Released by forward-thinking Mancunian spiritual jazz label Gondwana the eight tracks here, from a band that first got together in Norwich, were recorded in a Manchester studio. Saxophonist Jordan Smart, Jordan’s highly expressive piano-playing brother Nick Smart, and drummer/tabla player Jesse Barrett sound and think as one, very much a crucial element of the collectivist instinct displayed by the most creative jazz in which the band, as a unit, alternates between operating as a soloing and accompanying entity. Animalia begins with the anthemic ‘Mansions of Millions of Years’, followed by the Knee-Deep period Portico Quartet-recalling ‘Snow Bough’ where Jordan Smart cycles through his emotions heightened by strong narrative comping from Nick Smart. Refreshing, stimulating, basically a reimagining of the piano trio via a bass-less format and saxophone lead line, ‘Kandaiki’ mines minimalism and balladeering, the rough-hewn saxophone line followed by tender piano with drums temporarily as dispassionate but highly rhythmic onlooker. A highly promising, and at times, quite moving, debut.
Mammal Hands, above. Photo: Simon Hunt
Released on 15 September