Breach

Borders

breachtrio.com ****

2012 has been a big year for Breach. With touring in the summer that led them to the Rochester Jazz Festival in New York state and Toronto and Vancouver in Canada as well as a run of dates all over England and Scotland recently, their just released new album Borders finds them claim their due place in the sun at last, or as the album cover picture has it, an overcast beach. The album, released on their own Breach label sees guitarist Graeme Stephen also manipulating electronics, with organist Paul Harrison in electronic mode as well, plus drummer/percussionist Chris Wallace testing very interesting waters.

Whether it’s teasing with the melody of ‘In a Sentimental Mood’ on ‘I Smell Something’, or the organ trio format itself, at the heart of the matter, there’s a playfulness at work and plenty of explorative and engaged playing throughout that manages to vault over the stultifying limitations of the format. “Paul Harrison would like to apologise to Duke Ellington”, the drily amusing note puts it, so clearly Breach aren’t up themselves, the latter a factory fault setting in band ego-land quite often. This trio find a way on these eight tracks to dispel nearest easy comparisons (say Lifetime, or to a lesser extent Troyka), and fit in well with the current redefining of how prog fits within jazz. Harrison plays the organ like a synth, if you know what I mean, and that makes all the difference, so he comes over like Gary Husband might with John McLaughlin sometimes, Larry Young very occasionally. There’s less firepower needed as the idea clearly is not a  Heath Robinson-like fusion explosion, and I think that’s where the subtlety of the electronics comes in as well as Stephen’s superb approach to jazz guitar. He plays in the lineage of Phil Robson perhaps more than McLaughlin and there is considerable flexibility and passion in his playing. Take his Celtic rock-like solo on ‘Borders’, say. The tunes are good (‘Judgement’ is the pick of a strong set, especially the ‘bridge’ section there). A fine record from three players who have something that bit different and distinctive to say with their improvising. Seek them out.

Stephen Graham

Pictured, above Breach