REVIEW: 30 March 2006

Paul Towndrow Quartet

Paul Towndrow and his quartet launched into their first number, Rubric’s Cube, an original by Towndrow from his latest album, with such incandescent vigour and volume that it seemed for a moment they were a band bent on audience destruction. But it soon became clear that behind the initial post-Ornette Colman frenzy lay a real musicality amongst all four musicians. Paul Towndrow, leader and composer of almost all the pieces the quartet performed, is a saxophonist who plays alto with the scorching speed of Parker and the near frenetic lines of Ornette yet manages to maintain shape and content to his solos even when the individual notes are beginning to blur. On the other hand, particularly on soprano, he is able to move into the more ethereal landscape of sparse phrases and clean melodic lines. Another original, an idiosyncratic tune called Cryogenics, began with a very original angular ballad and proceeded to work into the driving pace that characterised much of the evening before dropping back into the opening melody. One gets the feeling that there is such youthful energy riding in the quartet that quieter moments can only be sustained for a limited period. Part of this may be driven by the rhythm section of Mike Janisch on bass and Alyn Cosker on drums. Cosker in particular played with almost irrepressible intensity raising the overall volume to near drowning point with explosions of rolls and rim shots. Although he was able to cut back to a gentle cymbal ride, his drumming was frequently like percussive fireworks, and the subtle quietness never seemed to last for long. Beside him the bass playing of Janisch was fat and unswervingly accurate. In fact on many numbers his insistent solid four in the bar was the bedrock over which the rest of the group crashed and skittered. The one pool of quiescence came from keyboardist, Paul Harrison, whose use of broad chords and more studied phrases was an excellent contrast to the waterfall of sound from Towndrow’s alto.

Having won a scholarship to Berklee College and a bunch of awards Paul Towdrow has now reached a peak of technical ability and creativity. As they say, this is certainly a man to watch. When the exuberance has started to be replaced by a few degrees of maturity he will be a musician at the very forefront of the new generation of players burning his way into the history books of jazz. His latest album Out of Town is now available on Keywork Records.

© Paul Medley