Trish Clowes: Try Me

With Try Me saxophonist-composer Trish Clowes joins a starry cast of artists inspired by London—its history, architecture, landscape and multi-cultural streets. From William Blake to Benjamin Zephaniah, from Charles Dickens to Hanif Kureishi, from Ralph Vaughan Williams to The Kinks, and from Claude Monet to the late David Hockney, England's capital has fed the creative spirit of poets, authors, composers and painters for centuries. British jazz icons Stan Tracey and Mike Westbrook both composed long-form works inspired by London, but, in the main, the city has tended to inspire jazz scenes (see André Marmot's Unapologetic Expression: The Inside Story Of The UK Jazz Explosion Fabe & Faber, 2024) rather than repertoire.

These nine original compositions by Clowes are the fruit of a winter morning's walk along London's Thames Path, their inspiration enriched by field recordings made in situ. From the swinging opener "Walking" and the tangoish "For The Darklings" to the minor-key ballad "For You" and the brooding atmospherics of "The Inlet," the album finds the saxophonist and her My Iris quartet of Chris Montague (guitar), Ross Stanley (organ, piano) and Joel Barford (drums) in fine form. By turns expansive and reflective, the music harbors tensions that seemingly never quite resolve—like watching a kettle that stubbornly refuses to boil. Despite a raft of excellent solos across the quartet, telegraphed climaxes are simply not Clowes' style. Instead, these subtly melodious tunes seduce with a simmering intensity suggestive, at times, of Wayne Shorter—one of Clowes' main influences.

Stanley—one of the aces in Clowes' pack—is a quietly immersive presence on Hammond organ, balancing spacious bass lines, shimmering textures and harmonically rich soloing. On two tracks, "For You" and the outstanding ensemble burner "St. Saviour's Dock," he switches to piano. While perhaps better known as a pianist, his wizardry in the organ trios of Gilad Atzmon, Phil Robson, Yes guitarist Steve Howe, and most frequently that of Nigel Price, has established his credentials as an exceptional exponent of the Hammond B-3. A modernist, his solos on the mid-tempo "Sharp Corner" and "Whisky," to cite but two good examples, are worlds away from the Hammond vocabulary of the instrument's '50s and '60s heyday. His, like Clowes,' is an original voice.

Chris Montague, a mainstay of Clowes' bands since her debut, Tangent (Basho Records, 2010), brings a gritty edge to the mix, his gnarly solo excursions perhaps closest to John Scofield of the post-Wes Montgomery trailblazers. For his part, Barford is a propulsive yet unobtrusive presence, doing plenty of subtle yet influential spadework—a colorist rather than a pyrotechnician. Support of such personality and empathy enables Clowes to stretch out confidently for extended periods. Since graduating from London's Royal College of Music, Clowes has developed one of the UK's most distinctive voices on tenor and soprano saxophone. Her measured yet smoldering solos on the title track and—switching to soprano—on the epic "St. Saviour's Dock" are testament to that.

If a two-mile stroll along The Thames pathway could inspire Clowes to music of notable dynamic range and emotional depth, imagine what she might yet produce were she to take a deep dive into London's extensive riverine network and its labyrinth streets.