If jazz is to flourish as a living art form, young musicians such as Tom Arthurs will be a valuable commodity.
Nevertheless, the trumpet playing composer embodies the perils and pitfalls of an idiosyncratic approach to the music; his set contains no standards and his own tunes veer wildly between chin-stroking abstraction and self-indulgent frenzy.
Fortunately, his band features some very strong musicians, including rising saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock and drummer Asaf Sirkis (best known as sticks-man for Gilad Atzmon), whose uniquely free style allows him to inhabit and shape the guts of a piece. With bassist Max de Wardener providing meaty rhythmical support and guitarist Jez Franks firing off fusion-style triplets, Arthurs' compositions were in capable hands.
The set opener, Pollock, began with saxophone andtrumpet locked in a computer-like loop. This gradually dissolved into a tactile drum and bass (almost drum'n'bass) groove before Arthurs laid out his first solo of the evening.
A mixture of luminous legato lines and episodic flurries, it was delivered with closed eyes and an expression of intense concentration. The following tune, Sick Mind, brought forth a breathy saxophone overture from Laubrock, full of pregnant pauses and cracked introspection. From here onwards a general pattern began to emerge: tunes were mostly anchored with a double bass ostinato while the two horns squabbled agitatedly, recalling ESP-era Miles Davis and Wayne Shorter.
Invariably linear and enmeshed in skittering drum patterns and peculiar time signatures, Arthurs' compositions occasionally delivered glimmers of inspiration. Yet more often than not there was a feeling that the music was simply the sum of its parts - too personalised and self-consciously quirky to provoke an emotional response. Perhaps a few more familiar reference points and a greater focus on memorable themes will deepen and sweeten what this spunky composer has to offer. Unlike many so-called jazz musicians, he at least deserves top marks for trying to be himself.
