Hi Res Heart

Worth the four-year wait, this follow-up to Hi Res Heart’s first disc extended and expands the sonic colors prominent on the last outing. This time the core UK trio of multi-reedist Martin Archer, brass player Charlotte Keeffe and percussionist Martin Pyne, all of whom have experience with their own bands and others, is amplified with two string players. They are bassist/cellist Michael Bardon, also a member of Shatner’s Bassoon, and violinist Graham Clark, who worked with Daevid Allen for many years, yet also played with the likes of Keith Tippett.

The richer and more intense interjections and patterns mean that this tincture expansion is not only upfront, but also preserved as a palimpsest, especially when violin stops continue to vibrate just below hearing range as vibe resonations or horn flutters are featured. Pyne’s ambidextrous skills also suggests that some careful overdubbing was used throughout since there’s often drum shuffles backing metal bar pings.

Archer uses his reeds for particular roles. A simple clarinet line is heard  in counterpoint to Keefe’s plunger tones on “Only Disobeying Orders” for instance, while later on recorder peeps double the formal violin sweeps, gentling the narrative until a single bell shake marks the finale. Meanwhile the two extended improvisations include basement-level baritone saxophone riffs creating ostinato pushes that root the expositions as the other players move through variations that encompass flatulent brass projections, thinning fiddle stops, arco bass positioning and drum paradiddles. Either connecting  with or emphasizing his timbral differences with the violin by plunging  tones downwards as Clark strains upwards tones, Bardon acquits himself handily with more than an accompanying role.

As always the trumpeter is ready with comments and extensions for the compositions, adding brassy triplets, half-valve growls or gradually expanding grace notes when needed. As well Archer and Keefe create harmonies to pull along the themes if any of the players’ interjections become too intense. For additional liveliness there are interludes when the horns and fiddle create sympathetic antiphony with additional vamps hardened with drum ruffs.

Although Hi Res Heart’s conception is thoroughly 21st Century, it doesn’t mean the CD lacks cadence. “Weeds” for example, with its string plucks and reed trills moves from dissected doits to a springy, walking bass-positioned exposition that with its vibe ringing and horn harmonies resembles a 1960s Milt Jackson session.

Hi Res Heart has reached a notable plateau with this release. Yet the question remains if the band will explore more as a quintet, shrink to a trio or add even more voices next time out?

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: 1. Trail Of Tears 2. Move Fast And Mend Things 3. Only Disobeying Orders 4. Heavy Manners 5. Weeds 6. Snake Oil 7. The Twister

Personnel: Charlotte Keeffe (trumpet and flugelhorn); Martin Archer (sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, baritone saxophones, clarinet, recorders, harmonica); Graham Clark (violin); Michael Bardon (bass, cello); Martin Pyne (drums, vibraphone, percussion)