REVIEW:

The Ben Crossland Quartet

Bass player Ben Crosland is in many ways the perfect band leader. He brings together great musicians and then sits in the background, an avuncular presence holding down a smooth solid bass line while keeping an eye on the proceedings. He has no pretences to play like an angel but he gathers angels around him and has held his own quartet together for some years now, no mean feat in the fluid world of jazz.

The particular musical angels, both key members of Crosland’s quartet since its inception, are Steve Waterman on trumpet and flugelhorn and Stuart Mccallum on guitar. Waterman is well-known on the jazz circuit as a lyrical player with extraordinary technical prowess who also composes, teaches and is the author of a benchmark trumpet tutor. Stuart Mccallum, on the other hand, was a new force to me, Sitting nonchalantly on his amp throughout the evening looking as if he was strumming a few chords in his back room he showed himself to be right in the groove and master of a truly individual approach.

Although it was clear from the first number there was a fine quartet on the stage the music didn’t really to come together immediately and the first couple of Crosland compositions seemed rather bland. Then Waterman played his own ballad October Arrival, a beautiful tune full of melodic surprises and harmonic depth. This was followed by Crosland’s Knife through Butter, an upbeat number that gave Mccallum the opportunity to stretch out, using a masterly combination of fast runs and chord figures that were an excellent contrast to Waterman’s pyrotechnics on trumpet. Drummer Matt Horn also showed us how to build a percussion solo from quite minimal use of a small kit.

In the second set, a well chosen selection of mostly original pieces, the band really got into their stride. In Crosland’s Sea Change Mccallum showed how he could play with great rhythmic intensity still without turning up the volume or moving from his relaxed position. Waterman is the only trumpeter I know who has mastered circular breathing, which allows one to play on without pausing for breath, and yet manages to maintain a perfectly accented line. The evening ended with Waterman’s Destination Unknown, in which the trumpeter gave us one more demonstration of his extraordinary skills ending on a seamless flow of notes.

© Paul Medley