Darren Johnston

Elastic Tribe
Elastic Flame
LFDS Records LFDS 012

Even though Darren Johnston’s quintet and the Elastic Tribe are located on different continents, the approach is somewhat similar: assemble experienced players in the classic Hard Bop configurations of sax, trumpet, piano, bass, drums to play originals which tweak classic conventions enough to amplify the performances with a touch of dissonance. But always maintain a rhythmic groove.

Canadian in Manhattan, trumpeter Johnston, who has recorded with the likes of Michael Formanek, chose his associates wisely. All are leaders on their own and have experience working with Julian Lage (saxophonist Dayna Stephens); Dan Weiss (pianist Jacob Sacks); Michaël Attias (bassist Sean Conly); and Tim Berne (drummer Ches Smith). That doesn’t means that the music sounds remotely like that produced by any of those others. As a matter of fact, the trumpet emphasizes his home country’s Social Democratic roots with a talk-singing vocal on “Joe Hill’s Last and Final Will”, a celebration of the unfairly executed early 20th Century American Wobbly agitator’s belief in hope and revolution.

The other six tunes are more musically sophisticated, helped in the main by Stephens’ ability to project a unique personality on each of his horns. On soprano, as on “Trash-basket Flowers” his sweetened tone makes a perfect foil for the trumpet’s grainy open horn accents as the two masticate the theme in unison backed by reggae-style drumming and the pianist’s Bop-like glissandi. On “The Anchorite’s Travel Guide” Stephens’ baritone sax honks and growls propel a spirited march-like tempo that intersects with Sacks’ montuno-like rhythm and Johnston’s plunger brass so that two musical motifs are emphasized at the same time in a rondo fashion. As for Stephens’ tenor playing, he emphasizes a cornucopia of irregular vibrations, simple puffs, broken octave slurs and turns to balladic intonation when appropriate. His expressiveness reach its zenith on the concluding “ John’s Song” where Johnston’s bent note exposition is met with appropriate FreeBop scoops from the saxophonist plus the pianist’s gentling comping, while double bass shakes provide overlapping textures. Throughout, Conly’s sold pulse shadows and enlivens motifs with washboard-like pops when needed; Smith’s cymbal shimmers or full-kit breaks aren’t over emphasized; and Sacks’ sly note-patterning and pedal-point pumps focus the tempos whether straight-ahead or stop-time.

The story is somewhat similar with France’s Elastic Tribe, except Elastic Fire consists of 11 tracks, mostly composed by trumpeter Jérôme Fouquet, part of many ensembles, including those with Yoram Rosilio. Interpretations come from tenor/soprano saxophonist Boris Blanchet, who has worked with Rasul Siddik and is also a member of Benjamin Sanz’s band with pianist Matthieu Jérôme, who plays here. Bassist François Fuchs has worked with Edward Perraud and drummer Julien Augier with Pascal Niggenkemper. Skillful in Jazz genres from Fusion to Free, the five lead off with the title track that is as heavy as it is harmonized. Accented piano clips and backbeat drumming help move the piece horizontally with brass flutters and sax smears stretching with bent notes and broken octave impetus. Proceeding through sequences that slip and slide from exploding multiphonics to concentrated linear progress, band members use all manner of conventional and extended techniques to personify the tunes. Blanchet, whose intense flattement, quivering variations and tightened slap attacks put him firmly in the Ecstatic Jazz legacy of Pharoach Sanders, tempers scream and split tones with scoops and soars that are ubiquitously tonal when needed. Mating his output with Fouquet’s, Hard Bop-Jazz Messengers-like harmonies arrive as frequently as the French go on strike, but the trumpeter also varies his high-note triplets, bugling leads and plunger snarls with relaxed melodic inserts. Jérôme maintains a swing pulse, but is equally capable of varying his comping with woody clinks as on “Lilly Butterfly”, where his subsequent multi-fingered glissandi emphasizes the bouncy theme. despite tightened nasal reed nasality and abruptly cut off brass shakes, Mostly in the background except for his unaccompanied moderated solo on “Lilly Butterfly intro”, the bassist’s focused syncopation establishes horizontal motion no matter how many horn vamps or keyboard smashes threaten to derail it.

These sonic strategies are expressed at length on “Kuma’s Ballad”, also the most adventurous performance. Melding snake-charmer-like soprano saxophone slurs, stretched trumpet triplets and dramatic piano note cascades, the nearly 14-minute track slithers into a straight-ahead exposition at the half-way mark. Subsequently, ruffs and paradiddles from Augier and portamento story telling from the trumpeter lead to a climax that emphasizes Jérôme’s ability to preserve the narrative while expressing wide two-handed piano variants.

Neither of these sessions is revolutionary music. But each demonstrates how the adaptation of contemporary concepts to an expected formation creates rewarding sounds.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: Wild: 1. The Anchorite’s Travel Guide 2. Joe Hill’s Last and Final Will* 3. War poets 4. Wild Awake 5. Mood Board 6. Trash-basket Flowers 7. John’s Song

Personnel: Wild: Darren Johnston (trumpet and vocals*); Dayna Stephens (tenor, soprano and baritone saxophones); Jacob Sacks (piano); Sean Conly (bass) and Ches Smith (drums)

Track Listing: Elastic: 1. Elastic Flame 2. The Flying Knight 3. Wayne’s Mystery 4. Wayne’s Smile 5. Wayne’s Ahead 6. Errance 7. Kuma’s Ballad 8. State of Emergency 9. Neko’s Dance 10. Lilly Butterfly intro11. Lilly Butterfly

Personnel: Elastic: Jérôme Fouquet (trumpet); Boris Blanchet (tenor and soprano saxophones); Matthieu Jérôme (piano); François Fuchs (bass) and Julien Augier (drums)