This gives me a lot of pleasure. It’s as simple as that. Nuanced jazz-funk like the 1970s never ended that dances out of the speakers but has enough meat to it that it’s satisfying metrically and in terms of break out soloing. On an upward trajectory profile wise all the time. Mind and body grooves from Tanhai Collective hit the spot more than ever. The UK jazzers are touring Circa 2019 this autumn. I was excited by ‘Kind of New’ initially some time ago and sat down earlier to listen to the whole thing. From London, Tanhai Collective are: Billy Hare – keys; Walter Feeney – trumpet; Tom McCann – saxophone; Louis Hudd – guitar; Ben Harper – drums and Sravudh Tanhai – bass guitar.
There’s a real thought process going on that knits everything together so all the tunes hang together and for that Circa 2019 makes sense. I think it’s even stronger than In Lane. Tunes are written by band members and Feeney whose trumpet soloing is a tender Jackson Mathod-like presence on ‘For Jenny’ even puts its head above the parapet. But it’s a collective sound. The band written ‘Playfield’ with its processed horn sound at the beginning is one of the dancier numbers but it’s not full on. ‘Heavy Swing’ is fast and furious and has a more way out feel than some of the other numbers. It’s brief but makes it point and the title track kept to the end has some gigantic rhythmic swoops and mercurial motion to it. Another album to add to the top UK jazz albums of 2025 list.
– Tanhai Collective are touring and play Band on the Wall, Manchester on 8 Sep: Rough Trade, Bristol the 9th; Jazz Cafe, Camden Town on the 11th; Norwich Arts Centre, Norwich, 12th and further ahead hit Ronnie Scott’s, Soho, Late Late Show on 25 Oct.
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