC on 22 April, to catch Speake's quartet. 

If I'm totally up-front here, the fact that the line-up included Ethan Iverson of Bad Plus fame, and one of my favourite drummers in James Maddren might have swung it for me.

And what a good decision it turned out to be. Speake's tone on the alto is super clean, almost soprano like at times, yet warm enough to coax the latin vibes from Dancing In The Dark, an exquisite cover of what I'm informed (by Jazzy G, of course) is a Broadway show tune. Iverson was also a revelation on that number, a world away from my expectations with a solo that could've been by Danilo Perez.

The set showcased the latest release, Intention, with a few additional tracks thrown in. The CD was doing great sales by the end of the evening, as well it might - this was top class stuff. I hadn't encountered Fred Thomas before, but will definitely keep an eye out for this fine bassist. And Maddren somehow manages to grab beats you didn't even know were there, and make you hear them.  

Highly recommended - check out the album

Album review: Sons Of Kemet - Your Queen Is A Reptile

If you enjoyed SOK's previous releases (2013's Burn and 2015's Lest We Forget What We Came Here To Do) you won't be disappointed in this latest offering. We're in what is by now familiar territory here: two drummers pounding out polyrhythms, Theon Cross's tuba puffing some pretty wild bass lines and Hutchings's tenor ripping stacato riffs - a prevalence of rhythm over melody, but none the worse for that.

And this isn't 'just' more of the same. Hutchings mixes things up a little by subbing Moses Boyd, Eddie Hick for the usual Rochford/Skinner pairing, and adding Maxwell Hallet for the final tune here. Unless you're a connoisseur of the drum-kit, you might well be thinking, "So what?" at this point and, in truth, it's a subtle change of mood rather than a revolutionary overhaul. 

More to the point though, we get guest appearances from Pete Wareham and Nubya Garcia, providing a nice counterpoint to Hutchings on a couple of tunes, and the added vocals of Congo Natty and Joshua Idehen on three.

The album represents Hutchings's presentation of an alternative, merit-based monarchy of some well-known and less-well-known black women, ranging from the composer's grandma to historical figures like Yaa Asantewaa. (To my shame, and that of the history curriculum, I had to Google her.) 

The sleeve notes elaborate the theme, in case anyone had missed the point. 

So more of the same? Yes and no. Hardly a radical departure, but exciting stuff as always from SOK, and well worth checking out. 

I've somehow not yet caught a live performance (need to fix that sharpish) so I'll have to content myself with this video of SOK performing My Queen Is Doreen Lawrence. Amen to that.