Paul Dunmall Quartet

Paul Dunmall
Afraid to Speak
DISCUS 211 CD

Continuing with his exploration of reed-directed compositions from every angle, the UK’s Paul Dunmall places himself in two diverse yet equally challenging situation and creates compelling scenarios for each. Consistently intense, Afghan Women is a meditation on the deteriorating human rights situation for the distaff citizens of that oppressively patriarchal country. Freedom is expressed in the classic John Coltrane quartet’s format. Completed with a version of Coltrane’s “Spiritual”. It and the other originals are interpreted by Dunmall playing tenor and C soprano saxophones, French pianist Sophia Domancich and a rhythm section from Birmingham, UK: bassist James Owston and drummer Miles Levi complete that band. Domancich is known for her music with Simon Goubert among others; Owston with Clark Tracy and Xhosa Cole; and Levin with the likes of Phillip Gibbs and Mark Saunders.

With a title that could also apply to the other session, Afraid to Speak also features Levin as well as Dunmall throughout plus Cole’s flute and piccolo on the finals track. Otherwise it’s a looser more free-from session with the leader moving among tenor, and C soprano saxophones plus Bb clarinet. The other all-British players are guitarist Steven Saunders, bassist Dave Kane and vibraphonist Corey Mwamba, who singly or together have played with Martin Archer, Percy Pursglove and in other ensembles.

Operating in a commanding mode from the first on Afghan Women, Dunmall’s magisterial drone seeps all over the narratives, adding upwards puffs and triple-tongued variations that cannily intersect with Domancich’s key stops and chordal projections. The saxophonist’s cadenzas and multiphonics are even more noticeable when played buoyantly on soprano as on “Voices Unheard”. Here and elsewhere paced by the bassist’s and drummer’s unbroken linear flow, the tandem considerations from pianist and saxophonist allow for a build up in intensity as well as carefully paced diminuendos. Much of this can be attributed to Domancich’s keyboard control expressed with equal facility in feathery comping alongside a few subtle soundboard dips, or in contrast concentrated note clusters that are apt to end as stropping runs. At point Owston, with thumping string stops, and Levin with press rolls, assert themselves but mostly complement the others’ playing with cadences either carefree or chunky.

The two are more upfront on the extended “I Was Free Once” which even has space for a thick, resonating bass solo. But the surging exposition is again dominated by the Dunmall-Domancich pairing. Alternatingly gentle and grating, the pianist’s note intersections and interjections reflect and magnify reed projections that stretch to overblowing, aggressive bites, pressurized honks and double and triple tonguing.

New associates and instrumentation change the interaction on Afraid to Speak but it’s no less absorbing than Afghan Women and was actually recorded in the exact same studio 10 months later. In spite of the patina of prettiness related to the timbres of vibraphone, guitar and transverse horns, there’s more spine than soothing in the tracks. Launched on a bass and drums undertow, a track like “And Am Equally Afraid Not to Speak” comes across like one of those sports cars that are supposed to rev up from zero to  200 mph in seconds. That means Mwamba’s initial feathery and horizontal sustain is soon pushed aside as Dunmall’s droning timbes and note extensions reach jagged split tones, hard yelps and screams. Metal bar clanks confirm that the vibist can operate at the same level as do Saunders’ string flanges. Simultaneously though, measured vibe pops plus ambulatory bass and drums comping mean that horizontal motion is preserved.

Most of the tracks operate that way, with a hard centre preserving the centrifugal sound evolution, whether surrounded by reassuring percussive rumbles and concentrated reed and vibe evolution or having expositions shatter following episodes of reed drones, blurred guitar string fingering, strained bass thwacks, chiming metal bar resonations and tempered explosions of splashes and pumps from the drummer. Cole’s strained squeals add to the rolling thunder during his single contribution.

As a quintet the most powerful instances are “I Am Afraid to Speak” and “Lest I Should Lose You”. The former introduces Dunmall with an unaccompanied saxophone turn that intensify with multiphonic reed cries, yodels and note bending. Backed by drum rumbles and guitar string chiming, the exposition keeps getting harsher as it moves up the scale. By its climax however Levin’s explosions of ruffs, rebounds overlapping vibe patterning and reed snorts creates an undulating, seemingly ceaseless drone that underlines the track.

“Lest I Should Lose You” is based around an unstoppable opaque drone made up in equal parts of curlicue reed blowing, pressurized guitar twangs plus vibraphone mallet slaps, intense drum stomps and double bass thumps. When it’s eventually resolved as the tempo ascends a face-off between bellicose saxophone snarls and resonating linear sustain from the vibes delineates their respective positions as well as the push-pull which defines the album’s challenge and resolution.

Despite their differences, the discs demonstrate that Dunmall, best known for his tenure in Keith Tippet’s Mujician quartet, has lost none of his invention, power and careful interaction with other players as he heads towards 74.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: Afghan: 1. Afghan Women 2. I Was Free Once 3. Voices Unheard 4. The Clouds Will Part Eventually 5. Spiritual

Personnel: Afghan: Paul Dunmall (tenor and C soprano saxophones); Sophia Domancich (piano); James Owston (bass) and Miles Levin (drums)

Track Listing: Afraid: 1. I Am Afraid to Speak 2. And Am Equally Afraid Not to Speak 3. The Doubt Rises in My Mind 4. Lest I Should Lose You 5. Narendra*

Personnel: Afraid: Paul Dunmall (tenor and C soprano saxophones, Bb clarinet); Xhosa Cole (concert flute and piccolo)*; Corey Mwamba (vibraphone); Steven Saunders (guitar); Dave Kane (bass) and Miles Levin (drums)