Perhaps a more suitable title for the latest release from British saxophonist Richard Davies would be London Bus because, as the old saying goes, you wait ages for one and two turn up at the same time. This is the case with the recent output from this musician that manages to balance jazz themes with electronic backdrops, it was only a few months ago that I was in this very spot writing about his May release ‘Cosmic Odyssey’.
So, what’s different you might ask, is this is a sequel of sorts, a switch in a different direction or just some rehashed notes he had laying around the place that he decided to turn into something more substantial? Well, I’ll be honest, I don’t know, but the results are similar to his previous releases but also completely different.
Yes, we have the foundation set in electronic music and a style of music that sits just on the right side of Vangelis-era Blade Runner (to say his music is cinematic would be an understatement – for further proof check out ‘Aged 97’, it’s transcendent and ethereal in its scope) but still refuses to be categorised, it’s neither jazz nor electro.
The concept is brilliant, something so simple that it should have been done before, basically each song represents an age, if the individual tracks are autobiographical or simply based on the music, he was inspired by at the time is unclear but what a way to approach songwriting.
There seems more freedom in his palette, more willingness to bring in different sounds and rhythms, from the Pink Floyd-esque pulsing bass on ‘Aged 5’ to a drum n bass feel to ‘Aged 30’ that benefits from a vocal sample. We have the programmed drum pattern on ‘Aged 80’ that reminds me of 1980’s Phil Collins and the Napolean Dynamite soundtrack but it kind of works, it’s impersonal enough to be ignored to allow the entire piece to play out.
It’s on ‘Aged 15’ and ‘Aged 19’ that the mood switches, the brushed, percussive loop on ‘Aged 15’ is short and sweet before moving into 1970’s guitar wah-wah on ‘Aged 19’ reflecting adolescence and there must have been a temptation to add a Barry White style “ooh yeahhhh”.
I particularly enjoyed the black comedic feel to ‘Aged 97’ where the music is slightly off kilter, the sax playing the ‘wrong’ notes, does this hint at the brain not being as it should at such a ripe age?
All in all it’s probably a stronger album than ‘Cosmic Odyssey’ – obviously this is just my opnion – and is a good entry point if you want to explore his music but have no idea where to start. My main gripe, and I’ve shared this with the man himself, is I wonder where the music could go if there were actual living musicians here, it’s clear that he can lay down sax with the best of them and a live band would give him freedom to move and explore without the limits of pre-planned chord changes. I always think that a one-man-band is limited by what they can do, but throw in a drummer, a bass player and someone tackling those synth parts and I think he would have a broader palette to work his magic from.
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