Travelling forever in the dark
As on Vital Spark Winstone, who turns 85 in September, is joined by the 65 year old Loose Tubes tenor saxophonist Mark Lockheart, heard recently by marlbank in Cadogan Hall with Gary Crosby, Winston Clifford & Alex Webb that was fronted magically in the Johnny Hartman role by marvellous Marvin Muoneké (our gig of the year to date), pianist Elliot Galvin, 35, excellent last year playing with Emma Rawicz and on his own album The Ruin (& here best heard on ‘2081’), the ex Sons of Kemet tubist Oren Marshall, and Norma’s sons singer Alex – who croons marvellously Kurt Elling-like factoring in hints of Mark Murphy on ‘2081‘ and drummer Leo (a member of The Invisible with ex-Courtney Pine guitarist Dave Okumu and the Polar Bear head Tom Herbert who was very good more recently with Lophae in 2024). The piece is also the title track of a 2015 album that elite Italian label Camjazz put out not long after JT’s death. Read John Lewis’ appreciative review of it run contemporaneously in The Guardian.
Several of the pieces connect with the music associated with Azimuth, as mentioned in an earlier piece run on marlbank, above, the influential trio Winstone formed with Norma’s then husband pianist John Taylor (1942-2015) and trumpeter Kenny Wheeler (1930-2014) in the 1970s. ‘Azimuth’, released as a single on 19 June, is joined on the LP by ‘The Tunnel’, alongside ‘Edge Of Time’, ‘Sirens’ Song’ and ‘2081’.
The gatefold vinyl includes photographs from the Maida Vale session and an interview with Winstone by music journalist Emma Warren.
It’s absolutely wonderful simple as that full of fully involving improvisational ideas that jump off strong thematic ideas, the wordlessness where it appears adds to the mystery and underscores the fact that voice is just as much an instrument as any other even if sometimes it is othered or, hardly an improvement, distractedly pooh-poohed. Instrumentalists and vocalists find room to experiment and be themselves.
The whole soundsphere sounds contemporary and underlines once again how ahead of their time Azimuth were. Sonics are completely pukka and clear as crystal. Nothing short of a revelation all in all. It’s no wonder that so many singers – including rising stars Rebecka Edlund and Aitzi Cofre Real both finding allied points of departure within such a shared idiomatic umbrella under their own steam – owe Winstone such a debt.
