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Terry Pack: Palimpsest

By Bruce Lindsay
June 26, 2010
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During a career that spans four decades, British bassist Terry Pack has been a member of prog rockers The Enid, worked as a session musician for a diverse array of musicians including

Steve Howe

guitar, electric
b.1947

" data-original-title="" title="">Steve Howe and

" data-original-title="" title="">Candy Dulfer and played in bands across much of the world from Europe to South America and Australia. He played jazz from his earliest years as a musician, working with singer Liane Carroll from the early 1980s, and in 2006 he released his first album as bandleader—What Happens Now (Symbol Records). Palimpsest is his follow-up—a beautifully-played, graceful, record that combines classic tunes with Pack's own compositions.

Two tunes from

Miles Davis

trumpet
1926 - 1991

" data-original-title="" title="">Miles Davis' Kind of Blue(Columbia, 1959) are featured and in both cases Pack's arrangements offer fresh perspectives. "Blue in Green" opens with a strong bass solo from Pack before pianist Mark Edwards and drummer Enzo Zirilli enter emphatically to create a lovely trio performance. "All Blues" opens with a funky bass, piano, drum trio that keeps close to the original melody and features a fine couple of solos from Edwards and Rob Leake on alto. A Portuguese version of

Sting

bass, electric
b.1951

" data-original-title="" title="">Sting's "Fragile"—"Fragilidade"—benefits from the smoky vocals of Barbara Raimondi and another lovely solo from Edwards. "Amazing Grace" is given a reverential treatment with Pack's bass and Edwards' piano taking turns to play the melody over Zirilli's nicely understated drums and Edwards' chordal organ part.

Pack's own compositions are a joy, displaying inventiveness, humor and some great grooves. "El Puebla Nuevo" is a strong opener, its danceable rhythm driving a wordless vocal chorus before a wild trumpet solo from James McMillan. "Seven Sisters" is another trio piece—a lovely straight-ahead ballad. "Louis Borenius"—dedicated to Pack's late musician friend—is a shuffle that opens with a passing resemblance to

Joe Zawinul

keyboards
1932 - 2007

" data-original-title="" title="">Joe Zawinul's "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" and has an arrangement that gives it a big band feel. Veteran Scottish tenor player

Bobby Wellins

saxophone, tenor
1936 - 2017

" data-original-title="" title="">Bobby Wellins delivers a rich, swinging, solo on this tune and weaves some bop-influenced lines around McMillan's flugelhorn on what is probably the album's most left-field composition—"Palimpsest/Insensatez."

On the evidence of Palimpsest, Pack is capable of creating some interesting and enjoyable jazz, both as a composer and as a player. He's surrounded himself with some extremely talented players, who all deserve to share the credit for the album's quality, delivering a well-produced and varied set of tunes. Hopefully Pack has more jazz to come and if he can share its creation with the musicians on Palimpsest, then so much the better.

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Track Listing

El Puebla Nuevo; Seven Sisters; All Blues; Fragilidade; Pulse; Waltz for TC; Blue in Green; Louis Borenius; Pentacle; Palimpsest/Insensatez; Amazing Grace.

Personnel

Terry Pack

bass, acoustic

Terry Pack: bass; Mark Edwards: piano, organ; James McMillan: trumpet, flugelhorn, tenor horn; Rob Leake: alto sax, tenor sax, clarinet, flute; Enzo Zirilli: drums; Bobby Wellins: tenor sax (8, 10); Barbara Raimondi: vocals (4); Rachel Munro: vocals (1, 5); Jim Whyte: vocals (1, 5); Simon Webster: congas (1, 3, 10), darbouka (1, 10); Phil Hudson: guitar (10).

Album information

Title: Palimpsest | Year Released: 2010 | Record Label: Symbol Records

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