Music / contemporary jazz
Review: corto.alto, Jam Jar
When a touring band comes to town it’s not just their set list that they bring with them – there’s a whole energy/empathy thing that goes with being stuck in a van together. Like a group of holidaymakers the musicians are cut off from their everyday stuff and, for better or worse, they’re just in the band, 24-7. Once on stage you can usually tell how it’s been going by the banter, the glances and grins and the general energy of the music. To judge by corto.alto’s gig at the Jam Jar it would seem they’re having quite a ball on the road.
Graham Costello (drums), Mark Hendry (bass), Liam Shortall (trombone) Mateusz Sobieski (alto sax), Harry Weir (tenor sax).(Photo: Tony Benjamin)
Having started in Glasgow in 2019 as an occasional studio recording get-together corto.alto were supposed to hit the road in 2020, with a Bristol gig an early promise. But of course all that never happened and it’s only now that they can put their live show to to the test. As bandleader and composer of the music it was only right that Liam Shortall’s trombone should get to play a fanfare solo as, clad in matching black boiler suits, the seven musicians took up their places onstage. It was a vigorous start, quickly swept into a dark drum and bass groove by Graham Costello’s percussion and Luca Pisanu’s dub-style bassline and ushering in a fearsomely argumentative tenor sax overblast from Harry Weir. Joined by Mateusz Sobieski’s alto sax, the three horns’ fine strong ensemble sound swept the number back through the groove and, after a decent interval that saw the first signs of dancing in the capacity crowd, it drew to a close.
Big Jeff meets corto.alto with Fergus McCreadie (keyboards) in the shadows. (Photo: Tony Benjamin)
This was an audience that really got instrumental virtuosity but also really wanted to get moving, too, and the corto.alto formula was designed to provide precisely for that demand. Each number began with a showcase solo intro before establishing its stylish groove – broken beats, jazz funk, classic soul, grimy drum and bass – and then allowing another player to really stretch out over it. Given the powerful rhythm machine behind them the tunes could pull back at times – as when on Mayday trombone and alto sax got into a conversational dispute that eventually saw them playing alone for a short spell until the bigger picture dropped back into place with an exhilarating rush.
is needed now More than ever
corto.alto – James McKay (guitar). (Photo: Tony Benjamin)
Similarly guitarist James McKay had his moment in Not For Now, the unfortunately appropriate title track of the band’s new EP intended for release before the tour began but sadly still held up in a pressing plant somewhere. Nevertheless it’s a good tune that gained much from James’ Metheny-esque intro, an impassioned alto sax solo and a challengingly long melodic unison of brass, keys and guitar. Liam got to show some of his multi-instrumental skills by leading off new song Bleeped on guitar with a tightly repetitive minimalist sequence that wove into a post-blues brass number. By this time the joint, as they say, was really jumping.
corto.alto at The Jam Jar (Photo: Tony Benjamin)
It was clear this was a very accomplished sextet but two players stood out, namely Graham Costello’s drumming which gave a tireless uplift to each number and exploded impressively (and crowd-pleasingly) in the two opportunities he had to take a solo. The other was keyboard player Fergus McCreadie, lurking in the shadows behind the brass line-up, whose technical brilliance brought a subversive harmonic mischief to several numbers. He was most conspicuously radical in the Scandinavian piano trio within Three Years On, totally unleashed in the thoughtfully constructed chaos of Skronk and eventually brought things to a close with a lyrical piece of solo playing.
But while individual players all had their time in the metaphorical spotlight it was the overall ingenuity of the writing and arranging that gave them the opportunity and for that corto.alto’s Liam Shortall deserves full credit for creating such a highly danceable showcase for great jazz playing.
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