Alex Hitchcock Letters From Afar review

Prolific. Brilliant this year on We Must Fight. Just what is there still to prove for saxophonist Alex Hitchcock?

A question that doesn’t even need an answer. But certainly he is long past that stage of first persuasion that everyone has to go through and what I mean by that is persuading the paying public to turn up beyond family and friends, having enough profile to tour widely either as a leader or side person and to issue recordings that are more than just documentation and instead show real artistry. And for anyone reviewing his records you must realise the sheer instrumentalism at play and start from a very high benchmark.

What about the work itself once all that is taken as read?

A live version of ‘Wishbone’ which is the second of the 8 tracks here and features some of the album’s personnel. Like the track ‘Rio’ this piece was recorded at Amsterdam jazz club Bimhuis.

They pass the smell test even if all the aromas from such a sophisticated blend of ingredients aren’t quite obvious. But I think these originals sit well idiomatically with what saxist Emma Rawicz is releasing although that isn’t an exact comparison given how individualistic both Hitchcock and the more jazz-rock attuned Rawicz are in forging their own pathways.

Hitchcock is from England, studied at Cambridge University and the Royal Academy of Music, and recorded Letters from Afar partly in a New York studio and partly live in an Amsterdam jazz club. He is with a range of luminaries, most notably at the heart of the sound the bassist known for his work with Ambrose Akinmusire: Harish Raghavan. There’s mournful trumpet on ‘EO’ which is appealing from the Dave Douglas like horn of Dave Adewumi.

Jasper Høiby, Fellow Creatures: We Must Fight, Edition **** recommended

Very introspective which is in its favour and a late night listen – ditto – I liked the main bass statements on ‘Bright White Light’ most. It has a penetrating soliloquy quality to it. Underneath Lex Korten’s comping is sensitive. Tunes are Hitchcock’s and are progressive and often complex but not inaccessible. To be frank while admirable and fulfilling it’s not as instantly compelling as Dream Band or as much an achievement as We Must Fight. But still Letters from Afar isn’t misdirected and won’t prompt anyone much to scrawl on the envelope “return to sender.”