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Flock: Flock

By Chris May
May 7, 2022
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One of the strengths of the alternative jazz scene which has grown in London since around 2016 is the interconnectivity of its players. Everyone knows each other and ad hoc bands constantly come together.

Flock is the latest such conclave and it is something of a supergroup. On this its first album—others are promised—the lineup is reeds player

Tamar Osborn

saxophone, tenor

" data-original-title="" title="">Tamar Osborn, keyboard player

Danalogue the Conqueror

synthesizer

" data-original-title="" title="">Danalogue the Conqueror, pianist

Al Macsween

piano

" data-original-title="" title="">Al Macsween, vibraphonist

Bex Burch

percussion
b.1984

" data-original-title="" title="">Bex Burch and percussionist

Sarathy Korwar

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Sarathy Korwar (check Additional Personnel below for full details of instruments played).

These musicians are members, and most are leaders, of vanguard bands such as Collocutor,

The Comet Is Coming

band / ensemble / orchestra

" data-original-title="" title="">The Comet Is Coming,

Vula Viel

percussion

" data-original-title="" title="">Vula Viel,

Maisha

" data-original-title="" title="">Maisha, Upaj Collective and

Emanative

band / ensemble / orchestra

" data-original-title="" title="">Emanative.

What unites Flock are, first, enthusiasms for musical traditions beyond jazz and, second, the ability to convincingly combine acoustic roots with electronic futurism. There are resonances on the album of

Terry Riley

composer / conductor
b.1935

" data-original-title="" title="">Terry Riley's early minimalism,

Sun Ra

piano
1914 - 1993

" data-original-title="" title="">Sun Ra's space jazz, Maghrebi trance music, Javanese tuned-percussion music,

Jon Hassell

trumpet
b.1937

" data-original-title="" title="">Jon Hassell's audio collages, and

Tony Scott

clarinet
1921 - 2007

" data-original-title="" title="">Tony Scott's 1964 Verve album Music For Zen Meditation (an oxymoronic title if ever there was one, but that's not important right now).

There are ten tracks, some of them epic and wide screen, others close-up and miniaturist, and the prevailing mood is sunny. Motor rhythms pulse through everything, for the most part understated until the closing track. Fresh textures and unusual combinations of instruments succeed one another front of stage. It is hard to tell where composition ends and improvisation starts (but that's not important right now either). The production and mix are clean, spacious and inviting. The result is hugely enjoyable.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

Expand; Prepare To Let Go; Sounds Welcome; It��s Complicated; What Purpose; Murmuration; Bold Dream; My Resonance; How Many Are One; Fully Breathed.

Personnel

Tamar Osborn

saxophone, tenor

Danalogue the Conqueror

synthesizer

Al Macsween

piano

Bex Burch

percussion

Sarathy Korwar

drums

Additional Instrumentation

Tamar Osborn: bass clarinet, flute, soprano saxophone, EHX Deluxe Memory Boy; Danalogue: Fender Rhodes, Roland Juno-60, upright piano, Roland SH-09 bass synth; Al MacSween: prepared piano, piano, Moog Sub37; Bex Burch: gyil, vibraphone, bass drum, shakers, bells, gong, snake drum, electronics; Sarathy Korwar: drums, tabla.

Album information

Title: Flock | Year Released: 2022 | Record Label: Strut Records

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