COMPOSERS: Oriole
LABELS: F-IRE
ALBUM TITLE: Oriole Every New Day
WORKS: Every New Day
PERFORMER: Ingrid Laubrock, Idris Rahman (sax), Jonny Phillips (guitar), Seb Rochford (drums), Ben Davis (cello), Ruth Goller (bass), etc
CATALOGUE NO: FIRECD51
The author of this outstanding new album by Oriole, part of the London-based F-IRE collective, keeps a low profile in the performance. Having composed and arranged a suite of sublime Latinesque chamber jazz, guitarist Jonny Phillips retreats to play the part of colourist rather than leader.
F-IRE’s members have a reputation for flaming avant-garde music but founder member Phillips, who often works with Spanish, Portuguese and Cuban musicians, favours the smouldering, slow burn pleasure principle. Accordingly, Every New Day, conceived and written while he was living in Cadiz, is all about duende, that hard to define stirring of the soul. The combined lead roles of regular partners, rusty toned tenorist Laubrock and cellist Davis, set the brooding tone, with the usually alarming rhythm section of Seb Rochford and Ruth Goller pared back to a parched minimalism. Idris Rahman’s lamenting clarinet is a reminder of how close Cadiz is to North Africa. It’s a very more-ish album in all senses.
Garry Booth