Track details
SLAMCD 326 "PAPER MOON"
Artists: GHQ
George Haslam baritone sax; Steve Waterman trumpet; Steve Kershaw double bass; Robin Jones drums.
Track 1 - It’s only a paper moon. 4:19 H. Arlen
Track 2 - Recado bossa nova. 7:50 D. Ferreira
Track 3 - The Continental. 6:19 C Conrad
Track 4 - St James Infirmary. 5:05 Traditional
Track 5 - I’ve never been in love before. 5:00 F Loesser
Track 6 - Medley: What’s new?/For all we know. 7:52 B Haggard/J. F. Coots
Track 7 - Out of this world. 10:57 H. Arlen
All arrangements by George Haslam.
Tracks 1, 2, 4 and 5 recorded at Abingdon Music Centre, Oxfordshire, 2 September 2007 by Eric Smith.
Tracks 3, 6 and 7 recorded at Bullpen Studios, Oxfordshire, 13 January 2008 by Eric Smith and Alan Howell./P>
Mixed and mastered by Eric Smith, Monster Sound Studio, Oxfordshire.
By his own account, George Haslam's career has mainly unfolded left-of-center and his muse has been free. But this record of standards isn't as much a departure as it might first seem. In fact, I think the album title is perfect. Remember that first verse? "Said it is only a paper moon / Sailing over a cardboard sea, / But it wouldn't be make-believe / If you believed in me." If Haslam were merely trying to change his spots this record would stand little chance of persuading anyone. Fortunately that's not the case. First, because his music has always been eclectic—he's mixed idioms before, as in the three "Argentine Adventures" albums from the mid-to-late nineties. Second, and more importantly, if this were music he wasn't feeling, these standards would prove no more than two-dimensional paper moons. Instead, Haslam and his quartet make it clear that they believe. Performances are loose as the boundaries among the various idioms—straight-ahead jazz, bossa nova, two-beat calypso, and even some Free blowing (in the coda to "The Continental"). In other words, as Joe McPhee has been saying for years about his own art: straight ahead, formal jazz is part of Haslam's music, not all. For this player of creative improvised music, Jazz offers inspiration and points of departure, not limits.
Haslam's notes describe his concern that his quartet "avoid being another Mulligan Quartet clone." If you want to hear Jeru's influence here you can. But Haslam's tone is gruffer, often grittier, and his solos conceived in different terms that reflect his many years playing "free." And then, of course, Steve Waterman's trumpet sounds nothing at all like Baker's cool. These guys aren't making big claims about originality, but all the same they deserve to be heard for themselves.
Most of the time I'm a total sucker for baritone sax—I love its irrepressible earthiness—but even so I like the looseness with which this quartet launches into these seven pieces. The arrangements are inventive, and are often allusive in surprising ways. My favorite example is the title track, which largely disrupts the familiar cadence of the Arlen original by fitting it over a calypso beat. Haslam is quite candid here and describes the calypso as "St. Thomas style." Anyway, the point isn't that this mash-up is some kind of intellectual breakthrough. It's not. It's just great fun—like most of this joyful record.
Michael Coyle, Cadence Oct – Dec 2009. ©Cadence Magazine 2009. http://www.cadencebuilding.com/
Baritone saxophonist George Haslam generally operates in the free-jazz arena, this is an album of standards, albeit somewhat eccentrically arranged ('It's Only a Paper Moon', for instance, is set to a jazz calypso rhythm reminiscent of 'St Thomas') and played with a pleasingly woozy – sometimes downright abrasive – informality not readily associated with such material. Haslam's quartet – completed by trumpeter/flugelhorn player Steve Waterman, bassist Steve Kershaw and salsa-specialist Robin Jones having a rare outing on kit drums – addresses the likes of 'Recado Bossa Nova', 'The Continental' and 'Out of This World' with a breezy but musicianly irreverence that immediately commands attention, Haslam's gruff, attractively bleary horn sound tellingly contrasted with Waterman's imaginative fire, Jones's clattery drums blending with Kershaw's ebullient bass to provide a suitably lively rhythmic underpinning. With the odd ballad ('What's New/For All We Know') throwing the more rumbustious fare into relief, this is a delightfully informal but punchy album, the palpable enjoyment of its practitioners faithfully conveyed to the listener.
'Chris Parker, Vortex website' – http://www.vortexjazz.co.uk/ 8 Sept 2008.
"Your new SLAM LP Papermoon is wonderful! I thought my neck was going to snap from all the head bobbing! I loved every second of every bar. I wish you all the best!"
Joseph Dorsch
Although Papermoon shares the Gerry Mulligan Quartet format, it doesn't share its sound except for some horn polyphony and tandem soloing. Where the Mulligan sound was cool, even suave, Haslam's is harder, more emphatic. The baritone and Steve Waterman's trumpet are more metallic, Haslam's sound bronze corduroy, the trumpet music hall brash. And Robin Jones stresses big, ringing ride and crash cymbals (contrast them to the delicate cymbals from DiBlasio's drummer Joe Mullen). Haslam revels in jaunty rhythms like the calypso-inflected one on the title track or the chugging ostinato of "The Continental". A creative take on a classic format. By George Kanzler http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=30774
Riesce sempre a sorprenderci il sassofonista baritono George Haslam, che questa volta lascia da parte il suo amato genere "creativo" per passare agli standard interpretati in modo ortodosso, nel rispetto di una tradizione inaugurata da Gerry Mulligan con il celebre pianoless quartet insieme a Chet Baker. Qui il trombettista è Steve Waterman ed anche lui si presenta in una versione lirica e introspettiva.
Si tratta comunque di un disco ricco di interesse, perchè paradossalmente i quattro musicisti, adusi ad altri generi, riescono ad immettere quel pizzico di imprevedibilità, di personale rielaborazione, che fa sì che il tutto si faccia ascoltare con attenzione, sfuggendo alle trappole della routine e delle frasi fatte.
Anche i ritmi di bossa nova ("Recado bossa nova") fanno la loro parte, in mezzo a standard più conosciuti, su cui tutti svolgono con fantasia il proprio compito. Anche senza le improvvisazioni radicali cui ci aveva abituato, Haslam fa con perizia un'escursione nel campo del mainstream che leva un pò di polvere da vecchi standard che suonano come se fossero stati scritti al giorno d'oggi. Si divertono tutti, e così ci divertiamo anche noi a riascoltare questi brani, riemersi dall'ortodossia della scuola, in una versione non certo sbarazzina, ma almeno libera dalla patina accademica che traspira dalle partiture per studenti.
La bella registrazione fa la sua parte, specie quando entra in scena il contrabbasso di Steve Kershaw, assoluto dominatore della sezione ritmica e ovunque presente con la forte cavata. Vittorio Lo Contehttp://italia.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=3214 All About Jazz Italia. October 2008.
Luna di carta
di
Cosimo Parisi
La formazione del nuovo quartetto del sassofonista baritono George Haslam è di quelle che richiama subito in mente lo storico gruppo pianoless di Gerry Mulligan e Chet Baker. Il ritorno agli standard da parte di un musicista che ha frequentato a lungo l´avanguardia ha però una sua dimensione personale, senza pretese di raccogliere successi che oggi sembrano assolutamente, per quel tipo di musica, improbabili.
Il trombettista che gli fa da controvoce è Steve Waterman, dalla bella voce passionale e la ritmica è costituita da Steve Kershaw al contrabbasso e da Robin Jones, di solito alle prese con percussioni di carattere latino, alla batteria. Si danno un gran da fare per rendere appetibili i brani scelti al pubblico che segue il mainstream, generosi in assoli che evitano operazioni filologiche. La loro "Recado bossa nova" suona abbastanza forte piú che leziosa ed elegante, o "What´s New", un altro grande standard, trasuda un´energia inconsueta. Sono tutti brani su cui aleggia un´atmosfera di spontaneità e freschezza, al di là dei dibattiti di stampo accademico su come debba suonare una formazione di tal fatta. Certo è che danno il massimo e che sono una positiva sorpresa per chi li avesse conosciuti soltanto durante le loro escursioni nell´area creativa.
