Steve Fishwick: Press

Rating: **** (four stars)

Proud to have US piano master Cedar Walton on board, yet no way overawed by his presence or by recording in Manhattan's hallowed Nola studio, London's Fishwick twins give good accounts of themselves here. Trumpeter Steve contributes a couple of originals and drummer Matt, who spent five productive years in New York, gels comfortably with Walton and US bassist Peter Washington. Osian Roberts, a Welsh tenorist remarkably close to Hank Mobley's unique sound, also performs well. The hard-bop school of Horace Silver, Art Blakey and Clifford Brown had a timeless quality and these Anglo-American experts are strong enough to keep it alive.

As with the group's previous efforts 'Too Much!' and 'On The Up And Up', the artwork of this latest offering from the Osian Roberts/Steve Fishwick Quintet is knowingly reminiscent of the 1950s Blue Note aesthetic. Acknowledging their stylistic persuasions and primary influences from the outset, Roberts and Fishwick here present a programme that showcases their first-rate ensemble playing and impressive assimilation of hard-bop vocabulary.

With pre-arranged horn lines and rhythm section hits abundant, the group's sound on this album is often evocative of such classic hard-bop outfits as the Clifford Brown-Max Roach Quintet and, indeed, Osian Robert's warm tenor sound and long, twisting lines are at times almost uncannily similar to those of the Sonny Rollins of the early 1950s. Meanwhile, Cedar Walton, former pianist Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and star guest on this session, contributes attractive solos to Quincy Jones' ballad, Quintessence, and his own Head And Shoulders, while comping tastefully throughout.

Fishwick himself is a technical master of the trumpet. After swaggering authoritatively through his own blues head, Uptown Shuffle, his muted sound on There Goes My Heart combines with his twin brother's lightly swinging brush work to suggest Miles Davis's first great quintet at its most relaxed. The rhythm section is completed by New York heavyweight Peter Washington, whose bass solos sparkle with technical agility and melodic assurance.

Music of this sort will sometimes prompt questions regarding the importance of originality and innovation in jazz: what role does improvisation really play in amongst all those licks and quotes? The answer, however, is less important than the fact that this is a hugely enjoyable and completely unashamed master-class in straightahead jazz, and a valuable chance to hear young British talent in the company of an old master.

Fresh off the press. Bam!!! Incredible. These artists are the preservers of the classic ‘Blue Note’ Hard Bop/Be Bop sound of the 1960’s. Every one of their albums are authentic representations of one of the greatest eras of Jazz from THE greatest Jazz label of all. As with their other CD’s, this may as well have been recorded by Rudy Van Gelder in 1964. Retro? Why not. Classic is really the term to use - there’s not been better Jazz made than that era. This CD captures the spirit perfectly with incredible playing from all involved. Most songs here are originals but may as well be classics. To take the CD to another height it features one of THE all-time legends of Jazz – pianist Cedar Walton (and playing better than ever!), so on all levels there are many reasons why you must not hesitate to buy this

This is a recording made in hard bop's New York heartland by the British sax/trumpet pairing of Osian Roberts and Steve Fishwick – joined by Americans Peter Washington (bass) and Cedar Walton (piano), with Fishwick's brother Matt on drums. Walton, a legendary Art Blakey Messengers pianist and musical director, is one of this idiom's great exponents. You get the drift from Walton's deliciously laidback opening to the first bop-blues opener (Uptown Shuffle), with its Horace Silver stop-time breaks and a great driving bass from Washington. Not far behind Walton, the star of the show is Roberts, whose booming, old-school tenor sound is magisterial and concise, particularly on his own dedication to the late Hank Mobley. Steve Fishwick sounds most comfortable at speed, but he rhapsodises elegantly over the sax countermelody to Quincy Jones's Quintessence, on which Walton also plays a masterly ballad solo of casually-dropped phrase-turns, gentle trills, and canny drifts around the beat. A lively and affectionate set.

Anglo-American collaborations used to be rare. These days they're almost routine, but it still took a coals-to-Newcastle trip to bring about '...With Cedar Walton!' (Hard Bop Records) by the Osian Roberts/Steve Fishwick Quintet. The co-leaders travelled to New York in January 2007 where Steve's twin, drummer Matt Fishwick, was then living, and then corralled the piano great and top bassist Peter Washington into the famed Nola Studios. Steve's notes say nothing about how they persuaded Walton to take a sideman role. No matter, for he plays with wonderful lucidity and riveting swing, the ensembles meshing like the messengers used to do. Fishwick's lines extend well and Roberts's mid period Rollins style tenor is a joy.

For a band obviously inspired by the Jazz Messengers' style of music, this session with former Messengers' pianist Cedar Walton must have seemed like a dream, especially as it was recorded in New York's famous Nola Penthouse Studio. Tenor player Osian, trumpeter Steve, brother Matt on drums and their illustrious guests perform a couple of standards, tunes by Cedar and Quincy Jones and some very convincing original pieces on a very entertaining programme. Smashing notes by Steve complete a thoroughly enjoyable CD.

With a label called 'Hard Bop Records', there's not much doubt about the style of music you're likely to hear, and this is indeed timeless stuff. But if they could be transported back to 1960s New York, this band would upset ideas about what it takes to be a born jazz musician. Roberts has a vigorous yet mellow tenor saxophone style, whilst Steve Fishwick's trumpet crackles with energy. Pianist Olivier Slama, drummer Matt Fishwick and Bassist Dave Chamberlain are equally impressive. There are other young bands playing in this genre but few with such panache.

The Fishwick twins initial impact on record was with Mike Carr's Blue Note Band's 'Stephenson's Rocket' (Birdland). Since then they've received international recognition, thanks in part to Anita O'Day who took them to the States. Steve's front line partner with Carr was Canadian tenorist Steve Kaldestad. here it's Welsh saxophonist Osian Roberts, who is probably better know in the Czech Republic than here in the UK. Their Quintet's conception is rooted in the (more Prestige than Blue Note) early Hard Bop days of the mid-50s. Roberts obviously idolises Rollins' output at that time and his solos here could easily cause a few red faces in a Blindfold Test! There's also, to these ears, an occasional influence of the underrated Lucky Thompson. But his sound is soulfully hard and his solos are full of emotion. Steve Fishwick is probably the more contemporary stylist of the two, but here his role is very much in the vein of the Donald Byrd of the 1950s. He's unquestionably one of the finest trumpeters we've ever had in this country. The originals could easily have been by Rollins, Silver or Timmons, with Roberts' title tune, 'Three Little Words', 'Waltz For Edith' and Steve's 'Roachville' among the most effective. Slama's piano owes much to Garland or Timmons and there's not (for a change) a trace of Tyner, Hancock or Jarrett. The closing slow extended themeless twelve bar, complete with opening Doug Watkins-style walking bass, could have come from any of Bob Weinstock's Friday afternoon sessions at Van Gelder's. This CD is a sincere labour of love with fine musicians paying tribute to the musicians that originally inspired them to get into jazz. Bet a live club date would be really exciting!

Trumpeter Fishwick attracts plaudits from many quarters. Listeners and musicians alike appreciate his poised linear improvisations, following the example of Hard Bop specialists like Bill Hardman or Lee Morgan. Now he's combined with Roberts, a no-nonsense tenor player of the Blue Note school, the labels name a tribute to their prefered jazz genre. Roberts and Fishwick both contribute originals, all stylistically appropriate, some Horace Silverish, including the title track and 'It's a Dunn Deal', named for recording engineer Richard Dunn. Bassist Dave Chamberlain, brother Matt Fishwick's neat percussion and Olivier Slama's Red Garland chording all contribute to the authentic feel. The leader's trumpet line dips and rises before Roberts' warm-toned but asservive solo on 'Blackout', the horns finally exchanging fours with the drums. Rhythmically assured, confidentley played and hugely pleasing, this is old music re-made by young men. And what's wrong with that?

This is a debut recording for the band and for Hard Bop Records, so it's worth saying something about their ethos. Inspiration came from the independant record labels of the post war years. Roberts points out in his notes that many of these recorded bands as if at a gig, usually completing albums in one day without rehearsals. As indicated in my tribute to Jackie Mclean (JR76), some performers were unhappy with this method, but when it worked the results were fresh and immediate, and many listeners felt the sense of being there as it happened amply compensated for any rough edges. 'Too Much!' is a complete vindication of this approach.
These days sponteneity and honesty is left almost entirely to small companies. As Roberts says, over production, heavy editing and the use of booths to reduce sound leakage, change the way a group interacts because musicians are denied eye contact and only hear colleagues through headphones. HBR set out to avoid these hindrances, and Roberts credits engineer Richard Dunn (dedicatee of 'It's a Dunn Deal') with re-capturing the virtues of the Van Gelder sound. If all this suggests the musicians are mere archaeologists, the bright, imaginitive playing on this album should quickly disabuse you of this idea.
The Quintet originated in London in 1994 when Roberts and the Fishwick twins started a rehearsal band with some ex pat French musicians, including Slama, and steadily built an enviable reputation. The present members hane extensive, impressive CVs (The Fishwicks have been in Anita O'Day's regular group) and whilst its easy enough to spot influences, each of them has enough individuality to demonstrate that bop (after a precarious few years) is a living tradition. Fishwick S and Roberts blend nicely in the ensembles and both are agile, inventive soloists as well as fine composers and arrangers, responsible for all the numbers except, of course, the Gershwins' 'Someone To Watch Over Me'. Chamberlain is a well rounded, articulate soloist and accompianist. Slama works well with him, providing rich, supportive harmony, and contributes some juicy solos too. Fishwick M provides strong flexible underpinning. Salt of the jazz earth and highly enjoyable.

This record label (Hard Bop Records) has a brilliant concept. They like to record their musicians in an open environment, jusy like Rudy Van Gelder did back when Prestige and Blue Note were formidable purveyors of quality jazz. So you have the studio set up and engineers in place. Now all you need is a good band. Roberts and Fishwick's quintet fit the bill. They play hard bop in the same exciting manner that got us oldies parting with our money for those expensive US imports back when we were hip, or thought we were. The sound of the band is caught with startling clarity and the music just hammers home that dynamic Blue Note style. Crisp solos and vibrant rhythm. The tunes are all original except for Gershwin's 'Somebody To Watch Over Me' and they all have melodic themes and substance. Five hard bop masters that are a credit to jazz in the UK proving we are leading the world when it comes to the real thing.

Trumpeter Fishwick takes the lead here on his first-ever quartet album. Piano is omitted in favour of Colin Oxley's guitar, much like the Art Farmer-Jim Hall collaborations, with bassist Dave Chamberlain and drummer Steve Brown rounding out the group. Fishwick is enamoured of the hard bop style of Lee Morgan and Kenny Dorham, and his pristine sound and rapid-fire attack are right on the money - typified by a torrid run on 'Stablemates'. He also recalls Chet Baker's approach on 'That Old Feeling' following Chamberlain's opening theme statement.
This is resourceful music with a strong swing feel (bass, drums and Oxley's guitar are spot on), and, like all the best players, Fishwick seems to have time in hand. A terrific recording, and a classy milestone for Fishwick and company.

The Lower Ground Bar in West Hampstead sends you straight into a time-warp, for this is how jazz clubs used to be. There's a doorway with a poster inscribed 'Jazz Resurection', a flight or two of stairs, and a low ceilinged basement room painted a lurid red, the floors scrubbed and bare, a bar at the rear, with assorted musos hanging around. With its 50s-modernist atmosphere, the Lower Ground Bar was the perfect place to hear Steve Fishwick, a young man who attaches great importance to the tradition. Fishwick was launching his new quartet CD (reviewed in Jazz UK 72). The trumpeter's penchant for long lines, and his intense, stinging attack is ideally suited for boppish adventures. Guitarist Colin Oxley matched his every move on the driving original 'Humpin' and Bumpin', and bassist Dave Chamberlain and drummer Steve Brown rocked the joint, almost literally, all night. It was hard swinging music, brilliantly sustained and inventive, whether on ballads or uptempo tunes.

With a tight-knit guitar led trio and a robust style around the Dorham/Morgan mark, Fishwick has an attractively firm (rather than hard) bop sound. A self confessed anti-innovator, the trumpeter weaves through well trodden harmonic woods with winning young fogey assurance and makes an enjoyable case for keeping things as they were in 1956.

The UK sax/trumpet partnership of Roberts and Fishwick keep the flame burning for classic bebop and inevitably their devotion to the runes of the idiom raises the question of why one wouldn't just go straight back to the landmark recordings? The answer is that Roberts and Fishwick have develepoed a loyal following in the UK that will surely want this coolly polished example of their skills. Perhaps more importantly, their work increasingly displays a special signiture, to which a raft of good originals here attests.
Fishwick's composition 'The Hit' is a deliciously lissome, long lined mid tempo bop melody, elegantly expanded by his bright-toned trumpet solo and Roberts' drily Hank Mobley-like tenor break. Roberts also brings a reflectiveness and weight to his variations on 'I Loves You Porgy'. Fishwick's 'A Pocketful Of Grease', with its blues shape and funky piano vamp, could have come straght off a 1960s Lee Morgan Blue Note album, but the musicians develop it with canny deliberation - but oddly its the artless lyrical simplicity of 'Swanee River' that's one of the most affecting episodes on the set. This is music at the high end of a jazz persuasion that, although unfashionable, helps keep the scene nourished.

Fishwick and Roberts fell for the Blue Note hard bop style early on, and have never wavered. This is the music they want to play and their modest discography (this is their second CD) testifies to the increasing validity of this now antique genre.
Fishwick's 'The Hit' sets the scene with its neat harmonised theme, promting its composer to set up an ambitious, free skating solo. Fishwick likes the long-lined style of Kenny Dorham or Lee Morgan, while tenor player Osian Roberts prefers early Sonny Rollins. French pianist Olivier Slama is a live wire too. Roberts' 'The Road To Philly' sums up their raison d'etre pretty well - this music is delivered with care and genuine passion.

There is something a little discomforting about this record. Recorded in Pontypridd in 2006, it sounds for all the world like the first edition of the Jazz Messengers at the time of their now legendary 1955 engagement at the Cafe Bohemia. Hearing relatively young men tackling pre-modal fare is a little unusual today, but the degree of replication here is quite phenominal.
Opening the disc we have 'The Hit', and with very few leaps of the imagination we could be listening to the soundtrack to an action sequence in a mid-50s film noir. I'm always partial to a bit of that, and as an opening statement, it leaves no doubt that Fishwick and Roberts have this era nailed. 'A Pocketful of Grease' is a tight funky 3/4 blues, Fishwick giving a sizable nod in his solo to Donald Byrd. His Flugelhorn feature on 'I Loves You Porgy' shows great maturity and poise, whilst Roberts' 'The Road To Philly' makes a sturdy vehicle for some elegant Mobley-esque tenor. Pianist Slama shows his appreciation of period chord voicings on a trio take of Harold Ousley's rarely played 'Now That I Am So In Love', whilst 'The Knife' is a dedication to Pepper Adams, another genre based original which openly references its source. I'm not sure how many would guess the year this disc was recorded in a blindfold test, so fastidious is the groups approach. Sound engineer Daniel Edwards can take lots of credit for his authentic recording techniques. Avoiding the dramatic studio seperation of instruments, a vintage character is particularly noticable in the ensemble passages. The Valleys are alive - with the sound of bebop anthems!