Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Trevor Tomkins' Sextant: For Future Reference

Trevor Tomkins' Sextant: For Future Reference

By Chris May
April 12, 2023
View read count

Trevor Tomkins' Sextant: For Future Reference

A 2-CD collection of four sessions recorded for BBC Radio between 1980 and 1983, For Future Reference is a snapshot, just one of many snapshots that might be taken, of British jazz in the period immediately before the so-called "jazz boom" of the mid to late 1980s. That boom was marked by an acknowledgement of the dancefloor, the greater visibility of musicians with roots in the African diaspora, and a willingness, even eagerness, by those musicians to publicly affirm the non-conformist attitudes which had shaped the socio-political beliefs of many, probably most, jazz musicians since the birth of the music. The boom went overground with three emblematic album releases:

Working Week

" data-original-title="" title="">Working Week's Working Nights (Virgin, 1985),

Courtney Pine

saxophone
b.1964

" data-original-title="" title="">Courtney Pine's Journey To The Urge Within (Verve, 1986) and

Jazz Warriors

band / ensemble / orchestra

" data-original-title="" title="">Jazz Warriors' Out Of Many, One People (Antilles New Directions, 1987).

Drummer and percussionist Trevor Tomkins was of the previous generation of musicians who were the movers and shakers on the London scene. In 2023 still too recent to lionize, Tomkins' generation did much to break the prevailing perception of British jazz as an underwhelming reflection of its American parent. Tomkins is to be found on many important albums of the late 1960s and 1970s, far too many to list here, from the

Don Rendell

saxophone
b.1926

" data-original-title="" title="">Don Rendell /

Ian Carr

trumpet
1933 - 2009

" data-original-title="" title="">Ian Carr 5Tet's Dusk Fire (Columbia, 1966) through to Neil Ardley's Kaleidoscope Of Rainbows (Gull, 1976) and

Barbara Thompson

saxophone, tenor
b.1944

" data-original-title="" title="">Barbara Thompson's Jubiaba (MCA, 1978).

Remarkably, given his talents and the esteem in which he was held by his peers, Tomkins, who passed in 2022 aged 82 years, never made an album under his own name. So For Future Reference is both Tomkins' debut and memorial as a leader. Fortunately, he kept the tapes of the BBC sessions and the estimable Jazz In Britain label has released the album in cooperation with his estate.

Sextant's lineup came together pretty much by happenstance, when at short notice Tomkins was asked to assemble a band for a pub gig and called on five friends. Although he was nominally its leader, Sextant was cooperative in spirit, with all the members free to put forward material. The personnel, which remained essentially unchanged throughout the group's existence, was multi-reedist

Jimmy Hastings

woodwinds

" data-original-title="" title="">Jimmy Hastings, trombonist

Chris Pyne

trombone
b.1939

" data-original-title="" title="">Chris Pyne, guitarist

Phil Lee

guitar, electric
b.1943

" data-original-title="" title="">Phil Lee, pianist

John Horler

piano
b.1947

" data-original-title="" title="">John Horler, bassist

Paul Bridge

bass, acoustic

" data-original-title="" title="">Paul Bridge, and Tomkins. On one of the sessions heard here,

Brian Smith

drums
b.1939

" data-original-title="" title="">Brian Smith deps for Hastings.

Tomkins once said that his favourite bands were

John Coltrane

saxophone
1926 - 1967

" data-original-title="" title="">John Coltrane's quartet and

Bill Evans

piano
1929 - 1980

" data-original-title="" title="">Bill Evans' trio, and Sextant combined the sinew of the first with the melodicism of the second. Most of the tunes are originals by Lee and Horler, with others by

Stan Sulzmann

saxophone, tenor

" data-original-title="" title="">Stan Sulzmann,

Ralph Towner

guitar
b.1940

" data-original-title="" title="">Ralph Towner,

Cedar Walton

piano
1934 - 2013

" data-original-title="" title="">Cedar Walton and

Kenny Wheeler

flugelhorn
1930 - 2014

" data-original-title="" title="">Kenny Wheeler. There is not a dud among them, but two standouts are Horler's "Three Four Peace" and "Evansong," both salutes to Evans. Hastings, Pyne, Lee and Horler all have plenty of solo space, and Tomkins, who always had to be dragged unwillingly towards that spotlight, has all too few.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

CD1: Chapter One; GRS; Celeste; Ugetsu; ��Smatter; Early Spring; Your Eyes Are Love; The Right Moment. CD2: Zemlja; Summer Night; Three Four Piece; Evansong; Your Dancing Toes; For Future Reference; Ballad No. 1.

Personnel

Trevor Tomkins

percussion

Jimmy Hastings

woodwinds

Brian Smith

drums

Chris Pyne

trombone

Phil Lee

guitar, electric

John Horler

piano

Paul Bridge

bass, acoustic

Additional Instrumentation

Trevor Tomkins: drums; Jimmy Hastings: soprano and tenor saxophones, flute, bass flute; Brian Smith: soprano and tenor saxophones, flute; Chris Pyne: trombone, bass trombone; Phil Lee: electric guitar, 12-string guitar; John Horler: piano, electric piano; Paul Bridge: bass.

Album information

Title: For Future Reference | Year Released: 2023 | Record Label: Jazz In Britain

PREVIOUS / NEXT

The Thing That Knowledge Can't Eat
< Previous

Cuba Bella
Next >

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.