Alister Spence Trio: Gather

The Alister Spence Trio is – without a shadow of a doubt – united by alchemy, concocted by the rhythmic intensity of Mr Spence’s pianism. The repertoire on Gather is a perfect example of this ability. Here is an artist of the first order who has continued to use his innate mesmeric ability to make music dance and sing and cast its spell on his musical cohort as well as a legion of adoring listeners, of which I certainly am one.

One is drawn to Mr Spence’s musicianship largely because – like Cecil Taylor, Steve Lacy and musicians of their persuasion – he [Mr Spence] has emancipated his instrument, capitalising on its colours and freeing up its expressive potential. In doing so he forces his accompanying musicians – contrabassist Lloyd Swanton and drummer Toby Hall – to do likewise with their instruments. On this album it begins with at songful maelstrom of The Gathering.

Throughout, from piece to piece, amorous frolics of the notes that tumble out of the fingers of both hands make for a delightfully mad dance of double- and triple-crochets and demi-semi-quavers in the melodic lines. Bubbling and gurgling whorls of music emerge in great elliptical arcs. Cascading arpeggios and nestle cheek-by-jowl with a balletic left hand rumbling almost nonchalantly to the left of the keyboard, creating deliberately fortissimo harmonics.

This is the cue for a harmonic and rhythmic detonation of contrabass and drums by Mr Swanton and Mr Hall respectively, together [with the piano] becoming and ingeniously woven palimpsest of future past. Composition sows improvisation and each of the musicians is inspired up not simply by the notes that leap and pirouette from piano bass and drums, whole sections of the songs’ narratives to seem to pierce the music, digging deep, to emerge with profundity.

The dark sounds and tone textures of Mr Swanton’s contrabass – pizzicato and con arco – are a perfect foil for the pianist’s innovations in matters of harmony, orchestration, texture and structure. The evocative resonances of music from the pronouncements of Homeland through to ominous Falling From the Top of the Sky and [especially] in the meditative Moment Between speak to an allegorical musical kingdom of Mr Spence’s fabulous making.

With a pantheon of not just Steve Lacy and Cecil Taylor but Claude Debussy, and Anton Webern hovering in the ecstatic dancing of his music, Mr Spence skilfully superimposes his towering personality on everything. As a result, singular rhythmic patterns, different motifs, different methods of articulation among the various instrumental interactions create a wealth of textures and structures that make for luminous and quite magical music. But we’ve come to expect nothing less from this master of the musicianship – and of pianism – sculpted into his ever so singular art of composition.

Note: Band photograph [above] by Dom Corso

Deo Gratis…

Music – 1. The Gathering; 2. Homeland Introduction; 3. Homeland; 4. Crossed Over; 5. Beginning of The End of The Beginning; 6. Falling From the Top of the Sky; 7. Moment Between; 8. Antidote for Lean Times.

Musicians – Alister Spence: piano and piano samples; Lloyd Swanton: contrabass; Toby Hall: drums and glockenspiel.

Released: 2025
Label: Alister Spence Music ASM016
[alisterspence.com]
Runtime: 54:54