Branded
(Keywork Records KWRCD011)
The second disc from the Scottish brass quartet features even tighter playing than their first – and I didn’t think that was possible.
This is a classic saxophone quartet but with the soprano replaced by trumpet, and that simple change gives the band an entirely different sound and feel from the conventional sax foursome. It’s a sound capable of much more varied expression and scope.
As last time around, composing and arranging chores are shared out between the band members, Ryan Quigley on trumpet, Paul Towndrow on alto, Konrad Wszniewski on tenor and Allon Beauvoisin on baritone.
There is the obvious crowd-pleasing in your face stuff that you’d expect from a band like this – it sounds like Duck’s Chickens , track two on this disc. But there is a more sensitive side to the band too – it sounds like Broken, track three. The title track has something of a 1960s Blue Note feel to it, while Frank Zappa’s Peaches En Regalia has just the right grand yet humorous attitude to bring out the best in Brass Jaw.
If you need to get a measure of their arranging skill, try Paul Towndrow’s interpretation of the Beatles’ Drive My Car.
You’d think there would be an element of some instruments holding down some dull parts while others get to shine, but this band is made up of equals and dull parts, it seems, are not allowed. Leads get thrown back and forth, bass lines get given added twists, and the whole thing is performed with such energy and such accuracy that the excitement is hard to hide.
They manage to fit in some lovely solos, too.
Before I received this disc I got a small plastic hand-painted cow in the post. It didn’t make much sense until the actual CD arrived, beautifully decked out in a bull and a bunch of cows hand-painted by the band. There is great wit in the cover and, of course, great wit in the music.
You can find out more about Brass Jaw, buy the album, and look for when they are playing live in your area at www.brassjaw.co.uk I have it on very good authority that they are sensational live.
