The People Band is stuffed full of musicians, each with their own history of recording and playing, who come together as the People Band. The band formed when the Russell Hardy Trio (Terry Day on drums, Hardy on piano and Terry Holman on bass) met up with other musicians at the Starting Gate Jazz club in north London, started by pianist and improviser Mel Davis, bass player Frank Flowers and big-band leader Derek Goom in the late 1960s. The key members of the band had joined by 1970. All of the musicians play in other genres and several have had distinguished careers, but the love and power of the collective has inspired all of them to maintain and develop the work for over five decades. Mel Davis remained a key member until ill health forced him to take a back seat during the early 2000s. He instigated new approaches to jazz music and the album is dedicated with love and respect to Mel, who died in 2013. Members of the band have come and gone over the years, centring around the core, which remain Charlie Hart on bass, Adam Hart on keyboards, Paul Jolly on saxophones, flutes and bass clarinet, George Khan , saxophones, flute, Terry Day on drums and reed instruments, Tony Edwards, percussion, Mike Figgis on pocket trumpet and bass and Davey Payne on saxes. The band have been outstanding performers of free music for a long time and have recorded for Charlie Watts, appeared in the film ‘Stormy Monday’ (as the Krakow Jazz Ensemble) – the film was directed by Mike Figgis who is also a prominent film director, and performed throughout the UK and Europe – sometimes as smaller ensembles under the guises of Ommu the Smooch or Mummy. When they first played in the UK scene they were seen as anarchic, front of house in the extremism of free jazz but since then many ensembles have taken the playing of free jazz beyond the extremes of even the People Band.
As well as playing with the People Band, many of the line-up have enjoyed successful careers as solo artists or as part of prominent bands. Charlie Hart and Terry Day were in one of Ian Dury’s first bands, The Kilburns. Charlie has also been in Slim Chance, The Battered Ornaments and played with Wreckless Eric. He currently plays with The Equators. Terry Day formed the London Improvers Orchestra and has played with Peter Cusack, Steve Beresford and written for films. Paul Jolly worked with '80's cult prog-rock band Sweet Slag and had a long association with Maggie Nicols and from 1976 - 1999 ran a jazz club based at the 33 Art Centre in Luton. The album is released on his label 33Jazz records. Mike Figgis diversified into film and produced films including Stormy Monday (1989), Internal Affairs (1990), Leaving Las Vegas (1995), and “Love Live Long” (2008). He played keyboards with Brian Ferry. However, in spite of individuals having distinguished careers, when they come together as The People Band, there is a return to their roots, a stretching out and sheer enjoyment of free, creative jazz. I have had the privilege of writing with one or two of them, including Terry Day and Charlie Hart.
The album is a collection of recordings from live performances at Café Oto, London, over the years 2008-14. Because these are live recordings it was decided not to title the tracks – the very idea - but there are twelve distinctive excerpts on the album. The opening track is a beautiful improvised piano piece from Mel Davis where Mel drifts around the chords, expanding and exploring the full range of the piano keyboard creating a gentle, rolling sequence of riffs. The next track is a short fanfare which lasts 15 seconds and the third an esoteric exploration by flutes, reeds and percussion, with a bass clarinet wandering around in the depths before the music evolves into a semi-structured middle section with saxes introducing and developing a repeated, swingy tune, joined by rhythmic percussion over which the others joyfully improvise before the sax is left to its own devices and the flute takes it down to a gentle finish. Track 4 uses Latin rhythms set up on the drums into which the others drift in and out, developing an Eastern feel while track 5 is quiet, ethereal and centres around piano, violin and percussion.
Track 6 is controlled mayhem, with any number of instruments playing at any one time, coming in, fading out and includes vocals. Track 7 is darker, beginning with menacing bass clarinet, vocals and this tone continues through the track. The vocals, trumpet and percussion strike up a dialogue which is at once engaging yet difficult to listen to at times; angry yet needful, contorted yet pure. Track 8 is a joy, a discussion between instruments, set off by counterpoint percussion – just a delight and track 9 is started with accordion before the rest of the instruments and voice join in, followed by 9 minutes of free playing which draws on the talents of everyone playing – this is a track to get lost in with dialogue, to-ing, fro-ing, swapping of the riffs and discussion between all members. Vocals from Maggie Nicols add depth and texture to this track, enhanced by the exemplary sax playing. References to swing jazz, classical big band and free improvisation are all in here. The trumpet solo is a surprise and delight as is the finale which develops into an almost fugue like controlled cacophony. Track 10 is a piano centred number with a definite swing beat created by bass and percussion and picked up by trumpet and the rest of the band. Whiteman might have been impressed at this. There is a great sense of fun in this track and the band individually and collectively show they can play as well in glorious harmony as they can in atonal anarchy. The finishing section led by the piano is divine.
Track 11 begins with percussion and once the driving beat has been established, other members come in, engaging with the rhythm, driving the power of the music on, up and towards bedlam but it is held back, kept in sway by the relentless tappity-tapping of the beat. Whistles, swannies, drum rolls and little boings on various strings, percussion and keys create textures, layers and depths over the course of 14 minutes or more. From the 5 minutes mark, saxes, trumpet and clarinet come in to add more layers and the piece just keeps developing. A sax solo in the middle section becomes buried amongst the other sounds created by the players. It quietens down for a bit and the trumpet emerges as a solo instrument, backed by a sax which develops its own counter solo alongside before eventually leaving the trumpet to soar on its own to finish the piece. Track 12 is another solo track from Mel Davis on piano and is the perfect ending, finishing the album as it started with recognition that Mel Davis was not only a key improviser but a much loved, respected and talented pianist.
There is so much going on throughout this album it is almost impossible to analyse each track in depth because it would take forever – and that, partly, is the point. Live music like this, created in the spontaneity of the moment cannot be reproduced, taken apart and created again, it is just that moment and in this album there has been a valiant attempt to capture the essence of the People Band but nothing will surpass listening to them live. What this CD does, however is capture something of the atmosphere of their playing, the flavours and the sense of communication, the love of free improvisation that these musicians share. On one hand, to place musicians of high calibre on stage in such numbers together may seem like a journey towards trouble but these musicians know each other’s nuances, quirks and styles so well that they discuss, create dialogue and engage with each other and consequently the listener on so many levels. Maturity brings with it constraint and whilst there are definite essences of the angry young players who began their musical journeys a long time ago, there is now also a sense of deep understanding, of love for the music and the listeners, an appreciation of just how much you can get away with without bordering on chaos and above all a desire to create sounds which, while free in most senses of the word, engage enough with the listener to make them move, groove and feel part of the experience. Communication and a creation of layer upon layer is key here and in this CD, the choice of recordings is almost perfect.
Past writers have described the People Band as visceral, orgasmic, tribal and beautiful and on the sleeve notes, it is stated that, “ the depth of the source material provided was amazing, several albums could have been produced and each would have been beautifully different”. I think we can dispense with visceral and tribal - on this album, the stress in on the beautiful and different. This is free jazz, this is the People Band.
Personnel/instruments – Terry Day, drums/percussion; George Khan sax/flute; Mike Figgis trumpet/guitar; Paul Jolly bass clarinet/sax; Davey Payne sax/flute; Charlie Hart bass/violin/accordion; Tony Edwards Percussion.
Guests include Maggie Nicols (voice) Adam Hart (piano), Tony Marsh (drums), Ed Dean (guitar), ben Higham (trumpet/tuba) Brian Godding (guitar), Dave chambers (sax)
Reviewer: Sammy Stein
