Review: New Bop Quintet – Tuning Fork June 15, 2021

A tribute band to the era of Hard Bop arising from East Coast America, the New Bop Quintet have a fling and dance with some of the classic songs and artists of the time and lay out a brace of originals which shine in and amongst the stellar company.

The band itself is stellar and world-class. The senior oracles, Mike Booth trumpet and Frank Gibson Jr drums. Middle-aged Turks Pete France tenor saxophone and Kevin Field keyboards. Young gun Wil Goodinson double bass.

Assembled three years ago by a pair of music industry icons and Jazz addicts, David Innes and Terence O’Neill-Joyce (Ode Records). They played the recent Wellington Jazz Festival on the back of their debut self-titled album released ten days ago.

So What from Miles Davis’s classic Kind of Blue, starts the set with a killer. One of the most familiar tunes of the night for myself, who is no chin-stroking Jazzbo, but tends to admire the genre from a distance. Beautiful but often impenetrable. The trumpet is lyrical and feels smooth and vibrant like strong black coffee. Keyboards a little low in the mix but correct subsequently. The bass solo sounds ominous, don’t mess with me.

Hard Bop was worked out in the latter Fifties as a progression from Be-Bop of the Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie school. A way to reconnect with audiences in the time when Rhythm’n’Blues was ascendent and Rock’n’Roll was being birthed. Elvis explained that he was basically Gospel and R’n’B. Add Blues and you had Hard Bop.

Wayne Shorter’s Speak No Evil. Introduced as the edge of Hard Bop. But the Jazz World is not flat either. Pleasant and melodic, the sax and trumpet trade licks. Everything sounds clean and orderly. The keyboards are played incredibly fast but retain the melody and structure.

Thelonious Monk’s Straight, No Chaser. The riffs and progressions from the sax solo sound familiar. Goes on a trip and peaks with some startlingly high notes. A great drum bridge and then the trumpet comes in for a danceable melodic jaunt. Except no one does dance. This is a Jazz gig, folks.

Nod the heads, stroke the chins, tap the thighs.

Three Up Three Down. The first of three (ahem) originals. This was introduced as a rhythm workout and everyone does go up and down. Keyboards sound like piano rain.  But it swings like crazy and the drum accents really shine.

Beaver Fever is an original from Gibson. Superb drum intro. Sounding African, tribal and sort of primitive. A lot of history in a less than two minutes. The trumpet sounds like vintage Sixties Miles Davis. Keyboards fast and sharp and could cut. The bass solos with drums washing soft brush accents.

I could say this is a highlight but all the songs stand up.

The last original played, Lockdown, identifies itself in time and history. This one sounds like the earlier Be-Bop perhaps, to begin. The trumpet swings and the keyboards sound dramatic.

Dexter Gordon’s Soy Califa is a great finale. An expectant opening from the drums and then they’re off. Sax blows short riffs and then then more complex steps. A clean sharp trumpet with a seductive melody.

Before all this wonderful stuff, we heard the Rachel Clarke Trio. Alumni from Jazz School. With Clarke as chanteuse were Alex Pipes guitar and Hank Trenton bass.

Clarke is a strikingly talented singer with a big vocal repertoire.

Fly Me to the Moon. Familiar standard and done well with the voice cutting clean as a scalpel on the high notes.

Summertime and this one really takes off in different directions. Brazilian rhythms in scat. Dramatic in the high tones.

Stella by Starlight. That great symphonic theme. The guitar solo sounds a little Blues.

They finish on a fast Be-Bop. Scat vocals and guitar. A promise of good things to come.

The New Bop Quintet. They make it very easy to connect to complex music. Chuck Berry says it best.

I got no kick against modern Jazz/ Unless they try and play it too darned fast/ And lose the beauty of the melody/ Until they sound just like a symphony. Rock’n’Roll Music from 1957.

They didn’t.

Rev Orange Peel

Rachel Clarke Trio

New Bop Quintet

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