Catching Up With Guitarist John Russell

By JOHN EYLES, Published: December 2, 2012

2012 has been a memorable year for guitarist John Russell. It marked the twenty-first anniversary of his concert series Mopomoso which meets monthly at The Vortex jazz club in Dalston, London, making it the city's longest-running improvised music series. The year was also the thirtieth anniversary of Fete Quaqua, his annual festival of improv. Both Mopomoso and Fete Quaqua have an international feel, with musicians from across the globe regularly visiting them, Russell always making them very welcome. London has a considerable number of musicians who are vital in ensuring the health of its improvised music scene, notably including Steve Beresford, Evan Parker and Eddie Prevost; Russell fully deserves his place in that list.

Alongside his London-based activities, Russell regularly gigs abroad, keeping up his worldwide contacts established through Mopomoso. He also continues to regularly release albums—which brings us to these two releases that highlight his strengths as a player...

Mats Gustafsson, John Russell, Raymond Strid
Birds
Den Records
2012

Birds was recorded in August 2011 at the Hagenfesten in Dala Floda, Sweden. The music consists of two tracks, both with titles borrowed from Tomas Bannehed's bookKorparna (Weyler Förlag, 2011), hence the album title.Mats Gustafsson plays soprano and baritone saxophones with Russell on guitar and Raymond Strid on drums.

The first track, the 43-minute "The Earth As The Sun And The Ravens Are Watching," opens with the unmistakable sound of Russell's guitar, spacious and uncluttered. The restraint and taste of his playing set the tone for the entire piece; he is joined by Strid who mirrors that restraint and by Gustafsson on soprano whose playing is also uncharacteristically contained, certainly compared to the high-octane barrages of which he is capable.

While Gustafsson in full, unfettered flight can be a thrilling experience, he shows that he is not solely reliant on power to generate those thrills; his controlled contributions here, carefully considered and placed, contribute to the piece's air of tension and excitement. Throughout, it feels as if the trio could be on the verge of letting rip at any moment, and that makes for thrilling listening.

The interchanges between the three are an edge-of-seat listening experience. Tellingly, the trio is not dominated by any one instrument or player, but is a true three-way conversation in which all play an equal role; even when Gustafsson switches to his larger horn, he does not alter his approach and the mood is sustained. Together, all three steer the piece to a satisfyingly low-key conclusion.

By comparison, on the four-minute end piece "The Birds, They Fly As They Want, Don't They?" the players are rather more energised, but never sacrifice the air of control or equality. Altogether, an object lesson in effective trio improvisation.

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