Music / Jazz
Review: John Law’s Congregation, Bebop Club
It sounds solemn, doesn’t it, but in fact John Law’s Congregation was a whole bunch of fun. And that was not least for the four musicians – John Law on piano, Sam Crockatt on saxophones (and glockenspiel), Ashley-John Young on double bass and Alex Goodyear drumming.
Congregation: John Law, Ashley John Young, Sam Crockatt (pic: Tony Benjamin)
The Congregation is John’s acoustic jazz quartet formed to play his original tunes. He was, however, at pains to point out that he doesn’t try to be very original and even named a tune Recycling to make that point. Protest he might, but there is an undoubted ‘John Law’ style to both his playing and composition and even the wordplay of tune titles like I Sink, Therefore I Swam and Do You Do Voodoo? I Do Voodoo Too. That latter opened the evening with Ashley John providing a relentlessly pounding bass pulse that yet was somehow fractured. The elusive theme emerged at different times on piano, tenor sax or both in unison, the drumming surged and fell. It was an audacious choice for a ‘warm-up’ number, more an announcement that here was a tight ensemble of very distinctive musicians and that we, the audience, should buckle up for the ride.
Congregation: John Law, Ashley John Young (pic: Tony Benjamin)
And it really was a great ride as John’s imagination roamed around the contemporary jazz world from the Nordic drift of I Sink … to the corrupted boogaloo and Flamenco undertones of Insistence and the reflective spaciousness of a piece called Piece … Or was that Peace? It certainly had a peaceful atmosphere, starting with John’s delicate solo opening after which the tune drifted Debussy-wards. A beautifully tempered slow duet of piano and Sam’s tenor sax saw John crouching lower and lower over his keyboard while Alex simply brushed his brushes together for the lightest of accompaniments towards the hushed ending.
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John Law Congregation (pic: Tony Benjamin)
For most of the arrangements the melodic elements might surface on any instrument at any time, while the rhythmic structures could hold or swerve away. It all came together to perfection for Shapeshifter, a monotone piano and scrabbling soprano sax opening out through bowed bass into an emerging chord progression gently driven by hand-tapping drums. A patiently ascending sequence of saxophone scales gave way to a virtuoso bass solo, Ashley-John’s fingers fluttering around the neck of his instrument with unerring accuracy to create something both lyrical and dramatic.
Congregation: Alex Goodyear (pic: Tony Benjamin)
By the end of the evening the collective atmosphere on stage was palpable in an unnamed fast bopping tune, with boiling piano and drums and a phenomenal walking bass line powering into a spectacularly flamboyant piano solo and a frolicking Rollins-esque tenor sax trio. By the end John and Alex had locked eyes across the stage, each grinning as they unleashed a ferocious crossfire that became a full-on Art Blakey drum solo. Referential? Of course. Original? Definitely. They closed proceedings with a cheeky arrangement of Coltrane’s Giant Steps, the original hinted at by the merest tinkling of notes as they coalesced into a breezy samba-like groove. Sam gave a final soprano sax solo over those rhythm games, Alex another, more restrained drum solo and it ended with the briefest nod to Coltrane’s theme.
Congregation: John Law, Ashley John Young, Sam Crockatt (pic: Tony Benjamin)
John Law is a brilliant pianist, steeped in jazz piano lore and like the great Thelonious Monk (an acknowledged inspiration) his non-linear thinking brings a refreshing unexpectedness to his music as it unfolds. In the Congregation he has brought together like-minded players with the technical and creative ability to go with that flow and the music they make is steeped in the richness of their interplay. Watching them together it feels a real privilege to share in that electricity.
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