John Fordham 

John Surman and Bergen Big Band: Another Sky review – warmth creative patience

As Surman vivaciously arrives at his 70s, this album serves up his infectious twist on English folk song, writes John Fordham
  
  

John Surman
Creative patience … John Surman. Photograph: Ann Odebey

British saxophonist and composer John Surman is due to perform these orchestral pieces (reflecting this fine artist’s deep roots in English folk-song and classical music as well as straight-ahead jazz) with Norway’s Bergen Big Band at the EFG London Jazz festival on 15 November – and on this evidence, it should be an affecting and infectious show. Surman is gradually substituting an even warmer lyricism and creative patience for his earlier raw solo power as he vivaciously arrives at his 70s. The gifted Gil Evans-influenced composer/arranger John Warren (an old Surman sidekick, whose own work is showcased at Dalston’s Vortex in London on 14 September) also had a hand in the scores here – including a sympathetic reworking of Thelonious Monk’s Ruby My Dear as a feature for the leader’s lustrous baritone sax. The latter soars into its own over brass clamourings and in a reflective flute-shadowed finale on Spending My Time (after a couple of subtly contrapuntal but faintly opaque openers); the Iberian-inflected, guitar-backed Carpet Ride is a standout. The closing Scare ‘Em Up is a typically inventive Surman twist on an English folk song, opening with a violin-like soprano-sax theme, and developing as a swerving, fast-moving big-band swinger showcasing Bergen’s fine reeds players.

 

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