Beck Hunters

The question of how the high-quality music created by the UK’s Beck Hunters could be improved upon was answered at the Newcastle Festival of Jazz and Improvised Music a couple of years ago. That’s when local pianist Laura Cole and bassist John Pope joined the trio of multi-reedist Mick Beck and the Hunter Brothers, guitarist Anton and percussionist Johnny.

The one extended improvisation found the guests embedded in the group architecture without fissure adding rhythmic and lyrical asides to the trio’s intense Free Jazz and pivots to less frenetic improvisations. This duality too is reflected is Beck’s output. During some isolated interludes when he displays moderated saxophone tones, piano, bass and drums chugged along like a mainstream rhythm section, with Pope’s brief arco section a distinct instance of intersectional tone color.

Most of the time though Beck announces his Free Jazz allegiance with near animalistic saxophone squalls. These powerful curlicues and harsh flutters that begin with split tones, spetrofluctuation and slap tones and go on from there, encompass triple tonguing and spewing of prestissimo and altissimo textures. His unique bassoon baying, often joined to guitar flanges and angled drum raps, unceasingly sounds multiphonic wails.

The climax occurs during the live improvisations final minutes. Splaying screaming tones from both of his larger instruments Beck adds shrill peeps from a slide whistle. The other respond in kind, with Cole speeding up her cross-handed strokes, AHunter intensifies his vibrating string twangs and JHunter matches press rolls, while maintaining the  groove. Eventually the intermingled speedy and strained timbres just stop cold, as if all agreed that a definite apogee had been reached. Listeners will probably agree.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: 1. From Wolves To Water

Personnel: Mick Beck (tenor saxophone, bassoon, whistles); Laura Cole (piano); Anton Hunter (guitar, effects); John Pope (double bass) and Johnny Hunter (drums, percussion)