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THE PENGUIN GUIDE TO JAZZ ON CD - 6TH EDITION The Moire concept transferred to something much closer to the multi-horn
REVIEW IN "THE WIRE" (U.K.) - December 2002
TREVOR WATTS AND THE CELEBRATION BAND ARC CD 010 - review JAZZWEEKLY.COM REVIEW (USA) - Dave Wayne. May 2002 (available from Cadence/NorthCountry, or directly from ARC at: TrevorWatts.whistlingmule.com) Personnel: Watts - alto and soprano saxophones, djarabouka, Moroccan tabla, cabassa, piano, keyboards; Rob Leake - tenor and soprano saxophones; Amy Metcalf - tenor saxophone; Marcus Cummins - alto and soprano saxophones; Geoff Sapsford - guitar; Jamie Harris - djembe, djarabouka, Indonesian drum; Roger Carey - bass guitar; Giampaolo Scatozza - drums. Tracks: 1) 8 in 7; 2) Alone With You; 3) Tar (Ta); 4) Spring Sunrise; 5) In The Street; 6) Out Of The Street REVIEW: The Celebration Band is the latest wrinkle in Trevor Watts long and vital musical career. He ís best known for his Moire Music bands, where he and virtuoso electric bassist Colin McKenzie interweave jazzy, melodic lines in and out of a fabric of cross-rhythms generated by as many as 5 African master drummers. The Celebration Band, essentially a sax quartet married (happily) to a 4-piece rhythm section, takes the Moire modus operandi and turns it on its head. Here, the saxophones are used as much for rhythmic impetus as for harmonic and melodic structures. Despite the density of the instrumentation, the music is spacious and uncluttered thanks to Watts deft orchestrations and arrangements. Instead of always stacking the horns to create dense harmonies, Watts builds these pieces laterally using a variety of approaches. "8 in 7" presents the listener with a dozen or so melodic kernels - these are superimposed, permuted, stacked in different ways, broken up over bar lines, and swatted back and forth between different sub-groups of saxophones. When all four reeds combine to punctuate a line, it really jumps out at you. While the overall effect is mesmerizing, what makes it all work is the joy with which Watts and his band approach the music. Watts compositions for the Celebration Band are as rhythmically sophisticated as anything you'd find in the Moire repertoire. As in Moire, most of the rhythms are derived from various African, Middle Eastern, and Latin American sources. Each tune on the CD is as much defined by rhythm as it is melody and harmony. "8 in 7" is - as its title suggests - in 7/4, a meter so smoothly addressed by guitarists Roger Carey and Geoff Sapsford, and drummers Giampaolo Scatozzi and Jamie Harris, that it doesn't sound odd at all. Though the rhythm sounds Turkish in origin, some of the 'churchy' saxophone harmonies in this piece recall South African 'kwela' music. The tense, churning "Tar (Ta)" (named for the Moroccan 'tar' rhythm from which it is derived) has a drum'n'bass feel to it, and a fine jazzy alto solo from Watts. "Spring Sunrise" and "Alone With You" are mellower, more tuneful pieces taken at moderate tempos. Even so, there is a great deal going on in both - subtle harmonic modulations, fascinating rhythms, and strong melodies. "Out of The Street", on the other hand, is the most complicated piece on the CD: think of a Rova Sax Quartet thing in 5/4 with a backbeat in waltz time, and chicken-scratch guitar. No one else around is doing stuff like this! Most of the names in the Celebration Band, apart from Watts and bass guitarist Roger Carey (a veteran of singer / keyboardist Liane Carrollís band), are new to me. Apart from Watts, tenor saxophonist Rob Leake is the other reed soloist - he has a warm, round tone and vaguely Brecker-ish style that contrasts with Wattsí hard-edged, emotionally charged alto and soprano. The rhythm section is tight, light and nimble. Guitarist Sapsford fleshes out the drumming with call-and-response figures and occasional leads (as on "In The Street"). Bassist Carey provides a lot of harmonic movement underneath Watts skeletal piano lines, and swaps roles with Sapsford on occasion. Trevor Watts has really hit on something with The Celebration Band. There is something here for everybody: edgy improvisations, churning polyrhythms, intricate ensemble work and truly memorable melodies. This is one of my favorite CDs so far this year.
TREVOR WATTS AND THE CELEBRATION BAND - review. John Shand - 24 Hours magazine of the ABC - Australia - May 2002. While America was being shaken to the core in the 1960's by the likes of John Coltrane and Albert Ayler on the one hand and psychedelic rock on the other, there were developments across the Atlantic too. Saxophonist Trevor Watts was among those huffing and puffing until they blew down the remaining barriers to improvising freedom, while placing a premium on intensity in the musical dialogue. With time Watts came to see that supposedly "free" music created its own strictures, and he reverted to more conventional forms and structures. His last project, Moire Music, used a drum choir and electric bass to create a constantly shifting backdrop for his improvisations, a Celtic edge mingling with the predominantly West African flavour. The Celebration Band is the most recent step. Watts has assembled three saxophones, guitar, bass, drums and percussion to create a swirling density of high - energy, happy music. The extra horns are used to realise a greater emphasis on composition than was the case with Moire Music, although harmonic complexity is still eschewed in favour of interwoven melodic lines and rhythms. Apart from the brief and bustling "In The Street", with its vividly layered saxophones, the pieces are all longer excursions. The opening "8 in 7" bogs down slightly, but all the rest boast wonderfully vibrant horn lines intersecting with pulsing drums and choppy guitar. Each piece is quite distinctive in mood, the Moroccan rush of "Tar (Ta"), for instance, simply sizzling along. Over all of them Watts solos as only he can. On both soprano and alto his sound is improbably piquant, as though honed for slicing through the bristling thickets of percussion and stabbing horns. The lines can billow with happy abandonment, or herald other passions. It is music to lift the gloomiest of listeners.
TREVOR WATTS AND THE CELEBRATION BAND - ARC CD 010 review. The Scotsman, UK - Kenny Mathieson Jan 2002 Trevor Watts eight-piece Celebration Band builds on the foundation laid down in previous bands such as Moire Music and the Drum Orchestra. The saxophonist was one of the first European jazz musicians to explore the possibilities of African and Eastern music. That fascination is apparent throughout this lively disc, most obviously in the colourful melodies and compelling rhythms. The principal departure from earlier projects lies in the emphasis on composition rather than improvised approach for which he is best known. TREVOR WATTS AND THE CELEBRATION BAND ARC CD 010 - review The Guardian, UK - John Fordham March 2002. British alto saxophonist Trevor Watts, another significant UK Jazz figure to appear in the volatile period of the late 60's and early 1970's, came out of free music but went on to explore a much more widely accessible style. The Celebration Band is Watts's most recent project, formed in 2000. It's sound is related to his long running Moire Music band, but the layering and melodic sophistication of it is a step further on. There is also a much more extensive use of the reed sounds - at times it resembles the World Saxophone Quartet with a drum n' bass undertow. Watts mixes Jazz's power of surprise with a real musical openness. The mingling of metres is often mind-boggling, but it doesn't distract from the impact of the music, and the soloing isn't hemmed in by the rigid forms.
TREVOR WATTS AND THE CELEBRATION BAND ARC CD 010 - review. All Music Guide. Com USA - Dave Lynch - Feb 2002. In his liner notes to Trevor Watts & the Celebration Band, music reviewer John Wickes writes that some have described Watts' music as minimalist, although the British saxophonist had not even heard Steve Reich and other practitioners of that style when the minimalist comparisons started to be made. It's easy to understand why Watts might grimace at being called a minimalist, while on the other hand - particularly after hearing his 2001 CD with the Celebration Band - it's also easy to grasp why at least some of his music might be tagged with that stylistic description. On the anti - minimalist side of the debate, Trevor Watts & the Celebration Band are jazz artists, performing music that is far more joyous and, well, celebratory than the mechanistic repetitions of minimalism's founders. On the other hand, there is certainly common ground in the unfolding polyrhythmic complexity, counterpoint layering of melodic instruments, and precision with which the pieces fit together to form an intricate musical puzzle. This is actually a well - balanced hybrid, but anyone hearing the CD might be too busy dancing around like crazy to waste time musing about genre distinctions anyway. Of course, Watts has spent about 20 years melding jazz and world music in the various incarnations of his Moire Music ensembles. A strong thread in the Moire weave is Watts' particular love of African musics, also a taproot for Reich and the minimalists. With Trevor Watts & the Celebration Band, the African connection is strong and sustained - one hears echoes across the continent from the township jazz of South Arica to the gnawa rhythms of Morocco, as bright harmonies and melodies are punched out by the four - saxophone front line over a foundation of complex polyrhythms played on percussion instruments including djarabouka, djembe, and Moroccan tabla in addition to drum kit. But where Moire developed into a vehicle for the freewheeling improvisations of Watts and bassist Colin McKenzie, the Celebration Band tilts more heavily towards composition, with structures that can provoke dance and induce trance in nearly equal measure. As electric bass, keyboard, and guitar form their own patterns that interlock with the percussionists, the saxophonists spin out seemingly endless variations of melodies and riffs, calling back and forth, overlapping one another, moving forward and back in the mix. The composing and arranging is truly ingenious, making the octet seem like a much larger band; in fact, there was very little overdubbing involved. It's not ALL thoroughly charted, however, as Watts on alto and soprano and Rob Leake on tenor saxophone sail over the top with fluid and fiery solos. And yet, one remains most amazed by the lengths to which Watts pushes his compositions; opening track " 8 in 7" (eight musicians playing music with seven-beat measures) stretches out past 13 minutes and is never less than riveting as it runs Watts's circle from African jazz through organic, hypnotic minimalism and back again. "In the Street" distills the core formula down to a three - minute - and - 45 - second track that would seem capable of uniting the globe in dance if released as a single worldwide. And yes, this is the same Trevor Watts, who began making a name for himself as a youngster in John Stevens' avant - garde Spontaneous Music Ensemble. Isn't youth supposed to be the time for parties and dancing, and maturity the time to get serious and stop having fun? Somebody forgot to tell Watts; he's got it all backwards. Trevor Watts (Moire Music Group/Celebration Band/Arc Records U.K.) moire@watts9000.freeserve.co.uk http://www.shef.ac.uk/misc/rec/ps/efi/mwatts.html TEL/FAX: (00 44) (0) 1424 443424
TREVOR WATTS AND THE CELEBRATION BAND - ARC CD 010 Review Spring 2002 AVANT additional review - John Cratchley Trevor Watts was fusing African drum rhythms, jazz sensibilities and free improvisation long before it became a recognised oeuvre and he still does so with integrity and understanding, creating a truly unique musical identity that distils rather than dilutes these disparate elements. The Moire Drum Orchestra, perhaps his most well known band alongside the legendary Amalgam, produced original and enervating work for both ECM and INTAKT and the Celebration Band extends the scope of that original vision. It is no accident that Watts credits himself as composer/arranger before player on this CD. Indeed, the music recorded here is tightly structured and arranged in complex interweaving strata with great verve and brio. It is minimalist in feel, repeating interlocking sequences that build methodically and hypnotically, yet is also underpinned with infectious, trance like, drumming patterns and textures from both Harris and Scatozza and synchronous, non intrusive, bass and guitar riffs from Sapsford and Carey. The collected horns are precisely spaced in tone and pitch creating a rich depth of sound whilst maintaining a deftness of touch that is light and airy and capable of breathtaking counterpoint and melody. This music blends the discipline of seamless, quick fire, ensemble playing with the energy and mystery of both African and Middle Eastern scales. Watts own soloing is full of warmth and spirit and, indeed, soars in celebration of the groove and momentum that the band creates. The mood is joyously upbeat with a constant movement and progression throughout. The Celebration Band makes a direct, open and honest statement of intent, blending the formalism of composition with the ingenuity of extra sensory ensemble playing, the rhythm of street carnival and Watts free fall soloing. It all works spectacularly.
TREVOR WATTS AND THE CELEBRATION BAND (Arc CD 010) - Reviews 2002 Avant Magazine-Steve Day. I was not going to write this review, but sometimes you just have to anyway, because, well because there is such a joyous thing going on here I cannot help but jump in. Count me in, count me in. John Wickes wrote about the band in the last AVANT so go back to the back copy for his specific information. Here is my take on this music. Last week I gave my neighbour Chris a lift into his "day job" in town. Chris has played electric bass in more blues bands than a Chess Records compilation. I slapped on the Celebration CD and he immediately identified the fact that Roger Carey is playing a fretless instrument and seriously knows how to handle it. Phrases such as "groove music" and "on the monkeys back" were mentioned. That was all before Trevor Watts soloed. See, what is going on down is four saxes riffing over multiple percussion with a guitar weaving carefully chosen chords through a popping bass line. Normally, I would say, it's fine, but I need to hear more than a complex carnival. I want some real interaction on top. And that is exactly what happens here. There is a combined diversity driving these horn arrangements which allows for both space and fire. From the opening track Trevor Watts' entry sounds like he's been sitting in the sun, all bright soprano shaking out a melody that continually turns back on itself. He contains real authority in his playing, imposing passion and purpose on the proceedings by the sheer eloquence of his blowing power. Chris had never heard of Trevor Watts or the Spontaneous Music Ensemble or Moire Music. My neighbour is a man who has a picture of B.B. King over his bed and tells me that John Lee Hooker "knew more about improvisation than the stuff that you listen to". He is wrong, but there is a speck of truth to his argument, though I have no wish to discuss it. By the time we reach the centre of Bristol I am ready to push my passenger out beside a busy roundabout. Trevor Watts and the Celebration Band have got almost half way through "Out of the Street", a mesmerising, swirling cross rhythm cut that sounds like the South African trumpet heavyweight, Hugh Masekela, has employed the Celebrators to lap up a South American Shrove Tuesday Mardi Gras, and supplant it in the heart of Jo'burg. Just when you think you have the pace of it. Trevor Watts comes out of the mix, blowing an alto line every bit as diamond express as the heaviest Kwela kick that ever came out of the Cape. Chris wants to stay, to wait until the end of the track before getting out of the car. As he eventually sets off down the street, Rob Leake's tenor whips a counter rhythm around, mirror imaging the leader's line but then striking off, straight across the percussion playground. I head my car back into the gridlock, I have all the time in the World. I'm still listening. This is music that has been worked on. Trevor Watts name is out front for sure, but it has also been through the democratic mincer, to the point where it now stacks up big time. Stop right here. I think Trevor Watts' Celebration Band has to be taken on its own terms. Somebody ought to be signing up this outfit to guarantee sunshine, the party is heading in their direction. Any chance of my CD back Chris?
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