Music / contemporary classical
Review: Jow Album launch, El Rincon
It seems that lockdown proved a surprisingly creative time for the already busy trumpeter Pete Judge (Get The Blessing, Three Cane Whale, Eyebrow …). Not only did he release a highly-acclaimed second album of solo piano compositions and premiere Comfort in Chaos (with percussionist Harriet Riley) a collaborative composition for string quartet, poets and jazz band but also he and cellist James Gow (Eleven Magpies, Cocos Lovers) found time to get together, write and record the 22 tracks of their duo Jow’s eponymous debut album.
Jow – Pete Judge (pic: Tony Benjamin)
Given that the album is a mere 48 minutes long it is no surprise that your average Jow number is a concise vignette and from the off it is apparent the duo have caught something special in their compositions. Opener Enormas Pasan proved a typically neat example: a jaunty folk dance to begin with, subtly altered in timing before James shifted from plucking to sonorous bowed cello and the trumpet soared momentarily. Then the tune recapitulated and quietly closed – a complete story in two and a half minutes.
Jow – James Gow (pic: Tony Benjamin)
And so it went on, each tune very much its own atmosphere, the apparent limitations of just two instruments (and James’ occasional vocalising) stretched by the use of tone, texture and musical imagination. Occasional influences emerged, as in the Philip Glass style breathless arpeggios of Possum, a simple minimalist tune explored to the full, or an echo of Get The Blessing in the insistent Obol.
is needed now More than ever
Jow – guest poet Jan Edwards (pic: Tony Benjamin)
The medley of M’aidez and May Hill was an interesting standout moment. The first tune placing a plaintively simple trumpet over atmospheric cello through pleasing chord changes before a more lyrical and pastoral sweeping duet opened the second. That in turn subsided into a harmonic drone which provided a gentle undertow to guest poet Jan Edward’s reflective verse, followed by Three Cane Whale’s Alex Vann guesting on bowed psaltery to add ethereal overtones to the cello as the tune paid out.
Jow – Alex Vann guesting on bowed psaltery (pic: Tony Benjamin)
Somehow the music managed to encompass a wide range of mood and style yet always expressed with the same moderated restraint and economy of form. It was very satisfying and perfectly suited to the intimacy of El Rincon’s attentively up close audience, all of whom happily went home with a copy of the album.
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