Music / Interviews
Adrian Utley tries to shake off jazzy past with new all-star project 137
Adrian Utley has a problem.
He has just launched 137, a new improvisatory collaboration with renowned jazz saxophonist Larry Stabbins, jazz drummer supreme Seb Rochford and bass player Jim Barr of top jazz-rock combo Get The Blessing. They’re launching their first album Strangeness Oscillation at the Exchange on July 29.
The problem? He just doesn’t want to do jazz.
is needed now More than ever
“I stopped playing it 30 years ago,” Adrian says.
Thirty years ago? Yes, it really has been that long since Portishead dropped their seminal debut Dummy and Adrian was able to leave his many years as a busy session jazz guitarist behind him.
“I would play what they told me to back then. I had to do it because I didn’t have the experience, the confidence – and I needed the money.
“But I was never happy to do that. I always could see over the fence.
“Which is why when I met Geoff (Barrow), we started Portishead. I brought that other world with me, of course, but it was mine to use now because I’d put the time in.”
For Adrian it was the beginning of an endless journey towards finding his voice on the electric guitar.
Since Portishead’s heyday, he has collaborated with avant garde classical musicians, composed orchestral soundtracks to epic films and added guitars and synths to an impressive diversity of left-field projects and albums.
And now there’s 137, a project that came together for two days of open improvisation in the studio, the outcome of which has been distilled into Strangeness Oscillation.
How does it sound? Adrian chuckles. “I’d say the sound was noisy, a bit brutal and slightly free. Noisy – that was the thing for me.
“I think that when we start playing it live it will really develop because now we’ve got the tunes it will be all about improvising within the structure of what we’ve done.
“It will massively develop, which is really exciting, and it can only be done in a sweaty place, not a concert hall. It’s got to be in your face!”
That said, it should be noted that, while it does have its ‘in your face’ moments, the album is far from one long aural assault course, being subtly textured and even melodically reflective in places.
The best improvised music needs a close understanding between the players and 137 benefits from a backstory drawing together some of Adrian’s many past collaborations.
Jim Barr is an old friend, of course, and the pair collaborated with Larry Stabbins on his Stonephace album, way back in 2009.
Not long after that, Larry withdrew from music altogether for just over a decade but once he started playing again he contacted them and they were keen to get something together.
Meanwhile, Adrian had been enjoying working in a string of things with Seb Rochford – “Seb’s a phenomenal player and it’s always an absolute joy to work with him” – and needless to say the ever-exploratory drummer needed little persuasion to get involved.
And then, according to Adrian, it was straight into the studio.
“For the album I wrote one tune, just sketches recorded on my iPhone one morning, but the rest is totally improvised. We took two days in the studio and whoever had an idea it was ‘just do it!’.
“I had a few concepts, Larry had ideas about what instruments he wanted to play – predominantly alto (sax) but also bass clarinet, flute…
“After we’d recorded it all me, Jim and Larry spent a lot of time editing what we had, just adding a few synth touches for atmosphere – and that’s it. And now it’s an album and I’m really into it!”
Is it jazz? Clearly it’s not the kind of ’straight ahead’ stuff he used to have to play.
Adrian feels he’s channelling Birthday Party guitarist Roland Howard more than smooth jazz legend Wes Montgomery and there’s a definite post-punk edge to some 137 tracks.
But jazz is a broad church these days and when four great musicians decide to improvise together it’s hard not to think of it as at least ‘jazz adjacent’.
And do words matter anyway? Whatever you call it, the fresh energy of the 137 sound is likely to grab people by the ears and maybe even leave them speechless – which should get around the problem rather neatly.
137 play The Exchange on July 29. For tickets and more information, visit www.exchangebristol.com/whats-on
Strangeness Oscillations is released on the Noetic label on July 31
Main photo: 137
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