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The Flame: Towards The Flame Vol 1

By Mike Jurkovic
May 24, 2023
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Three of Europe's most acclimated and proven improvisers—pianist Robert Mitchell (Steve Coleman, Greg Osby), bassist Neil Charles, and drummer/percussionist Mark Sanders (Jah Wobble, Rachel Musson)—band together as The Flame for the first time and emerge from pandemic isolation, and the forever wars and broken civics that accompanied it, with a hypnotic performance captured absolutely live on Towrads the Flame.

Recorded at London's Cafe Otto in February of 2022, The Flame comes to life like most screams do: with a whisper that soon becomes a cutting clamor seizing then shredding the expected. All twenty-two minutes of "Ignitions" is a rallying cry. A call to arms that things have changed (a lot) while we sat lonely in our hovels, in our castles, in ourselves. Each person's voice needing its moment. Each person's voice with something to say even if it is just to offer a few kind words or community, of encouragement, of warning.

A wild frisson, "Clouds Ablaze" informs what the title strongly implies: the fuse is lit and if we scramble to extinguish it we will only add fuel to the fire. So the action and the reasoning for that and any collateral reactions must be clear. Once set into motion, Mitchell's percussive runs, Charles' fevered, exotic drive, and Sanders' deeply ingrained spontaneity clarify and strip away the scaffolding. Leaving the moment of clarity and creation set in one's mind long after the outburst is over.

Track Listing

Ignitions; Clouds Ablaze.

Personnel

Robert Mitchell: keyboards; Neil Charles: bass, acoustic; Mark Sanders: drums.

Album information

Title: Towards The Flame Vol 1 | Year Released: 2024 | Record Label: 577 Records

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