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RELEASES - QUOTES - REVIEWS
John L Walters
Wednesday September 6, 2006
The Guardian
Oriole Live @ The Vortex, London
Bands fronted by guitarists are frequently
seen as an excuse for wailing and thrashing. Oriole,
the sextet led by guitarist Jonny Phillips (part of the
dynamic F-IRE Collective), provides plenty of useful
evidence to the contrary. Sure, his parts are high in
the mix, but he plays an acoustic guitar, specialising
in intricate rhythm patterns and free-flowing, Spanish-tinged
solos.
The arrangements seem to spring from
Phillips'playing, sometimes feeling as if the band were
one big guitar, with chiming piano from Nick Ramm and
refreshingly understated drumming from Seb Rochford.
Oriole's
regular frontline is the highly effective pairing of
tenor sax and cello: superb saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock
and Basquiat Strings leader Ben Davis. However, tonight
Laubrock is unavailable and Acoustic Ladyland frontman
Pete Wareham is deputising.
Migration to the Orange Trees shows Oriole at their best.
The piece moves forward with assurance over an unshowy
drum groove. There's a good balance between writing and
improvisation: Phillips isn't afraid to include long
through-composed passages, with ace counterpoint, while
maintaining the impetus of a jazz performance.
Wareham's presence as substitute emphasises Phillips's
strengths as band-leader and writer, and adds another
slant to the sound. The grandiose Medem/ Temba displays
the saxophonist's muscular style, while the delicate
First Flight, with its lovely theme for cello and tenor
sax, shows how easily he inhabits the radiant Oriole
soundworld.
John L Walters
Friday May 26, 2006
The Guardian
There's no trace of "second-album syndrome" in
Oriole's follow up to Song for the Sleeping. Bandleader and
prolific guitarist-composer Jonny Phillips seems to have
tunes coming out of his ears, yet he has the discipline to
make them into satisfying pieces. He also has a fantastic
team to interpret his compositions, mostly drawn from the
F-ire Collective.
At the heart of the band is the subtle interplay between
Phillips's lightly phrased guitar, Ingrid Laubrock's tenor
saxophone, Ben Davis's cello and Adriano Adewale Itauna's
percussion. Backed up by sympatico bass and drums, the
Oriole sound is a kind of South American or Spanish-tinged
world-jazz that is easy on the ear but rarely bland (though
it would have benefited from a more robust production).
And just when you think you know what to expect, Phillips
adds another timbre, such as Julia Biel's voice, or the
reeds of Idris Rahman (from the Soothsayers) to keep things
interesting, or delivers a catchy crowd-pleaser such as
the double-sax-led Sunshine Continuous. Laubrock, who was
outstanding on the recent short tour with Guinga and Monica
Vasconcelos, just gets better and better.
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