dBass @ Stereo, 27 June

Article by David McNally | 06 Jul 2010

Opening act The Forgotten Works are folk - one glance at guitarist James Chapman's beard assures you of that, and the way he and double bassist Martin Beer have with a lilting circular melody is enough to silence the initially talkative crowd. There's something distinctively British about this music, a kind of unassuming intensity that's at once weightless and deep. Perfect for such a summer's night.

dBass are harder to catagorise. Sure, they're jazz, but which jazz? Their opening number has a township highlife feel to it, appropriately since it was composed in tribute to the South African World Cup, and everyone save the drummer solos effectively; but then next number changes the scene, built on a shifting Arabic scale with passages in straightahead jazz time. Close your eyes and you could be listening to six veterans of the 70s fusion scene instead of the fresh faced youths that actually occupy the stage.

They are a collective, but saxman Martin Fell is first among equals, causually codifying proceedings from the front line he shares with Mounzer Sarraf (guitar) and George Murray (trombone). They are backed by loose-limbed drummer Roy Shearer, Stuart Macpherson who ably switches between double and electric bass, and Corey Smith on keys, whose spacey soulful blocking recalls 70s-era Chick Corea. Adventurous without going too far 'out', they deserve a far bigger crowd although they certainly satisfy the few that show up tonight.

Adam Roome, who trades as Jumblesale Soundsystems, rounds off the night with dubby excursions, backed on bass and keys by the dBass boys. Both parties play off each other well and get bodies on the floor for some weird shape-throwing. Something for just about everyone though, and the kind of bargain eclecticism that Stereo does so well. [David McNally]

Played as part of Glasgow International Jazz Festival 2010.

http://www.myspace.com/dbasscollective