Ten years have passed since I first came across Fabienne’s debut recording in the trio, titled Glitterwoods, which I further reviewed. That was one of my favourites back in time and I kept my eye on her, but nothing came out after. I later reached the label to hear that she became fully involved in musical education. I kept enjoying the debut recording then and hoping that one day she would make her comeback. Imagine my surprise when I heard from Fab, out of a sudden 10 years later, at the end of the year, through the ever-present social media, that she came back with her second recording, Thrive. Not only that, but she also moved to London and the launching concert for the new recording is about to take place in London’s Vortex Jazz Club venue on the 6th of February, so just a couple of weeks after its official release.
I listened to the music earlier of course, but the unusual time twist that made the connection between those two recordings in a long-time ellipse made me want to listen to her music, for the first time live, before putting this write-up together. Not often does one have such a chance.
I had enough time to acknowledge the new lineup and find out more about the musicians making the new Fabienne Ambühl Quartet; as expected after first, blind listening to the album and just like with a debut, there was top quality and craft. Tom Ollendorff on the guitar is a Cardiff-raised youngster about whom I heard from my Welsh musical connections, but it is the first time I listened to him on the stage. Matt Ridley is well established London bassist, whom I have seen multiple times, most recently with Mulatu Astatke, if I remember well and definitely with Darius Brubeck during his later UK tour supporting the release of DBQ’s Live in Poland on Ubuntu music taped at the prestigious Blue Note in Poznan in which I spend countless hours listening to the music in my early jazz days :). The GoGo Penguin‘s drummer Jon Scott needs no further introduction either to the UK or Worldwide audience. His appearances with artists like Mulatu Astatke, Shabaka Hutchings or pianist Alexander Hawkins are the first that come to my mind without digging any deeper
Another guitarist, Ant Law listed on the back cover provides the sound in the opening album New Ones track. His name sounds familiar, must be another Ubuntu family artist, but nothing concrete comes to my memory. Checking for the sake of knowing however did prove that. He recently released on Ubuntu his debut recording in a duo, with Brigitte Beraha, titled Ensconced and then, apparently I got it back, where I recognise the name from. He is the L member of the Trio HLK! Everything related to the music of Dame Evelyn Glennie is the honey for my little, loving-jazz heart.
It is time to jump to the set then. And that one started with the theme titled Binocular. It is quite a fast burner with a raised tempo to give the start a blow, but also with challenging changes of metrums not just during the piano culminations, but also in the swiftly moving footwork of the drummer setting the cannonade’s pace and laying the paths to step on for closely following bass. That’s Jon’s hallmark, I would say. The same fiery inner power that drives GGP’s acrobatics.
My River comes next. The track with Emily Dickinson’s simple poem titled My river runs to thee makes it to the lyrics. The repetitive melody is immediately supported by the rhythmic section’s approach into a steady movement which presents the words flood like a tidal, approaching you with the sylabotonic rhythm, bringing the current of the river to the listener’s mind. The way she sings it, with the folk-like simplicity pays tribute to the original.
I read the poem days after when the melody vanished from my head and then listened to it again from the CD. It amazed me how my thoughts found a completely different pace for the words passing through my head. I am finding references to American poet Emily Dickinson and the English Brontë sisters in quite a few music, and not only, projects that recently reached me. That proves that the rise of awareness about the fragility of human nature and its dependence on the well-being of the habitat that surrounds us has started to grow in societies around the world. It also shows the sentiment for the days when we had time to love, live and grow together, the lost ingredients in our daily tantrums like rush & rat run.
Coming after Timeline is a homage to Martin Hummel, the recently passed away creator of the Ubuntu Music label, as Fabienne announced in her dedication. The subject here is very elegiac, as may be expected. At the same time is very descriptive in the melodic sense, sketching the memory of the silhouette in the light, at least in my imagination. It starts with a gentle guitar tune, that quickly turns into a dance dialogue of two harmonic instruments. The section approaches gently with Matt adding to the composition subtle, woody bass lines and Jon framing the mood with unharried brush strokes. I wish I would be remembered that way.
Soft Days coming after brings back the order we got used to from listening to the album. It breaks the mood with an up-tempo drum bit running the circus now in tandem with closely stepping double bass and shortly joining figurative motive on the piano, provided by Fab that brings reminiscence of the Beatles’ A Hard Day’s Night to my head. In the break, the tempo slows down into the bluesy bass walking, beautifully executed by Matt, in the stroking notes aka The Bad Plus’ Reid Anderson, or Rex Horan of Neil Cowley cohort. Modern Jazz with a variety of textures and feet-tapping involving rhythms, and not shy of flirting with pop tunes. What more we could ask for?
That’s the flavour after the first platter is served. After a little break, the set started with the New Ones, the tune that is not present on the album, but nevertheless, fits the gig perfectly. I am quite surprised that Fab didn’t include it in this recording, because in this tune her vocal comes most prominently, showing the variety of styles and shades she is capable of demonstrating her maturity as a singer. From the yodel-like intro (imaginable given her Swiss roots) into harsh, almost like throat singing, hardly accented lyrics. When at the same time she maintains a melodic aspect of the song and doesn’t leave the ludic feeling of the Lieder ohne Worte. It is the most folk-sounding piece she sang during this set and the one most bridged with the Nordic vocal culture. I am finding a lot of echoes of singers like Mari Boine, Elin Rosseland and Sidsel Endresen. Nothing related to the timbre of the voice itself, but just a sense of presence suggesting that she listens to a lot of the Nordic folk and learns a lot from it that she later filters by her own sensitivity and musical apparatus.
Nihil, starting after this vocal eruption with its gently built-up melody, sensitively supported by Matts bass’s lines, brings a nice relief. The structure is further supported by harmonic escalation that Tom’s guitar weaves around the piano theme, and holds up to the culmination, which straight after is skilfully broken by the drummer, calling for the bass section to re-unite and rebuild the modal structure. This track alone would be enough for me to understand the high rating that Tom gets as a guitarist and the high demand for his services. More on that, watching him approach the melody in every one of the tunes he performed makes me hungry to hear more of him. His gentle tone is always supportive of the piano lines, never too loud and not a single note too much. The response to Fab’s line is so firm and solid that it sounds like the brass section made of dreams. Such a gentle touch and powerful tone blended.
The title Thrive with a wonderful piano invocation and the quote from D.H.Lawrence’s following, it makes a beautiful and lyrical outro of the album. Here, not played as the last, but with the depth of the meaning of the words, echo effects added to the decay and incredible sweetness of Fab’s voice, not heard on the tracks before, it makes a dreamy, fuzzy mood which comes to the great contrast with sharply contoured piano keys.
As per the finale, we are having Nihil instead. Another tune with an elevated mood and lyrical theme, where again, the close co-operation of Fab and Tom brings me memories of the best of what Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays used to build together. Again, not in a sonorous way, but in the feeling of symbiotic cooperation that is going far behind what’s indicated in the score. But hey, with such a rhythm section you can fly high and they did indeed.
To sum it up, it feels a bit funny to me. This album is so different from the one she committed ten years ago, that it almost feels like another debut to me. Another Great Debut, shall I say. Welcome back Fabienne and don’t go away again. Please.
