"FOUR BOP DROP"

Rob Gale trumpet/flugelhorn, Richard Powell alto sax, Nick Hamlyn el. guitar, Tony Bowring fretless bass.

Recorded at Far Heath Studios, Northampton, England. 5 Dec 1997. SLAMCD 224

Bar Code 5 028386 022428

TRACKS:

1 Deep throat 00m 43s

2 Spies, lies, strings & things 05 01

3 Bop dropping 01 58

4 Racing in drag 05 54

5 Sleeping dawg 07 09

6 Cyberjazz 01 07

7 Abrupped 03 50

8 Hank the shanks 05 39

9 Snakis 03 28

10 Dusk over Kingsthorpe 04 56

11 Mountain crunch 03 10

12 24 sec ~ 45 mins  00 24

13 Kak-in-the-bucket 04 10

14 Lullabye 02 35

15 GBTS 02 44

16 Louding a preset 01 34

17 Egg 02 50

18 Beans, bacon & sausage 06 52

19 Delightful angels 04 31

Rubberneck Four Bop Drop's lyrical abstractions and switched on improvisations are consistently rewarding and purposeful. There is a great sense of uninhibited enthusiasm and adventure about this recording, and while the combination of alto, trumpet, electric guitar and fretless bass, usually playing at once, gives their music a harmolodic spirit, they avoid the clutter of Prime Time, finding instead a coherence which allows them to move easily from the caterpulted notes of 'Delighted Angels' to the Giuffre-like delicacy of 'Dusk Over Kingsthorpe'. In an earlier edition Gus Garside described their music as "comfortable" which seems unfair, suggesting that it's all a bit too easy, whereas their busy, alert playing is constantly striving to be both arresting and distinct. A feat they manage very well. Declan O'Driscoll