Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Mammal Hands: Gift from the Trees

Mammal Hands: Gift from the Trees

By Neil Duggan
April 28, 2023
View read count

At first glance,

Mammal Hands

band / ensemble / orchestra

" data-original-title="" title="">Mammal Hands may seem a traditional jazz trio, but their perspectives on the jazz landscape offer enticing and engrossing new directions. Gift from the Trees is their fifth album and shows a new maturity in sound and feel. It draws on influences from folk, electronica, modern classical and ambient to produce a fresh and enveloping sound. The trio—saxophonist

Jordan Smart

saxophone

" data-original-title="" title="">Jordan Smart, pianist

Nick Smart

trumpet

" data-original-title="" title="">Nick Smart (yes, they're brothers) and drummer/percussionist

Jesse Barrett

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Jesse Barrett—all jointly contribute to the compositions. Jordan Smart uses soprano, alto and tenor saxophones together with bass clarinet. This opens up options for the trio's sound patterns so they can find musical micro-climates within their songs, outside what would normally be expected from a trio with this instrumental line-up.

For the first time they used a residential studio in Wales, recording over two stays and two seasons. Away from the usual studio time pressures, they were able to jam out ideas and focus on details. The results are intricate and intense and with a subconscious awareness of each other's playing. They take in influences including

Pharoah Sanders

saxophone, tenor
1940 - 2022

" data-original-title="" title="">Pharoah Sanders,

Yusef Lateef

woodwinds
1920 - 2013

" data-original-title="" title="">Yusef Lateef and

Steve Reich

composer / conductor
b.1936

" data-original-title="" title="">Steve Reich and there's often a Nordic feel to the album.

The opening track is "The Spinner." Nick Smart plays a fast left hand piano motif relentlessly repeating throughout the track. It's quite a feat of control and stamina. This allows Smart's saxophone the space to intertwine with the motif while Barrett shifts the percussion in unexpected directions. "Riser," as the title suggests, is one of the album's high points. It builds slowly over a piano riff and features Smart's saxophone at its lyrical best. "Nightingale" is a slowly lilting song with the main melody being played on the saxophone but it is easy to imagine this part being played by the fiddle in a folk environment.

The album centrepiece is "Dimu." This has a short preparatory track before moving into Middle Eastern influenced sax playing over the Smart's piano. The pianist then moves the track into the fast lane where the sax takes off over Barrett's tablas. "Labyrinth" starts with a punchy rhythm before piano and mournful sax combine to slowly build into a memorable melody. "Kai" is a late album highlight. Smart's sax rhythm swirls above the piano before taking the lead and the trio release the final melody.

Unusual piano structures, impressive percussion and lyrical saxophone have combined to produce an album of trio interplay that repays repeated listens. These are songs with a distinct identity with plenty of hooks, but there is also a lot of intricate details that are slowly revealed the more you listen. Mammal Hands are defying the standard jazz protocols and have something captivating to offer.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

The Spinner; Riser; Nightingale; Kernel; (Intro) Dimu; Dimu; Deep within Mountains; Labyrinth; Kai; Sleeping Bear.

Personnel

Nick Smart

trumpet

Jordan Smart

saxophone

Jesse Barrett

drums

Album information

Title: Gift from the Trees | Year Released: 2023 | Record Label: Gondwana Records

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Bill Frisell & Thomas Morgan 'Small ...
< Previous

New Releases With London Brew, Travi...
Next >

Mammal Hands Concerts

Sep 15 Mon

Mammal Hands

Blue Note Tokyo
Minato-ku, Japan

Nov 7 Fri

Mammal Hands

Sala Villanos
Madrid, Spain

Apr 29 Wed

Mammal Hands

Barbican Centre
London, UK

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.