A band led by a drummer, with none of the usual cliches, no show-off drum solos or tricky stuff with time-signatures, but plenty of irresistible rhythm. Lorraine Baker doesn’t even employ the conventional kit; she keeps her quartet’s music airborne mainly with the deep and commanding tones of tom-toms and bass drum, plus a few other bits and pieces. It’s unexpected and very refreshing, but what led her to do it?
Well, it turns out that she has long admired the playing of the late Ed Blackwell, New Orleans-born drummer with Ornette Coleman’s first band, and when you compare the two the influence is quite clear. That’s the way many great jazz musicians found their inspiration.
Her band is quite something, too. Binker Golding’s tenor saxophone solo on Blues Connotation is astonishing in its drive and fluency, and Paul Michael’s bass-guitar chords make a great accompaniment. The pianist is the immaculate Liam Noble, who magically always does the right thing. But, as the late Jon Hiseman used to say, the drummer plays the band, and the total sound of this band is certainly shaped by its creative and original drummer.
