Jonny Mansfield: Quartet! Live at Pizza Express
Resonant Postcards

The acoustic quartet format featured on this concise live set from British vibraphonist Jonny Mansfield might just be the one best suited to his talents. In a large ensemble, his voice threatens to become one of many; accompanied by pianist Will Barry, acoustic bassist Will Sach, and drummer Luke McCarthy on this set, Mansfield's at the forefront where he belongs, with Barry easing the pressure on the leader with an occasional solo. As musicians who regularly perform as a duo, the chemistry they share is strong, but the same could be said of the quartet in general. Sach and McCarthy show themselves to be inventive and responsive players whose ebb-and-flow energizes the performances.

Mansfield's follow-up to his debut album Elftet and sophomore effort, 2023's The Air in Front of You, feels like a natural next step for the Kenny Wheeler Jazz Prize winner. At forty-five minutes and with nary a pause between the five selections, the album plays like a prototypical set; it's easy to imagine clubgoers grabbing a copy of the release from the merchandise table after the gig and determining that what's on it closely replicates what they've just heard. Quartet! Live at Pizza Express documents the band's final gig on its first tour as a quartet and actually combines material from the two sets performed that night.

Compositional structures are in place to establish the identity of each piece, but their themes are typically treated as springboards for high-level interplay and improvising. “Flicker” initiates the set with a splash, the four instantly engaged in bringing the music to life. Mansfield and Barry voice the theme consecutively before the leader steps forth for his first adventurous solo. At such moments, the others generate a torrential roar alongside him, the music ever-evolving as it swells volcanically and then pulls back as if readying itself for the next advance. Barry's as liberated in his own solo, his freewheeling perhaps bolstered by the fury Sach and McCarthy stoke behind him. As the ten-minute track nears its end, the four re-voice the theme to resolve the piece with a satisfying shape before moving on to “Rival.” With the drummer wielding brushes and the bassist taking the first solo, the tune initially establishes itself as a languid counterpart to the opener, but that changes quickly. Soon enough the four are moving at light-speed, with Mansfield riding a colossal wave and McCarthy igniting the performance.

Opening pensively, “(Organise) The Air in Front of You” gradually builds in force, its rise bolstered by repetition of its grand theme and an expansive exploration by Barry adding a soulful dimension. Four songs into the set, Mansfield dims the lights for the ponderous reflection “Joy Tears,” which progresses methodically through a series of key changes (very reminiscently of Bill Frisell's “Throughout,” by the way), before giving way to the blustery, bop-inflected swing of “REM Song,” Barry leading the charge and the leader not far behind. Mansfield's in top form throughout, directing the flow and moving seamlessly between leading and accompanying the band, and his partners match him with performances as engaged. One of the more appealing things about the recording is how effectively the lines blur between individual and group expression when solos emerge organically out of collective interplay and then blend back in as smoothly.

April 2024