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MC3: Sounds of the City
ByIn light of the experimentation into which Clark has invested time in recent years, it is tempting to think that the current line-up is one he would have settled for a few years ago. The main factor influencing that assertion is the inclusion of Keeffe's trumpet and the effect it has on her bandmates. Straight from the opening notes of the first track, the aptly named "Existentialism for Trumpet," Keeffe fires off a solo which comprises the entirety of the track's two-and-a-quarter minutes, with Clark and Edmunds as her supporting cast; the three are distinctly different in their styles of play but they interweave and engage in dialogues which make them sound like long-time associates who are comfortable together. That is particularly true on the album's three improvised tracks titled as conversations, in which their playing wanders far and wide, always being driven by the three players' reactions to one another; in these, and elsewhere, none of the three hogs the limelight but all of them can be heard clearly throughout, fitting together like the pieces of a jigsaw.
The album's longest track, at eight-and-a-half minutes, is "Autobiography of a Poet" (see the YouTube link below for footage of the three playing it live). It again features sensitive group playing from all three players and reinforces the fact that this trio has its own unique sound which is highly recognisable. This album eloquently demonstrates that this incarnation of MC3 is the best to date and a sure-fire winner. Roll on its next album...
Track Listing
Existentialism for Trumpet; Back on North; Conversation #1 (Dispatches); Altercations; Conversation #2 (In Hari’s); Autobiography of a Poet; Traffic; Conversation #3 (Stray Cats).
Personnel
Additional Instrumentation
Charlotte Keeffe: flugelhorn.
Album information
Title: Sounds of the City | Year Released: 2022 | Record Label: Phonocene Records
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