Paul Dunmall & Kevin Figes

Paul Dunmall
Red Hot Ice
DISCUS 186 CD

After recording for more than 40 years on at least twice the number of sessions as his age, UK tenor/saxophone saxophonist Paul Dunmall, 71, still has unlimited energy to explore music in all kinds of settings. These discs express two specimens of this: Dunmall-micro with only fellow reed player Kevin Figes on Duos; and Dunmall-macro, fronting a band of 11 other players on Red Hot Ice. Both are  equally estimable.

Bristol-based Figes, whose experience includes working with Dunmall’s old Mujician partner, Keith Tippett, is also involved in other sounds ranging from funk to jazz rock. On Duos he plays alto, soprano and baritone saxophones, flute and alto flute, while Dunmall plays tenor and soprano saxophones, clarinet, flute and alto flute. More complex, Red Hot Ice is a five-part suite, composed by the saxophonist, featuring a group of mostly Birmingham-based players creating a contemporary big band variant with tracks that balance hearty, Rock-like rhythms, supple polyphonic arrangements and free-form soloing.

All the Duos tracks are improvisations based around the tonal intersection of various horns. There’s no faulting the content, but when both play the same instrument singular identification is impossible. Contrast is more noteworthy than conformity however, so peak interpretations occur on tracks that match disparate instruments.  The #1, #2 and #3 variants on “Baritone and Soprano Saxophone” for instance use the raucous snorts and stutters of Figes’ larger horn, and the jerky, irregular screeches and altissimo vibrations from Dunmall’s soprano to smear out a broken octave exposition until the two combine for straight-ahead reed flutters. The third variation adds squealing soprano doits and pressurized baritone pushes to attain a pseudo swing groove from the lower-pitched horn that studded with whistled and squeaked interjections from the higher-pitched one.

Coming from the other direction, “Clarinet And Alto Flute #1”, with Dunmall on the woodwind and Figes playing the transverse instrument buoys between mellow linearity and timbral extensions as the flute tones gradually darker to become an ostinato, as reed glissandi fragment into bites and on “Clarinet And Alto Flute #2”  introduce pseudo-Dixieland colors.

Expressing themselves on dual saxophones of many sizes, the duo melds profundity and poise. Frequently intertwined and cross pulsed, the Dunmall and Figes focus as often on mulching mainstream patterns as expressing irregular vibrations with high and low reed whorls and whizzes. Even on those sequences when they go separate ways with peeps, buzzes and split tones they usually end with a sort of pseudo-melodic unison.

Just as the better-known Dunmall treats Figes as a full partner, the veteran saxophonist’s role on Red Hot Ice is that as a contributing ensemble member, not a featured soloist with a back-up band. Throughout this sophistically arranged program highlights superior contributions from individual players. Ascending to peaks of inspiration, the fluid arrangements are frequently propelled and modified through contrapuntal patterns set up by heraldic brass shakes and vibrations, saxophone slurs and split tones, piano patterning and organ-like slides from Glen Leach  or Andrew Woodhead, with polyphonic shards concentrated into episodes of modern swaying swing.

Tracks can be introduced by James Owston’s supple and sprightly double bass thumps or martial thumps by drummer Jim Bashford and then pushed ahead by electronic progressions via Woodhead’s synthesizers or Corey Mwamba’s electronics. James Birkett’s guitar riffs which pay homage to hard rock wah-wahs as well as heightened improv stabs, ruffle the narratives throughout. Meanwhile when not contributing to processional horn section movement, trumpeter Percy Pursglove’s flutter tonguing, moderated scoops or brassy grace notes make an impression on “Say Hi To Your Evil/Get Comfortable”.

Bending notes with clarion expressions often seconded by tremolo organ jabs, Dunmall enters the narratives either to shore up the fragmenting exposition or using split tones, snorts and broken notes to enliven too stolid sections. On “Say Hi To Your Evil/Get Comfortable” for example, in tandem with trumpet triplets he interrupt the orchestral groove with reed bites that break apart the theme into shards and precede a mini concerto from the pianist. This is followed by a turn to ascending and descending reed vibrations that touch on swing, stop-time R&B or Bluesy riffs in turn as the guitarist twangs and Leach reveals honky-tonk story-telling backed by organ accents,

After an explosion of oscillated whizzes, rumbles, clips and vocalized buzzes on the extended title track, the composition segues into reed-brass affiliation which matches Dunmall’s low-pitched reed snarls and trombonist Richard Foote’s rippling slurs to high-pitched sax trills and trumpet stutters. Over a carpet of guitar flanges and electric piano clicks, the piece climaxes with horn section overlaps on top of a stop-time riff that could have wandered in from a Deep Purple session, and a final altissimo cry from Dunmall.

Confirming his humility to share the spotlight with another in a mano-o-mano improv meeting and his worldliness of expression in the orchestral project, Dunmall demonstrates how his musical career has last and intensified over the decades.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: Duos: 1. The Chat 2. Tenor and Alto Saxophone #1 3. Clarinet and Alto Flute #1 4. Two Flutes #1 5. Two Soprano Saxophones 6. Two Alto Flutes 7. Baritone and Soprano Saxophone #1 8. Clarinet And Alto Flute #2 9. Tenor and Alto Saxophone #2 10.Two Flutes #2 11. Baritone and Soprano Saxophone #2

Personnel: Duos: Paul Dunmall (tenor and soprano saxophones, clarinet, flute and alto flute) and Kevin Figes (alto, soprano and baritone saxophones, flute and alto flute)

Track Listing: Red: 1 .Prepare For Peace 2. Say Hi To Your Evil/Get Comfortable 3.The Past 4. Red Hot Ice 5. Dearly Departed

Personnel: Red: Percy Pursglove (trumpet); Richard Foote (trombone); Paul Dunmall (tenor and C soprano saxophones); Alicia Gardener-Trejo (baritone saxophone); Martin Archer (ensemble saxophones, electronics, handclaps); Glen Leach (piano, organ, voice); Andrew Woodhead (synthesizers, organ, electric piano); James Birkett (guitar); James Owston