Tom Gibbs (pno); Will Vinson (alt/sop); Euan Burton (bs); James Maddren (dms).
Gibbs, an Englishman living in Glasgow, may well have a fear of flying but he has no such qualms when at the keyboard - he soars! Likewise Vinson, an Englishman living in New York also takes to the sky with apparent ease floating above the trio like a graceful swallow that occasionally morphs into a bird of prey.
Add 'first callers', Maddren and Burton and you have the recipe for a very listenable quartet.
The nine tracks are all originals by Gibbs and give him a lot of cred on Composer Street. His modus operandi, he says, is to "Start off with some chords that attract me, then I'm playing away and singing at the piano until a tune sticks."
Well these tunes certainly stuck and not just with himself but this listener too. Some great titles - Daily Brad, Tiny Leaps and The Smile That Never Forgets are my favourites and I have to say the music lives up to the titles!
The most fascinating track though is Farming Stock. Gibbs, it would appear, attempted to play a gut-bucket twelve-bar backwards eventually sending the song in the direction of a mangled Scottish reel - love it particularly for Vinson's cool sounding alto! Vinson, I think is inspired by Gibbs' compositions who in turn is inspired to play at the top of his game by the saxman. Burton's bass-lines slot in perfectly as indeed they did on his own album Occurrences which also has Vinson and Maddren on the team. In fact these days it's difficult to avoid the outstanding percussionist - it seems everybody wants him!
The Quartet take to the road in November:
Nov. 22: Aberdeen The Blue Lamp.
Nov. 24: Edinburgh - House Concerts at 42 Royal Park Tce.
Nov. 25: Newcastle - Splinter @ The Bridge.
Nov. 26: Leeds - Sela Bar.
Nov. 27: Cardiff - Dempsey's.
Nov. 28: London - 606 Club. - The official Launch.
Nov. 29: Poole - Soundcellar @ The blue Boar..
Tom Gibbs - Fear of Flying is released October 15 on Whirlwind Recordings WR4626.
Lance.
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