Bevan / Robinson / Edwards / Wales / Sanders

Bruised

Label: Foghorn Records Country: UK

"Tony Bevan's music is easy to like but hard to pigeonhole. Although at times his muscular saxophony is reminiscent of Free Jazz at it's most adventurous (such as in his trio with John Edwards and Sunny Murray), the musical contexts in which he places himself usually demand something more than ecstatically charged heat and bluster, and he always rises to the challenge.

But nothing he has previously done will prepare the listener for "Bruised", his most ambitious and most successful recording to date. Bevan plays sparingly and with great care on conscious of how finely balanced the group dynamic is, and how easy it would be to destabilise it. "Leviathan" is, peculiarly, an eventful piece in which nothing much seems to happen. But it's loose interlocking of light, clicky percussion and staccato arco bass by Mark Sanders and John Edwards (Free Improv's very own Sly 'n' Robbie) Orphy Robinson's Steel Drum and the occasional blurts of electronics from Spring Heel Jack's Ashley Wales, easily sustains attention throughout its 16 minute duration.

Of the five other pieces on "Bruised" "Tempranillo" and the title track, the latter with its sometime shadowy electronic distortion of the saxophone line, are much more highly charged, but although they take the music to the brink and keep it there, control is never relinquished. The unpredictability of "Bruised" is refreshing, and much of that is down to Robinson (who also plays the kalimba-like marimbula, percussion and electronics in addition to his first instrument, vibraphone) and Wales. They make a huge contribution to the overall sound of these pieces, the direction the music takes, its atmosphere, speed and duration. But it's invidious to single out individual players when this is such a great group effort. One to live with, one to savour."-Brian Marley, The Wire", July 2005.