Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Jim Blomfield Trio: Wave Forms And Sea Changes

4

Jim Blomfield Trio: Wave Forms And Sea Changes

By

View read count
Jim Blomfield Trio: Wave Forms And Sea Changes
Wave Forms And Sea Changes is the Jim Blomfield Trio's debut, an acoustic piano trio from Bristol in the southwest of England. Pianist/composer Blomfield has been on the scene for some years. Bristol-based since 1991, he's worked with players such as Andy Hague, Kevin Figes and ECM recording artist Andy Sheppard. On this album he's joined by two younger players—bassist Roshan "Tosh" Wijetunge and drummer Mark Whitlam.

Southwest England's popular music scene has always thrown a few surprises at the unwary listener. In the '60s, it brought the mighty Troggs to the world. In the '70s, it was The Wurzels—an odd folk-meets-music hall band whose biggest hit was a song about a combine harvester using the music of Melanie Safka's "Brand New Key." Things picked up again after a few years, with The Pop Group and Massive Attack. In the 21st century, that creative and atmospheric strand has continued, thanks to bands like Get The Blessing. Wave Forms And Sea Changes carries on the tradition.

"Return Of The Easton Walk" is full of ideas, contrasts and exemplary musicianship. A spiky and percussive opening gives way to a flowing, gentle but oh-so-brief melody, before Blomfield returns to the edginess of the opening bars. Then the melody's back, the tension builds, and then... There's as much variety and invention in this one track as there are in many entire albums, yet never once does it sound overblown, or feel like Blomfield is engaging in some sort of ego-boosting "look at me" display. Wijetunge and Whitlam don't just leave it all to the pianist either; both men add some twists and turns of their own including some lovely arco bass from Wijetunge and what sound like body slaps from Whitlam. It's clear this is a trio with which to be reckoned.

"N Trance" picks up its predecessor's melodic strength and runs with it; another graceful tune emerges, albeit with a bit more pace. The remaining tunes move confidently between more engaging melodies and periods where rhythm takes center-stage. The melody of "Now And Zen" sounds like a close relative of Billy Joel's "Piano Man," while "Pier Pressure" is more trip-hop meets hard bop groover, Blomfield's piano in the opening and closing sections seemingly altered electronically to give it something of a Fender Rhodes feel. "Rum Thing" gives "Return Of The Easton Walk" a run for its money in terms of variety, with Whitlam and Wijetunge laying down yet more irresistible rhythms.

The brief and melancholy "Sea Changes" and "Impermanence" deserve mention, as does the Latin-flavored "Sail." All three point to a more reflective side of Blomfield's work, where harmonic exploration takes precedence over the creation of danceable grooves (although the groove eventually returns to the fore on "Sail"). All in all, impressive work from the three musicians. Wave Forms And Sea Changes is a fine addition to the roster of atmospheric, slightly idiosyncratic music from the increasingly impressive Bristol jazz scene.

Track Listing

Return Of The Easton Walk; N Trance; Sea Changes; Now And Zen; Pier Pressure; Rum Thing; The River Runs Deep; Minor Minus; Impermanence; Sail.

Personnel

Jim Blomfield: piano; Roshan “Tosh” Wijetunge: double bass; Mark Whitlam: drums.

Album information

Title: Wave Forms And Sea Changes | Year Released: 2013 | Record Label: Pig Records

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT



Jim Blomfield Concerts


Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

Near

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.