NO LOCAL STOPS

Jazz Journal, Sept 2020

by Hugh Rainey

American pianist Andrew Oliver has lived in London since 2013, sharing with clarinettist David Horniblow a dedication to authentic-styled recreations of classic vintage jazz. His new solo album features spirited, colourful and thoughtfully planned performances which show confident technical command and grasp of the idiom.

He ranges across the piano styles of classic ragtime, early jazz and blues and 30s stride, with a particular personal interest in Jelly Roll Morton, and the tango rhythms of his “Spanish tinge” concept. Following on from his recent and acclaimed Morton Project album with Horniblow, he includes six of Jelly Roll’s compositions here.

Whilst keeping close to the style and essential feel of Morton’s playing, Oliver sensibly sidesteps pointless close reproduction, and offers some compatible elements of creative re-interpretation.Thus, The Pearls is based on Morton’s later, slower 1938 version for Alan Lomax, the lively Perfect Rag (later retitled Sporting House Rag) draws on both the 1923 and 1938 versions, and the very fine  and longer interpretation here of Creepy Feeling was also inspired by the 1938 Library Of Congress recordings. For added interest, the final track was recorded by Oliver acoustically through a large recording horn directly on to a 78 rpm disc, to give an idea how Morton might have sounded if he’d recorded this tune at Gennett in 1923.

Oliver understandably enthuses about the vintage Edwardian era Hamburg Steinway “A” piano used on the album. The low register response is unusually full, dark-toned and sonorous, effectively boosting for example the “tuba” line in The Pearls and adding density to harmonic structures. In effective contrast, the brightly ringing percussive quality in higher register adds clarity and definition to melody statement.

Oliver’s informative track-by-track notes shed helpful and interesting light on the several off-the-beaten track tunes and artists represented on the album. No Local Stops, seldom played, was written by New York stride maestro Willie “The Lion” Smith, Joseph Lamb’s elegant Ethiopia Rag (1909) and Cottontail Rag (1959, surprisingly late), Arthur Schutt’s tricky and attractive Piano Puzzle, Sphinx (based on the 1919 ODJB recording) and Oliver’s own Spanish tinge offering, The Aether, are all particularly interesting. Fellow vintage-style specialist Nicholas Ball adds effective percussive assistance on three tracks.

Thoughtfully planned and very well performed, this welcome tribute to the formative years of jazz piano is highly recommended.

THE COMPLETE MORTON PROJECT

THE SUNDAY TIMES 28.07.2019
The Complete Morton Project
Jelly Roll Morton was never shy about singing his own praises, but today he often doesn’t get the credit he’s due as a jazz composer. Kudos to this British-based piano and clarinet duo — more often seen as part of that elegant outfit the Dime Notes — for plunging into the repertoire. Starting out with the goal of recording all Morton’s tunes on YouTube (a fascinating watch, by the way), they’ve now boiled down the selection to a mix of standards and less familiar pieces. Compelling, soulful and huge fun.
CLIVE DAVIS

Vintage Jazz Mart – Autumn 2019

CD: THE COMPLETE MORTON PROJECT – Andrew Oliver & David Horniblow. 15 tracks Lejazzetal LJCD21 http://www.lejazzetal.com https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4NF-ejjiY434jiGQ5q5z8A

Andrew Oliver comes from Portland, Oregon and David Horniblow from Reading in Berkshire; both studied and initially played classical piano and clarinet. Having turned to jazz, they worked their way through swing and more modern styles in their respective countries, but eventually returned to the jazz of the 20s, both determined to play it in the most authentic way possible. Oliver emigrated to the UK 6 years ago and they met by chance in London, where they formed the Dime Notes, a band that plays new interpretations of ‘20s and ‘30s jazz; and the Vitality Five, described in the liner notes as “a raucous group playing ‘20s small group stomps and jazz.” A couple of years ago, having featured a number of Morton’s best-known numbers, they decided to learn, play and record them all. You can hear the complete ‘book’ at the YouTube address at the head of this review. This CD offers a selection from the well-known to the utterly obscure recesses of Morton’s compositions, but in much better technical quality than is possible on the Net. Its stated aim is to show how, as the first true jazz composer, he fitted into the shift from early head-arranged jazz to the highly complex written arrangements of the later big bands. It’s worth remembering that Morton copyrighted Original Jelly-Roll Blues in 1905 – and that would have required a written version to be submitted. As the liner notes point out, many of his compositions were quite revolutionary for their time, and though he spent most of the 30s in near total obscurity, his final sets of recordings feature some fine 30s-style pop tunes; and a set of “fascinating big band manuscripts came to light in the 1990s”, which showed that he was not as set in his musical ways as many critics have suggested. One of these arrangements is featured on this CD

Now, there is no jazz figure dearer to my heart than Jelly-Roll Morton: I can have been little more than 3 years old when I first put Georgia Swing on the turntable of my uncle’s home-made electric gramophone, which I later inherited when he produced something more sophisticated to deal with vinyl. I somehow managed to play my way through his entire Morton HMV Memorial Album, without breaking a single one, which I also, in due course, inherited from him: remarkable, really, considering the several other priceless items that ended up in the waste bin! So this CD would, I hoped, be a real treat. And it is…

It kicks off with a spirited rendition of Shreveport Stomp, taken at a very fast tempo indeed, much faster than the original, and one which shows off Horniblow’s remarkable dexterity on the clarinet: he spills out an extraordinary array of arpeggios across one chorus in particular. Oliver’s piano provides not only a rocking accompaniment, but also re-creates very well Morton’s ability to shift the rhythm back and forth behind the soloist, creating a fine tension between the two players.

Croc-o-Dile Cradle is a piece I’ve never heard before. The sheet music was discovered by Vince Giordano, and it has been recorded by a couple of other bands. It’s a fine and quite intricate number, typically Mortonesque in its structure, and beautifully played here: the piano is especially good in its suggestion of how the composer would have rendered it. Oliver’s left-hand work is extraordinarily faithful to Morton’s style. Gan Jam is another obscure number, written as a big band score by Morton shortly before his death and is something of an experimental departure from his usual output. Horniblow adds bass clarinet on this track, which is an interesting mix of ‘jungle’ harmonies and much more modern semi-classical strains; it’s one of the least obvious Morton items, being much more modernistic in its structure and style – but also one of the most interesting and compelling on this CD.

Morton recorded State and Madison as part of his Library of Congress set; it’s a stately piece with, as the notes point out, “some unusual twists and turns.” Finger Buster, on the other hand, was one of the piano solos he recorded in 1938 in Washington, just before his first come-back session for Victor. It was one of several that were apparently made privately; Morton claimed Finger Buster was the most difficult jazz piano piece ever written; it certainly requires a lot of manual dexterity! What’s interesting, though, is that it works very well here, with Horniblow on the bass-sax, providing a Rollini-like rhythm line! Oliver turns in a tour de force but the sax is rather under-recorded. Courthouse Bump is one of the rarer Morton orchestral records: it perfectly suits the duet format and Horniblow’s bass clarinet line is beautiful.

Morton never recorded an instrumental version of Stratford Hunch: Louis Armstrong did, as Chicago Breakdown, though it was not issued until the late 30s. The version here remains more faithful to Morton’s solo conception, but includes part of Louis’ trumpet solo as a tribute. Mama Nita was likewise a piano solo, for Gennett in 1924, the same session that produced his solo version of the previous track. This one is notable for the dexterous interplay between the piano and clarinet across the habañera rhythm, the ‘Spanish tinge’ that Morton so often stressed was integral to good jazz.

With Good Old New York, we come to an example of the late Morton orchestral numbers he recorded for General Tavern Tunes in 1940, as he tried to compete in the ‘pop’ market of the time. It’s hardly one of his best efforts, though his own version is noteworthy for Albert Nicholas’ fine clarinet playing. Horniblow and Oliver make the best of this in a high-speed romp. By contrast, Freakish, one of Morton’s most distinctive and modernistic piano solos from the 20s, is a good vehicle for both talents: they once again delight in the cross-rhythms of the habañera. I Hate A Man Like You was written for Lizzie Miles, whom Morton accompanied on one of his rare side-man sessions, in 1929. As the liner notes remark, this is a dark, minor-key number, and it’s ideally suited to a small group format, where the brooding melody line is clear and incisive. The clarinet playing here has a strong emotional impact.

Another of Morton’s ‘darker’ orchestral recordings is Jungle Blues – written on a single chord, which ought to have made it much more popular with revivalists than it was! Here it’s a piano solo with, once again, a walking bass-sax rhythm line. Oliver gives a fine account of this under-performed number. With Black Bottom Stomp, we return to one of Morton’s big hits, played with great fire, but at such a breathless pace that the replication of the solos from the original is partly lost in the headlong rush to the final chord. There is, I think, a tendency to overestimate the tempo of Morton’s fast numbers (and probably those of other bands as well!): they’re almost always played slower than one remembers, and Black Bottom Stomp is no exception. Mr Jelly Lord is thankfully taken at a most stately pace: the bass-sax is much more audible here than elsewhere, backing some very fine improvisations on the piano and taking several good breaks. The CD closes with Morton’s last commercial recording My Home Is In A Southern Town. The piano line verges on an eight-to-the-bar rhythm and the clarinet contributes some excellent middle-register work on yet another little-known number. The Morton Sevens and Sextets are unjustly shunned by many collectors: I’ve heard them described as “just not Morton” – which is far from the truth. The fact is that Morton’s composing style and genius shines through on all these tracks; he wasn’t infallible, and some numbers are less successful than others, but David Horniblow and Andrew Oliver have rendered a great service to us all by rescuing so many compositions from obscurity and providing us with this selection from the complete canon, occasional Mortonian warts and all!

Max Easterman

THE SYNCOPATED TIMES 21.07.2019
The Complete Morton Project
The Complete Morton Project refers not to the completeness of this particular album but to the lofty goal of its participants to learn and record as a duo all 93 of Jelly Roll Morton’s compositions, including his rarest.
In 2018, they began posting YouTube videos of their arrangements recorded in an apartment and the delicacy and buoyancy of their performances attracted jazz fans the world over. Both musicians on the screen were however already established and well known in the field. They’ve even played together in The Dime Notes, and more recently The Vitality Five, highly respected traditional jazz bands with slightly different focuses.
Andrew Oliver is a pianist from Portland Oregon who got his start in classical piano, fell in love with ragtime and early jazz, and studied music at Loyola in New Orleans just before Hurricane Katrina. In 2007 he toured Africa with Jazz at Lincoln Center. When he got home he founded the Portland Jazz Composers’ Ensemble and toured with groups playing both modern chamber jazz and traditional jazz before relocating to London in 2013 and concentrating his efforts solely on the early styles. He draws on the greats for inspiration which made this project a natural fit. In fact, the light bulb went off when he and Horniblow were rehearsing yet another Morton piece to add to the repertoire of their full band.
David Horniblow is from Reading in the UK and studied classical clarinet. He started his jazz career playing swing and modern styles, but his first fascination had been early Duke Ellington. He followed up an opportunity to play with Keith Nichol’s by joining the Chris Barber Band. He’s played with Acker Bilk, Kenny Ball, and all the legends of British Trad still active during his tenure.  In addition to his work with The Dime Notes and The Vitality Five, he leads Horniblow’s Hot Three and appears with a number of other traditional jazz acts active around London.
Though this project may have started on YouTube this album was recorded in a professional studio under the best circumstances. Oliver had use of a Steinway grand piano, Horniblow occasionally grabs the rarely heard bass sax. Having the Youtube versions available is no reason not to treat yourself to this disc. Comparing both gave me a fine appreciation of what a studio offers, even at the expense of that spontaneous bedroom feel. The pure musical beauty on display in the videos suffers not at all for the better acoustics.
Extensive liner notes written by Andrew Oliver accompany attractive packaging from the lejazzetal label. They explain that to explore the Morton compositions is to explore the very earliest stew of New Orleans jazz, including elements of blues, Spanish influences from the Caribbean, the inspirations of ragtime improvisers, and the musical understanding of classically trained Creoles like Morton himself. While Morton’s claim to have invented jazz is dubious he was the first of the great jazz composers, and because most even into the early 20s weren’t putting their jazz creations to paper his record is an important glimpse at the past and a continuing source of inspiration for those wishing to explore it.
Says Oliver:
“Morton’s early compositions… show an advanced compositional mind at work, creating unique and complex forms, sweeping melodies and potent counterpoint and, most importantly, allowing for improvisation and variation in a true jazz style, all before 1920!”
This 15 track release includes the most obscure Morton while also covering the full length of his career. “Good Old New York” has Morton sliding into the 30s tin pan alley pop market. To draw attention to the Spanish tinge they include “Mamanita”, dedicated to a lady Morton pursued at two different stages of his life. “Jungle Blues” is a one-chord tour de force that shows him decades ahead of his time. Oliver and Horniblow play it with the power of a full orchestra. In fact, they amaze with the depth, nuance, and rhythm they draw out of each of these titles.
Covering everything as a duo leads to some unusual situations. Late in his career, shortly before his death, Morton wrote some arrangements for big band that were only unearthed in the 90s. They have since been recorded at the proper scale but for this album, one of them, “Gan Jam”, had to be pared down to fit a piano duo. “Croc-O-Dile Cradle” was only recently discovered in Vince Giordano’s massive collection of arrangements.  The Fat Babies recorded it for their band but we hear it here in concentrated form.
Not everything on the disc is a rarity, they lead off with the familiar “Shreveport Stomp”. It’s a smart way to bring the audience on board. Late in the album, they also include “Black Bottom Stomp” and “Mr. Jelly Lord”, which captures Morton’s famous braggadocio.
This is an album of pure traditional jazz that is getting well deserved recognition far beyond our walled confines, and for good reason. Oliver and Horniblow play with a freshness and creativity within the style that is undeniable even to those who wouldn’t normally have ears to hear. What these two accomplish with these compositions is a testament to Morton’s greatness but also to their own unquestionable talent and to the power of jazz itself to be ever new, raw, and moving.
JOE BEBCO

JAZZ WAX 10.07.2019
The Complete Morton Project
New Orleans pianist Jelly Roll Morton is widely considered to be jazz’s first arranger. Though jazz was considered an improvised form early on, Morton proved that jazz could retain its joyous, freewheeling feel even when scored on music paper. He also was jazz’s first published composer. His Jelly Roll Blues was published in 1915. As a composer, Morton was a powerful force, writing the standards King Porter Stomp, Wolverine Blues and Black Bottom Stomp. He also was among the first jazz musicians to be ripped off in a sizable way.
Despite having written dozens of songs that had been recorded and performed with great success by other leading bands since the start of the swing era, Morton had consistently been denied membership in ASCAP. As a result, he didn’t receive a dime in royalties for the performances of his music in concerts, on jukeboxes and on the radio. In the 1930s, ASCAP was exclusively for Broadway’s white, legit songwriters whose songs generated sizable income in New York and Hollywood.
During this period, jazz was thought of as junk music by ASCAP, which considered the originality of jazz compositions suspect, since the blues was a public domain construct. It wasn’t until 1939, with the formation of BMI, that musicians who played jazz, R&B, country, blues and other popular folk styles found a performing rights organization that welcomed their membership and protection.
Getting back to Morton, who died in 1941, a sensational new album has been released by two extraordinary musicians—pianist Andrew Oliver and clarinetist/saxophonist David Horniblow. The album is The Complete Morton Project, featuring 15 songs by Morton. The tracks represents a fraction of what’s coming. Oliver and Horniblow have recorded all of Morton’s original songs, which number around 95. One suspects more will appear as funding becomes available. The songs on this first album are Shreveport Stomp, Croc-O-Dile Cradle, Gan Jam, State and Madison, Finger Buster, Courthouse Bump, Stratford Hunch, Mamanita, Good Old New York, Freakish, I Hate a Man Like You, Jungle Blues, Black Bottom Stomp, Mr. Jelly Lord and My Home Is in a Southern Town. To learn more about each individual song, visit Andrew Oliver’s site, where he has posted about them.
What you hear on this new album are two excellent musicians embracing the musical life of a jazz icon who was short-changed while he was alive. The Complete Morton Project not only lets us hear the breathtaking quality of Morton’s piano (thanks to the magnificence of Oliver) but it also serves up the piano with reeds (thanks to Horniblow) clear and vibrant, with all of the excitement intact. Most of Morton’s original recordings suffer from the limitations of technology in the 1920s and ’30s. Now, with this new album, we finally can hear Morton’s original work with the sonic grime wiped off. The result is spirited foot-tapping music that illustrates a turning point in the evolution of syncopation and the emergence of a piano sound that emulated the jazz orchestra.
MARC MYERS

JAZZ DA GAMA 02.07.2019
A soundtrack for what is almost a period narrative using the rarest of rare material
American pianist Andrew Oliver and British reeds and woodwinds player David Horniblow have been heard together recently as part of The Dime Notes, a group dedicated to playing in the tradition of Jazz; playing music that is specifically dedicated to preserving the New Orleans style. In fact Mr Oliver is a pianist almost completely immersed in the New Orleans style of playing, a relative rarity these days. For his part Mr Horniblow is no less immersed in that style of playing and indeed his playing often evokes the high and lonesome clarinet of George Lewis and Barney Bigard. So it seemed almost a foregone conclusion that the two musicians would get together to traverse that time when the style of playing was most prominent – at the turn of the 20th century, that is.
The welcome surprise is that the duo should make their journey one that uncovers hidden, rarely played and perhaps even lost compositions by the great Jelly Roll Morton. A “surprise” but also something that is crying out to be heard, not only because it would appear that there is a contemporary trend in music to play improvised music and pass it off as Jazz. Musicians are just as guilty of doing so as are music industry executives with precious little knowledge of the history of Jazz. The result is a burgeoning music industry that tries to pass itself off as something that it isn’t; in this case – “Jazz”. On the flip-side, when a recording as masterful as this one comes around, one should be at the ready to recognize its importance, its authenticity and its remarkable beauty.
Jelly Roll Morton was a seminal figure who ruled the roost, so to speak, when Jazz was young, even going so far as to claim that he invented the art of Jazz. Truth be told, he was responsible for a number of “firsts” including recognising the importance of “the music ensemble” and writing idiomatically for the several instruments that made up this (then) so-called Jass “ensemble”. He was also the first to make the connection between classical forms, the Blues, and was almost alone in bringing Spanish traditional forms from Afro-Caribbean music into Jazz – or what he now-famously called “the Spanish tinge”. Best of all, Mr Morton brought together Black American music – the Blues – together with European forms; perhaps even create the first Jazz composition.
Mr Oliver and Mr Horniblow have done remarkable work in transcribing some of Mr Morton’s all-but-forgotten; even so-called “lost” work in this breathtaking hour-long disc. But more than reminding us where the music of Jazz comes from, this disc creates the vivid soundtrack for what is almost a period narrative using the rarest of rare material. The duo operates as a partnership of equals and supplies the ear-worms throughout. Mr Morton’s compositions are, of course, the main attraction – dancing melodies, insistent rhythms and breathtaking harmonies with the added attraction of breathtaking harmonies tossed from pianist to reeds/woodwind player and back in a devilishly brilliant manner.
The music of Jelly Roll Morton is proudly flown as the flag of the seminal music of Jazz throughout. But even if the music is the main attraction one cannot help being struck by the invention of each of the musicians playing here; Mr Oliver, for his part maintains swagger and swing through each interpretation holding fort especially in the long inventions of “Jungle Blues”, for instance. Mr Horniblow, for his part, plays clarinet and bass clarinet – as well as the lugubrious bass saxophone played here with tremulous delicacy on “Mr Jelly Lord” – with lithe and elegant warmth and swing weaving the tantalizing symmetry of Mr Morton’s melodic lines masterfully into the grand scheme of the songs. Both performers negotiate Mr Morton’s diabolical music with expertise, eloquence and good taste that is both rare and welcome music today in this worthy tribute to one of the great pillars of Jazz – Jelly Roll Morton.
RAUL DA GAMA

THE OBSERVER 30.06.2019
the joy of Jelly Roll
Have you seen those two guys on YouTube? They’re fantastic!” The word got round last year about pianist Andrew Oliver and clarinettist David Horniblow, who had set themselves the apparently lunatic task of learning all the 94 compositions of Ferdinand “Jelly Roll” Morton and recording and posting videos of the whole lot by the end of 2018. Not only did they succeed, their playing was so dynamic and heartfelt that I really missed them when they’d finished.
I thought I knew Morton, the first jazz composer, pretty well, but some of what these two had played was quite new to me. More important, their approach, although perfectly authentic in style, had a freshness and immediacy that was all their own. These 15 numbers, rerecorded in a proper studio, with a concert piano, make an impressive selection from a fascinating life’s work.
Morton (1890-1941) started out playing ragtime in New Orleans brothels, becoming a popular bandleader and recording artist in the 1920s, only to fall out of fashion in later life. Nowadays he tends to get patronisingly labelled as “early jazz”. These spirited and accomplished performances bring his music vividly to life.
DAVE GELLY

THE DIME NOTES

BLUES IN BRITAIN – 01.10.2018
Under the CD in the jewel-case it states “early jazz, stomps and swing” and that does indeed sum up what’s on offer here.
This is most definitely not the frantic and noisy “Trad-jazz” that use to be found in many pubs across the land. London based group The Dime Notes seem to have gone right back to the source for its inspiration, and despite the members’ relative youth, this quartet has a mature and subtle approach that makes the CD a very listenable release for those with an interest in the early days of jazz or 1920s and 1930s New Orleans sounds.
Clarinet player David Horniblow, American pianist and leader Andrew Oliver, guitarist Dave Kelbie and bassist Tom Wheatley draw heavily on the music of Jelly Roll Morton, who himself drew heavily on the blues. There are four of his numbers here, alongside lesser-known material from the likes of Sidney Bechet, WC “Father Of The Blues” Handy and Fletcher Henderson. This may not be to everyone’s taste, but if you appreciate good vintage jazz do check it out – and if you get the chance, wrap your taste buds around their rather nice chocolate too (though you will have to catch them live for that)!
NORMAN DARWEN

YVES GUSTIN – 01.07.2018
14 titres de jazz et en plus une tres bonne tablette de chocolat tres Old!
Le CD comporte 14 titres de jazz et en plus une tres bonne tablette de chocolat tres Old! Les Dime Notes se sont donnes pour mission de reprendre le repertoire du debut du jazz. Ceci me rapelle les moments ou j’ecoutais dans me jeunesse Claude Luter (1923-2006) qui jouait dans ses debuts avec ses amis sous les arcades des Galeries Lafayettes a Paris. A l’epoque, on prenait son temps. Un peu de nostalgie ne fait pas de mal.
Quatre bons musicians : Andrew Oliver au piano, David Horniblow au clarinette, Dave Kelbie a la guitare et Tom Wheatley a la contrebasse.
YVES GUSTIN

JAZZ MAGAZINE – 01.05.2018
Un retour aux sources rafraîchissant
Nouveauté. Interprétés par un quartette anglais, les grands standards du jazz originel prennent ici les couleurs les plus pimpantes. Un retour aux sources rafraîchissant dans la mesure où souffle ici l’esprit des pionniers de la Nouvelle-Orléans, Jelly Roll Morton ou Sidney Bechet. Il imprègne ces versions qui ne tombent jamais dans les excès, copie servile ou actualisation intempestive, mais témoignent d’une fidélité aux figures tutélaires du premier jazz.
JACQUES ABOUCAYA

THE SUNDAY TIMES 19.03.2017
“The Dime Notes”
One thing we tend to forget, squabbling over discographies, is how sexy this brand of early jazz can be. It’s easy to assume that Jelly Roll Morton, Sidney Bechet et al can’t speak to a younger generation, but the pianist Andrew Oliver’s quartet lays that notion to rest.  David Horniblow’s clarinet and Tom Wheatley’s double bass dig in deep on numbers imbued with the habanera – or what Morton called “the Spanish tinge”. The guitarist Dave Kelbie won many admirers with his poised chamber group Django à la Créole: this line-up is every bit as inspired.
CLIVE DAVIS

JAZZ LIVES 30.8.2017
“THE DIME NOTES” ADD UP TO HOT JAZZ PLEASURE
Before you ask the pressing question, please look under D: Cab Calloway’s Hepster’s Dictionary defines “dime note” as a ten-dollar bill.
It’s also the name of a rocking, utterly satisfying new band.  Cab would approve.
THE DIME NOTES are Andrew Oliver, piano; David Horniblow, clarinet; Dave Kelbie, guitar; Tom Wheatley, string bass.  And you can get a good idea of where their hearts lie by their chosen repertoire; ORIGINAL JELLY ROLL BLUES, ALABAMY BOUND, AUNT HAGAR’S CHILDREN’S BLUES, BLACK STICK BLUES, THE PEARLS, T’AIN’T CLEAN, SI TU VOIS MA MERE, THE CAMEL WALK, THE CRAVE, I BELIEVE IN MIRACLES, OLE MISS, TURTLE TWIST, WHAT A DREAM.  The first thing one notices is the presence of Morton, then Bechet, a few “jazz classics” with associations to Fats, W. C. Handy, and then compositions nobody plays: what band is delving into the Boyd Senter repertoire these days?  There’s also an original composition by Andrew, OTIS STOMP, “inspired by a small Oregon town called Otis Junction,” as Evan Christopher’s lavish liner notes tell us.
But a tune list is just that: some lesser bands would take this one and create something admiring yet completely dessicated.  Heroic, admiring copies of venerable 78s in twenty-first century sound.  That line of work can be a great pleasure, in person and on record, but THE DIME NOTES have come to play, which they do splendidly, with heartfelt understanding of all the music that has come before them and what its open possibilities are right now.
And here’s the secret of this engaging little group (a quartet that will not make you lonesome for a cornet, trombone, or drums): THEY SWING.  Let that sink in. Some groups that have given their study and energy to the music of the Twenties and early Thirties seem to have made it a point of honor to keep the rhythmic styles of the great innovators as they were, as if the way the music propelled itself in 1937 would be an insult to a composition first performed fifteen years earlier.  I don’t mean that this band plays hot jazz with a side dish of Dizzy, Bird, and Al Haig — but they do know that Count Basie walked the earth and improved it seriously.  So THE DIME NOTES benefit not only from the magnificent playing of each of the four instrumentalists, but they understand how to work together as a supple, rocking small ensemble.  To me, they are the Guarnieri Quartet of Hot.
They can swagger and soar and make it seem as if the disc in the player — the player itself — is about to take off and rocket around the room.  But they can also be tender and quiet, deeply lyrical, sorrowing, when the song calls for it.  And the disc is certified gimmick-free: no jokes, no tricks played on the listener.
This band is frankly irresistible.
And I’ve read somewhere that The Dime Notes are the only band I know to have its (their?) own chocolate bar, on sale in Whole Foods in the UK.  Until that commodity crosses my path, my hand, or my lips, I will content myself with their sounds.  Here you can buy their CD, or their “vinyl,” and see a video of them in performance.  Better than chocolate.  Longer-lasting.
MICHAEL STEINEMANN

MUMBLE MUSIC 02.06.2017
The Dime Notes at the Brunton Theatre, Musselburgh 01.06.2017 by Sophie Younger
This lively ensemble bring to life the early years of the New Orleans jazz scene. This jumpin band is led by Portland born Andrew Oliver on piano, with an impressive background in jazz and composition, he studied jazz in New Orleans and has played in a number of bands including Tunnel Six. David Horniblow from the UK on the clarinet, who has played with the three B’s of British jazz Barber, Ball and Bilk, and has also recorded with Jools Holland. Dave Kelbie on rhythm guitar, a notable jazz and gypsy music accompanist and Tom Wheatley, a native Londoner on acoustic bass, prominent in jazz circles and known for reviving the ‘slap’.
Jazz was originally referred to as jazm meaning “pep or energy”. This lively, energetic and fast paced set certainly keeps to the original definition with the audience tapping their feet and hands to the laid back tunes of Jelly Roll Morton, Duke Ellington, Sidney Bechet and others as well as Andrew’s own compositions. The ‘jelly roll blues’ published in 1915, an early jazz foxtrot composed by Morton, a pivotal figure in early jazz, was the first to notate and arrange jazz which had previously been improvised. Andrew Oliver being a fan since his teens the set featured a number of songs by Jelly Roll Morton. Morton started to play the piano at the age of 14 in a brothel, however when his grandmother found out she kicked him out of her house, as jazz at that time was getting a bad press and was associated with brothels and alcohol which was prohibited from 1920 to 1933. Illicit ‘speakeasys’ became smokin venues of the jazz age!
If you are a fan of jazz this is a great band to follow, their love and knowledge of jazz is clearly apparent, and the music is high quality, authentic and evocative of days gone past.. They have a good musical rapport and I look forward to hearing more from the Dime Notes!
SOPHIE YOUNGER

EDINBURGH SOUTHSIDE ADVERTISER 02.06.2017
The Dime Notes at the Brunton Theatre, Musselburgh 01.06.2017 by Tom King
The Dime Notes started their UK tour at The Brunton in Musselburgh tonight to a well attended and appreciative audience.  Who and what though are “The Dime Notes”…well the answer to the first question is David Horniblow (clarinet), Andrew Oliver (piano), Dave Kelbie (rhythm guitar) and Tom Wheatley (acoustic bass). The answer to the second question is a jazz band that takes us back to the early formative years of 20th century American Jazz…back to musicians like Jelly Roll Morton and Bix Beiderbecke.  With The Dime Notes we go right back to those first early recordings of jazz (100 years ago now), and forwards for those formative 20 years or so to names maybe more recognisable to modern audiences  – names including  Duke Ellington and Sidney Bechet.  I have to admit that these early jazz years are ones I know far less than I should about, but that is not a problem here as Andrew Oliver (piano) shares his wealth of knowledge on the subject in a friendly and informative manner as he introduces the music and never strays into the mode of a lecturer.
As a band of musicians, the individual members have a wealth of experience. Andrew Oliver originally hails from the USA and is an outstanding jazz pianist, and David Horniblow is one of the most in demand clarinettists on the jazz circuit and has played with so many household names over the years (Chris Barber to name just one).  Playing with The Dime Notes gives David the opportunity to explore the music of some of his favourite clarinettists from this period of music.  Dave Kelbie on rhythm guitar is the Scottish member of the band, and those early years of Spanish rhythms and European Gypsy Jazz coming into the melting pot that became jazz are very close to David’s musical heart.  Tom Wheatley is one of the best acoustic bass players that I have seen in a long time, and his natural style seems so at home here, but if he ever has a break in his busy performing schedule and you are looking for a great rockabilly player, this is your man too.  Individually “The Dime Notes” are musicians that I would be happy to watch as solo performers any night of the week, but collectively their joint enthusiasm for the music they play together is infectious.
The Dime Notes are not a historical jazz ensemble recreating note for note earlier recordings.  Their very musical line up (no trumpet or trombone for example) means that new arrangements have been made of classics, but these arrangements have stayed close to the originals and captured the spirit of that early jazz age.  There are some real surprises here though.  Early jazz was a formation of many different elements into a new picture, but as the years went on, that picture was again broken up into many different pieces (like a jigsaw puzzle), rearranged endlessly and completely new musical avenues explored.  In the music of The Dime Notes you can clearly hear the beginnings of rockabilly and rock’n’roll music.   One early song “The Dream” originally attributed to the little known about “Jack The Bear”, I for some reason can hear The Cure so easily doing a cover version of.
The Dime Notes also write new music in the style of earlier years, and it is so well done as to be seamless with the rest of the set.  My first encounter with this band, and I like them a lot.  They also have their first album out on CD and it is also available on retro vinyl (but not shellac 78 yet).
The Dime Notes by the way take their names from the name given to a 10 dollar bill (often payment to a musician) in The Cab Calloway Hepster Dictionary from 1939.
TOM KING

JAZZ SOCIETY OF OREGON JAZZSCENE – 01.03.2017
The Dime Notes
Though it has been a few years since Andrew Oliver relocated from Portland to London, the local scene owes more than it knows to the Oregon-bred pianist. In addition to founding the Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble, Oliver led a multitude of projects that brought jazz in Portland to new venues and audiences. Since migrating across the pond, he is focused more tightly than before on early jazz, a passion he explored with Portland’s Bridgetown Sextet. On this release from London quartet e Dime Notes, Oliver mines the earliest days of the music’s existence in New Orleans, digging up tasteful tunes by masters like Jelly Roll Morton and W.C. Handy and placing them in all-new but classic-sounding arrangements.
Oliver and company are hardly alone in their retroactive approach. The Dime Notes follow a long lineage of white (often British) jazz musicians who look back into the past. Nonetheless, their laid-back swing and clever interplay makes their music feel fresh and vibrant.
David Horniblow (clarinet) takes the melody role here, playing the part of the legendary Sidney Bechet on three Bechet classics (“What A Dream” is a particularly enthralling moment, with some nice trading between Horniblow and Oliver) as well as several Jelly Roll Morton compositions. Oliver adds one of his own compositions to the book as well; it is a twisting melody called “Otis Stomp,” inspired by the town of Otis, Oregon. Holding down the sizzling groove is the bass-guitar team of Tom Wheatley and Dave Kelbie, who handle their traditional roles with grace. Indeed, it is the easy-going interplay between slapped bass and chugging rhythm guitar that make the Dime Notes’ music feel far more alive than the museum piece it could have become.

JAZZ JOURNAL 01.06.2017
The Dime Notes
This recently formed London- based quartet specialises in recreating the authentic sound of vintage jazz and small-group swing from the 20s and 30s. Employing the necessary musical skill and understanding of the idiom, the group effectively captures the supple rhythmic variations, collective dynamics and relaxed swing of the best classic recordings. Jelly Roll Morton is a dominant influence, both in the spirited and accomplished playing of Oregon-born pianist/leader Andrew Oliver, and in the overall compositional concept applied to the arrangements, with contrast and nuanced development through- out the whole track, rather than simpler jam session repetition.
The general style doesn’t venture into experimental hybrid or innovative approaches, but aims at enriching and developing from the vintage formative roots, and at exploring less familiar material from the era. Ex-Barber clarinettist David Hornblower’s playing is nimble, incisive and assured, with hints of Fazola and Noone. His rapport with Oliver is evident and their inventive breaks and exchanges, notably in The Pearls, The Crave and The Camel Walk are impressive. Tom Wheatley and Dave Kelbie (the record producer) provide an attentive and supple platform for the animated interplay of clarinet and piano. Kelbie contributed significantly to the excellent Django À La Creole recordings led by Evan Christopher (who wrote the sleeve notes for this release). His guitar could surely have been used to advantage here, but is confined entirely to quiet integrated backing and support. This is a fine album from a very promising group, and attractively packaged – as CD or vinyl.
HUGH RAINEY

JAZZ DA GAMA 03.02.2017
The Dime Notes
Somewhere in the excellent liner notes to The Dime Notes of London’s debut album: The Dime Notes, the marvelous New Orleans clarinetist, Evan Christopher makes an important observation about the guitarist and likely prime-mover of this this new English band: Dave Kelbie. About The Dime Notes and their music, Christopher says, “builds a more inclusive community, based not upon nostalgia, or cliché notions of authenticity, but around the experiences the music can provide.” Evan Christopher has more than an intimate working knowledge of Kelbie – a sort of modern-day Alan Lomax when it comes to European Roma music – and the British slice of the European scene. And though he refers to musicians there as being part of UK ‘Trad’ bands (I, for one, prefer the slightly longer ‘UK bands playing in The Tradition’) Christopher’s excellent liner notes also mention with disdain such words such as ‘revivalists’ and ‘traditionalists’, preferring to glorify how pianist Andrew Oliver, clarinetist David Horniblow, bassist Tom Wheatley and guitarist Kelbie by exploring their leanings without justifying or defending their breadth of influences.
But enough of Evan Christopher for the moment; the Dime Notes disc you hold in – or will soon hold in – your hand is one that holds thirteen examples of the great music from the ancestral repertoire of jazz – the ‘maternal’ line of the music if you like. Each has been lovingly curated in a performance that leaves the listener speechless. And as if that were not enough, The Notes’ leader Andrew Oliver has refreshes our collective memory halfway through the record with his original, ‘Otis Stomp’, a tune which is as lively and evanescent as it is impossibly dazzling, before leading us into the second half of the record like a crowd of shameless excited jitterbugging dancers drawn to the legacy of Jelly Roll Morton, Fletcher Henderson and – perhaps the music’s first and greatest Ambassador to Europe – Sidney Bechet. Underscoring the need to create a modern repertoire of this music, is the fact that England and Europe seem to hold up a mirror to American Jazz musicians sometimes with a far steadier hand than the young (white) American Jazz musician, who sometimes remains obstinately ignorant of The Tradition. Just listen to Tom Wheatley’s bass solo nudged on by the agonizingly slow, yet exquisite time-keeping of Dave Kelbie’s vamp before Oliver and Horniblow bring “Si Tu Vois Ma Mère” home to roost and you will hear an object lesson in the New Orleans blues of Sidney Bechet.
Want more? There is plenty to be had on this gleeful debut album of The Dime Notes. “The Camel Walk” is breathtaking with its pregnant pauses in the melody played by clarinetist and pianist during which one can almost imagine taking a swig of whiskey while one’s partner is held with one arm outstretched (the other downing the said glass of inebriating brew. Then in “I Believe In Miracles” there are ephemeral ‘breaks’ for piano, bass and clarinet, when Dave Kelbie rocks the tempo reminiscent of a lonely banjo. Kelbie’s star turn comes again during W.C. Handy’s “Ole Miss”, where his masterful sense of time sets Handy’s piece on fire by shape shifting into a snare drum and a bass drum, with a pointed thunder-splash that sounds as if he were indulging in a resounding slap of an invisible cymbal. Kelbie is not the only force of nature on this recording, although he has probably been largely responsible for serving up this delectable record. It’s impossible not to be fall prey to the charms of David Horniblow’s clarinet, Dave Kelbie’s kinetic rhythm guitar, Tom Wheatley’s growling bass, or to feel the almighty wallop of Andrew Oliver’s incredible pianism.
RAUL DA GAMA

JUST JAZZ UK 01.02.2017
The Dime Notes
These four young(ish) guys have listened and absorbed the jazz music of the 1920s and beyond – half of the tracks on this CD being composed by ‘Jelly Roll’ Morton or Sidney Bechet, which gives you a good idea of what to expect. Original Jelly Roll Blues is a great opener, featuring the habanera rhythm – a trait often found in Morton’s compositions. Nice arrangement by The Dime Notes, ending the tune with a stomping out-chorus. The Pearls – another Morton tune – has dynamic piano from Andrew Oliver. These guys certainly know how to ‘Jelly Roll’!
Aunt Hagar’s Children’s Blues has bass player Tom Wheatley in the spotlight, displaying a virtuosity and knowledge of the idiom (passed on no doubt by his father, the ultra-talented Martin). Guitarist Dave Kelbie is an integral part of the group, giving solid support throughout the CD.
Andrew Oliver’s own composition, Otis Stomp, highlights some dazzling piano from the composer, as well as some exciting interplay between piano and clarinet. Sidney Bechet’s Si Tu Vois Ma Mere is the longest track – over six minutes – and it’s a fine tribute by David Horniblow to the soprano saxophone genius. We also hear shades of Barney Bigard and Edmond Hall, and again, some excellent piano. I Believe in Miracles was recorded by ‘Fats’ Waller and His Rhythm in 1935 with ‘Fats’ at the organ. Jazz bands and swing groups have given the tune a new lease of life during the last couple of decades, and it’s probably more popular than it’s ever been.
The Camel Walk is an unusual choice for this line-up. Recorded by such diverse bands as Red Nichols’ Hottentots and the Jack Hylton Band, The Dime Notes make it sound like it was written for them! Ole Miss is taken at a breakneck tempo and full marks to the quartet for holding it together (please note – this is a drummer-less outfit).
The group finish with another of Bechet’s great compositions What A Dream, the title of which perfectly sums up this CD. Full marks to four top-notch musicians for bringing a new dimension to the compositions of Morton, Bechet, Waller, et al. It swings from start to finish.
NEVILLE DICKIE

MONIQUE MUSIQUE 01.02.2017
The Dime Notes Tackle Old Tunes
The Dime Notes are a trad-jazz quartet that more or less grew out of the Chris Barber band (amazing that his career lasted so long!). This was my first chance to hear them.

Two things I really appreciated: 1) they use a guitar instead of a banjo, and 2) they use a string bass instead of a tuba. This helps a lot to reduce the feeling that you’re listening to music so old that the whiskers have whiskers on them. But there is a third factor that really won me over, and that is that they somehow manage to truly capture the feeling and rhythm of the old bands. They are looser and therefore better than the Barber band in this respect.
Pianist Andrew Oliver, the lone American in the group, is particularly fine in this respect. Like Jelly Roll Morton, he improvises on the melody and not on the chords, which is the old style personified, and like Morton, he plays original improvisations that do not just copy the originals. I also liked British clarinetist David Horniblow, whose tone is rich and full like those of Omer Simeon and Barney Bigard (I wonder if he’s playing an Albert system instrument?) and doesn’t try to sound too much like Benny Goodman, although in Alabamy Bound he does introduce some leanness and bite to his tone that are somewhat reminiscent of the King of Swing (but also of Johnny Dodds, another old-timer and one of Goodman’s idols). The bottom line is that they don’t sound like typical “moldy figs.” In the latter title, we hear bassist Louis Thomas playing tremendously good slap bass in the tradition of Pops Foster or Steve Brown, the two most exceptional of the early New Orleans bassists (the first black, the second white). In Aunt Hagar’s Children’s Blues, they get a nice, loping beat going, completely relaxed and in the true two-beat tradition.
Another thing they have going for them is that, in many places, the rhythm section plays as a unit. This is not authentic style; listen to the Morton Red Hot Pepper or Armstrong Hot Seven recordings, and you’ll hear a lot more disconnect between the piano, banjo and bass (plus drums, not present here) than the Dime Notes achieve. In Aunt Hagar’s, bassist Thomas also plays a distinctly more modern bass solo, combining bowed and pizzicato lines in a very intriguing manner.
Horniblow brings his own sound and style to Black Stick Blues, virtuosic in its Goodman-like turns and trills but not really trying to sound like Sidney Bechet (very little high-register theatrics and no “French vibrato” in his tone). In the middle section of the first chorus, and a bit later, the rhythm section, again playing as a unit, abandon the old two-beat style for a four-to-the-bar swing rhythm, which I liked very much. The Pearls brings us back to Morton and the old New Orleans two-beat, again played smoothly and without affectation. Oliver’s playing is not quite as forceful or dramatic as Morton’s own, but he makes some interesting statements and is very satisfying. Horniblow revels in his chalumeau register on this one.
Boyd Senter’s Tain’t Clean is one of the few tunes on this album I’d never heard before (the other two were Otis Stomp, written by pianist Oliver, and I Believe in Miracles), and it is a surprisingly lyrical piece taken at a medium tempo. Otis Stomp could easily pass for an old tune in form and beat, albeit a fairly simple one, comprised mostly of little riffs, and again moving into a bit of a swing beat in the middle strain. The rhythm keeps up the swing beat for Oliver’s solo, which again is modeled on the melody and not just the chords, Bob Zurke-style. Bechet’s Si Tu Vois Ma Mere is taken at a very slow ballad tempo that suits its lovely melodic line perfectly. Both Oliver and Thomas take nice, sparse solos. They also play Brymm’s Camel Walk in a nice, peppy style that lacks the stiffness of most trad bands.
Morton’s The Crave is his one Spanish-tinged tune that is not often played nowadays, but to be honest I’ve always liked it better than New Orleans Joys, and the Dime Notes give it the royal treatment, slightly dragging its insinuous melody with deft skill. Horniblow’s solo on this one is particularly excellent, using double-time and some surprising rhythmic shifts and stops. At the end, he shifts into B.G. mode with good effect.
I Believe in Miracles is a nice tune, played here with almost a shuffle beat à la the New Orleans Rhythm Kings. W.C. Handy’s Ole Miss is played in an almost strict ragtime beat, though allowing for improvised solos, something ragtime never did. Oliver’s solo sounds as much like Morton as anything else he plays on this album…Jelly would really be proud of him! Turtle Twist was a perfect choice for this band, considering that Morton’s original recording was also a small-group performance (featuring Bigard on clarinet, if I recall). The Dime Notes take it a bit slower than Morton did, and give the beat a snakier feel. Oliver does his best Morton imitation on this one, although he does not copy any of the master’s licks, but plays his own improvisation.
In the finale, Bechet’s What a Dream, all pretensions to two-beat Dixieland are gone. This is a straightahead swing performance, sounding almost like something Artie Shaw might have played. The quartet does a great job on it, too, driving the music home with style and élan.
No question about it, the Dime Notes are an absolutely terrific trad jazz quartet. A splendid CD.
LYNN RENE BAYLEY

NORTHERN ECHO 24.11.2016
The Dime Notes
This is a splendid first outing for the Dime Notes, a four piece band led by American pianist and Jelly Roll Morton devotee Andrew Oliver. He’s accompanied by former Chris Barber clarinettist David Horniblow and the sublime backing of rhythm guitarist Dave Kelbie and bass player Tom Wheatley. A lovely programme includes Morton, Sidney Bechet and W.C. Handy, the whole thing enhanced by a warm clear recording and Evan Christopher’s thoughtful and eloquent notes.
PETER BEVAN

THE VITALITY FIVE

Michael Steinman, Jazzlives, September 2018:

I’ve had an alarm clock / clock radio at the side of my bed for decades now, and its message is unvarying and irritating. Time to go to school!  Time to go to work! Time to move the car to avoid a ticket! 

But playing the new CD by The Vitality Five, its title noted above, I thought if I could rig up a musical machine that would, at first softly, play one of their glorious lively evocations of a vanished time, I would be much more willing to get out of bed and face the world.

The Vitality 5 is inherently not the same as many other bands performing Twenties hot repertoire.  For one thing, the 5’s reach is informed and deep: of the seventeen songs on this disc, perhaps four will be well-known to people who “like older jazz.”  Be assured that even the most “obscure” tunes are melodic and memorable.  More important to me is the 5’s perhaps unstated philosophy in action.  Many bands so worship the originals that they strive to create reverent copies of the original discs, and in performance this can be stunning.  But the 5 realizes something in their performances and arrangements that, to me, is immensely valuable: the people who made the original records were animated by joyous exuberance.

The players we venerate were “making it up as they went along,” as if their lives depended on it.  Theirs did, and perhaps ours do as well.

So these performances are splendidly animated by vivacious personality: they leap off the disc.  I don’t mean that the 5 is louder or faster, but they are energized.  You can’t help but hear and feel it.

Facts.  The band has been together since 2015, and it is that rare and wonderful entity — a working band.  Two of its members should be intimate pals to JAZZ LIVES readers: David Horniblow, reeds, and Andrew Oliver, piano — they are the one and only Complete Morton Project.  The other three members who complete the arithmetic are special heroes of mine, people I’ve admired at the Whitley Bay / Mike Durham jazz parties: Michael McQuaid, reeds and cornet; Martin Wheatley, banjo; Nicholas D. Ball, drums.

And they are superb players — not only star soloists, but wonderful in ensemble, making the 5 seem much more a flexible orchestra than the single digit would suggest.  They are, as Louis would say, Top Men On Their Instruments.  Each performance has its own rhythmic surge, the arrangements are varied without being “clever,” and the band is wise enough to choose material that has a deep melodic center — memorable lines that range in performance from sweetly lyrical to incendiary.  The back cover proclaims that there are “17 CERTAIN DANCE HITS!” and it’s true.

A final word about repertoire — a subject whose narrowing I find upsetting, as some “Twenties” groups play and replay the same dozen songs: this disc offers songs I’d either never heard before (JI-JI BOO) or not in decades (THE SPHINX) as well as classics that aren’t simply transcriptions from the OKeh (FIREWORKS, EVERY EVENING, COPENHAGEN) — across the spectrum from Nichols-Mole to Clarence Williams to McKinney’s Cotton Pickers and more.

I know it’s heresy to some, but the Vitality 5 performs at a level that is not only equal to the great recordings, but superior to them.  A substantial claim, but the disc supports it.

Visit here to hear their hot rendition of COPENHAGEN — also, here you can buy an actual disc or download their music.  Convinced?  I hope so.

And to the Gentlemen of the Ensemble: if you perfect the Vitality Five Rise-and-Shine machine, suitable for all electric currents, do let me know.  I’ll be your first purchaser.  Failing that, please prosper, have many gigs, and make many CDs!

THE KORA BAND

Jazz Journal (UK), February 2016

*****

This glorious album celebrates the meeting of contemporary jazz with West African Mandinka music and is an absolute joy right the way through.  Pianist and composer Andrew Oliver was commissioned to write this suite as part of the 2012 Chamber Music America New Jazz Works Programme, and after live performance the band took the material into the wonderfully named Kung Fu Bakery studios in Portland to record the album version.

Each song in the suite borrows from a traditional piece of Mandinka music, takes it apart and then recycles it in a new composition.  Influences include songs from the cultures of Ghana, Mali, Guinea and Gambia.  The result is an infectous, feel-good listening experience, very much like Afro Celt Sound System meets Hugh Masakela.  Andrew Oliver drives the music with his discreet, understated performance, but it is Mathis on kora and McCullough’s wonderful work on trumpet and flugelhorn that really gives New cities its energy, voice, and unique appeal.  The kora, almost sounding like a blend of harp and harpsichord, is tonally just right for this highly energetic and fun-loving musical project, and Mathis – one of America’s leading kora players, puts in a superb, consistent performance throughout.

The suite needs to be heard and enjoyed as one continuous listening experience, which makes it inappropriate to single out one track over another for comment as part of an album review.  Fifty minutes in the company of the Kora Band flies pas, giving New Cities an irresistable, foot-tapping appeal that lasts from start to finish.  Mighty enjoyable.

– John Adcock

Jazzwise (UK), January 2016

***

The pianist Andrew Oliver and Kora player Kane Mathis discover new musical perspectives between the jazz, blues, and classical of their backgrounds and that of west African Mandinka folk music.

Evening Standard (London), October 2015

****

An inspired third release for The Kora Band, a transatlantic quintet exploring the links between contemporary jazz and traditional West African music.  The bluesy cascades of the 21-string kora-harp, intricately deployed by Brooklyn-based Kane Mathis, are woven throughout eight songs in a suite composed by pianist and bandleader Andrew Oliver.

Phrases from West African tunes are reworked in ways innovative and melodic – the lively Biere La Gazelle comes with Latin-style trumpet and edgy uptempo piano.  Percussive flourishes underline the traditional vibe, but the elegant interplay between drums, bass, horns and piano make this very much a jazz outing, with a kora.

– Jane Cornwall

Songlines, March 2016

***

Jazzy West African adaptations

New Cities is the third album from a collective exploring the possibilities that emerge from adapting source material from the West African Mande music tradition into a jazz idiom.  This outing includes tracks inspired by many diverse themes and topics that vary from a popular brand of Senegalese beer to the consequences of urbanisation. The playing is exemplary and particularly exciting on tracks such as “Teriyaa,” developed from a popular Gambian song, and “5 ans d’effort”, on which bandleader and pianist Andrew Oliver demonstrates great melodic development.  However, owing to the piano’s prominence throughout, this album primarily comes across as a straight, albeit solid, jazz release, with the kora cutting a markedly peripheral figure.

Aside from “Teriyaa”, which really is the most accomplished piece on the album, and the title-track, the kora functions more as a sporadic solo instrument. “Slip Coach (for Chet)”, for example, is a great piece, featuring some lovely work from Lee Elderton on the clarinet, but the kora’s flourishes are emblematic of a strong conceptual framework that unfortunately never quite reaches the expected level of musical integration. – Alex de Cacey

Bebop Spoken Here, Newcastle UK, October 2015

Andrew Oliver’s Kora Band recorded material for the forthcoming New Cities CD release back in October 2013. The pianist’s project has taken some time to see the light of day. In securing a deal with fellow London-based American Michael Janisch’s record label it can at last be heard. Recorded in Portland, Oregon and New York, Oliver’s band explores the connections between jazz and the music of West Africa.

A 2008 US State Department sponsored tour of West Africa encouraged Oliver to form a band with the kora – a twenty one string African harp – at its heart. Kane Mathis – one of America’s foremost kora players – accepted Oliver’s invitation to join the band and three albums later New Cities is representative of current and ongoing developments. An eight track CD, with a running time of fifty three minutes, stately elegance permeates the entire work.

Old song melodies and African harmonic patterns proliferate; The Contract andTeriyaa – the latter featuring the album’s sole vocal contribution from Kane Mathis – exemplify the lyrical, uplifting nature of the music. All of the music was composed by Oliver and he is, no doubt, delighted by the commitment shown by the members of his band. Lee Elderton, clarinet, is heard on two tracks only, but his part in the project is well worthwhile. Check out his playing on Slip Coach (for Chet). The title track New Cities highlights the group dynamic with all of the musicians making an excellent contribution; elegant, stately, from Brady Millard-Kish’s bass intro to Mark DiFlorio’s consistently good drumming to Chad McCullough’s trumpet flourish taking it out.

New Cities is an accomplished work.

All About Jazz, October 2015

Pianist Andrew Oliver formed The Kora Band in 2008 following a tour in West Africa and a chance meeting with a kora player, leading him to track down Kane Mathis, whom he recruited and whose presence naturally gave birth to the group’s name and its idiosyncratic sound. Mathis is one of the foremost kora players in America and brings to the band a completely different dimension. The kora is a kind of traditional harp, originally played by musicians of the Mandinka ethnic group of West Africa, and the effect of the sound it produces, can edge towards the mesmeric.

Kicking off this set “The Contract” might give the listener the idea that this is “world music,” which in a sense it is since Mathis’ expertise on the kora evokes a variety of moods often sounding at times, and to the untutored listener, like a rapidly oscillating cross between Mexican mariachi and Greek rebetiko. Combined with its African roots, this kora-led music effortlessly crosses continents with dizzying alacrity.

Chad McCullough’s trumpet hook on “Bière La Gazelle” sounds tantalisingly close to the first bar of Bach’s “Jesu Joy Of Man’s Desiring,” this lively number soon evolving into a latin-esque outing. The twin horns configuration (trumpet and clarinet) and tricky timing on “5 Ans D’Effort” give this track a more distinctly jazzy feel, all underpinned by Oliver’s exploratory, rapid-fire piano work.

A fleeting burst of kora leads into the slow-paced “Teriyaa” where Mathis sings his own plaintively impassioned West African lyrics on the only vocal track on the album. When Mathis is at full pelt on the kora, the sound he produces is uncannily similar to the electric harpsichord flourishes on Terry Riley’s masterpiece A Rainbow In Curved Air. Chad McCullough overshadows all on “Specialists in Some Styles” with Mark DiFlorio plays calabash here rather than drum kit, thus offering-up some very apposite percussive subtlety.

“Slip Coach (for Chet)” again features Lee Elderton with a lithe clarinet solo. The title track is the longest at just over ten minutes with Chad McCullough leading the serpentine melody and Andrew Oliver introducing some brilliant piano skirmishes. The ballad, “Old Countries” concludes this intriguing set.

It would be tempting to introduce all sorts of comparisons to others playing either West African music or jazz, but in truth The Kora Band doesn’t really sound like any other group. This is an amazing feat, in a century supersaturated with music of every hue, and a convincing testament to the innovative sound of a jazz band successfully incorporating non-Western traditional instruments.

Melophobe
Concert Review: The Sam Howard Band
Dec. 9, 2009
by Colin McLaughlin

“This is jazz for young people; a fusion project that frolicked in afrobeat rhythms, bluesy bar-rat solos and some country twang before returning home to a familiar jazz structure, as if they needed to remind you every once in awhile what roots grip the tree. And while Pemberton frequently took center stage, with his distortion pedal and tremolo tinkering, it was Oliver with his sneaky “maybe we should break into some funk” Rhodes lines that really stole the show.”