Dinosaur: To The Earth
Edition Records

Ten years on from its initial formation as the Laura Jurd Quartet, Dinosaur takes a surprising turn into acoustic territory for its third album To The Earth. Whereas many a band has seen its sound become more electric, the UK-based outfit—its trumpet-playing leader plus keyboard player Elliot Galvin, bassist Conor Chaplin, and drummer Corrie Dick—has moved from its 2018 ‘plugged-in' collection Wonder Trail to a set that's comparatively ‘old-school,' not just in the instrumental makeup but in its greater emphasis on improvisation. Whereas compositions on the earlier albums are often intricate affairs, many of the new tunes, laid down last year at Livingston Studios in London, are simpler in structure, and as a result soloing's abundant, with turns by the ever-developing leader impressing in particular. Adding to the recording's appeal, its seven pieces—five Jurd originals, a Billy Strayhorn cover, and a group-credited closer—weigh in at a flab-free forty-two minutes. Much quality music-making is squeezed into that modest total.

It doesn't surprise that an acoustic jazz date would see influences by icons such as Duke and Miles arise, but the inclusion of “Mosking,” an affectionate nod to Norwegian trio Moskus, shows Dinosaur isn't looking backwards only. Jurd's unquestionably the leader here, and not only because she writes the lion's share of the band's material. It's her always compelling horn playing that leads the way, though Galvin impresses too and Chaplin and Dick contribute a consistently responsive foundation. The four compose a cohesive and flexible unit capable of adapting collectively to wherever Dinosaur's adventurous music takes them.

The title track's a fabulous tune animated by an insistent bass pulse, an inner piano strum, and a bright trumpet-and-piano theme. Surprises come quickly—Dick seemingly emulating Tony Williams' groove from In a Silent Way before shifting into a relaxed, Latin-tinged mode, for example. Jurd's prowess as an improviser is resoundingly evident in the short, serpentine phrases she drapes across the sultry backdrop, her horn plunging into a lower register before darting upwards. The relaxed feel lends itself to confident explorations deftly managed.

“Slow Loris” catches the ear with a low-end base that slithers step-wise underneath the melody voiced by Jurd and Galvin, but the bluesy tune grows more arresting when the latter's oblique figures and splashes call Monk to mind and Jurd works growls redolent of early trumpeters into her solo. Dinosaur treats Strayhorn's “Absinthe” (recorded by Ellington on 1963's Afro-Bossa) to a Western-styled lope that recalls Sonny Rollins' Way Out West before detouring into early Ellington territory. To his credit, Galvin doesn't ape the legend in his solo, yet nonetheless manages to evoke his spirit, while Jurd plays it cool, alternately purring against the groove and strafing it with rapid trill-like gestures.

June 2020