Mark Lockheart: Days on Earth
Edition Records

British tenor saxophonist Mark Lockheart has released what might be his most fully realized recording to date in an illustrious career distinguished by awards and a deep discography. For the set, the Loose Tubes cofounder and member of Seb Rochford's still-active Polar Bear augmented a first-call lineup of players, specifically alto saxist Alice Leggett, guitarist John Parricelli, pianist Liam Noble, bassist Tom Herbert, and Rochford on drums with a thirty-piece orchestra conducted by John Ashton Thomas. If the players sound comfortable with one another, one reason is certainly shared histories: Herbert and Rochford constitute Polar Bear's rhythm section, for example, and Parricelli is also a former Loose Tubes member. Whether by accident or design, Days on Earth encompasses many of the styles Lockheart's explored during the past three decades while also arguing strongly on behalf of his gifts as both player and composer.

The orchestral opening of “A View From Above” hints that the album will be a full classical-jazz fusion, not one with the former tacked on as an afterthought. And sure enough once Lockheart and company enter, the material blossoms into a satisfying blend of quintet and orchestra. Intricately through-composed as the piece is, space is made available for solos (including an acoustic Parricelli) and for the quintet to assert itself as an independent entity. As a scene-setter, “A View From Above” sets a high bar, but what follows is no drop-off.

The relative quiet of “Brave World” allows the small group's sonorities to be clearly heard, even if the orchestra's strings and harp make critical contributions to the nocturnal mood, after which “This Much I Know Is True” shifts the focus to a robust, rhythmically driven setting that exudes a rather Eastern-tinged, almost samba-like feel. In this dramatic standout, Lockheart drapes an aromatically smoky solo across the cool fire stoked by Herbert and Rochford, which the orchestra nicely embellishes with flutes, horns, and strings. Up next, the Latin-charged scene-stealer “Party Animal” is even more robust, its swing receiving extra potency from the rhythm section's muscularity and Noble's prodding. More raucous than the album's other six pieces, “Party Animal” shows that the involvement of large resources doesn't have to mean constricting control and containment.

The album moves into funk-rock territory in “Believers,” with an electric-wielding Parricelli digging into a raw groove and even the strings getting funky. Similar to the opener, the transporting evocation “Triana” weaves the resources into a well-integrated showcase that strikes an excellent balance between orchestral and small group elements, while at album's end the rousing “Long Way Gone” makes as lasting an impression with its vibrant tapestry of flutes, harp, bass clarinet, strings, piano, and tenor sax.

January 2019