Discography

Stop press: new CD due in Autumn 2010

Walthamstow: postcode E17. Home to a closed down dog track, four dubious cargo-clad popstars, the longest market in Europe and also what's fast becoming London's most exciting district for jazz.

A sashay through the manor will hear the “rat a ta tat” of a Led Bib drum tumbling out from a dusty hallway, the “sshhwah” of a Partisans sax, and maybe a “dwoing” of a Fraud cymbal from a crack in a wall.

The nascent Twelves Trio are here too – all living just a few minutes apart in William Morris's gracious land. Comprising Riaan Vosloo (Electric Dr M/ Nostalgia 77) on bass, Tim Giles (Fraud) on drums and Mark Hanslip (Outhouse) on tenor sax, Twelves do the stop-you-in-your-East-London-tracks thing with big shiny Arts & Crafts knobs on.

Written last spring their pithily titled debut ‘Here Comes The Woodman With His Splintered Soul' is a heady mix of Coltrane-esque ballads, dark twenty-first century waltzes, subtle hooks and tumbling Mingus-esque grooves – already drawing comparisons with bands like Polar Bear. Based around killer minimal tunes, tracks explode giving the musicians maximum room for improvising and highlighting three artists at the height of their careers.

This trio is a stripped back version of ‘Examples of Twelves', the huge ensemble which continues to run alongside it. Says Riaan: ‘I'd been writing a lot for large groups like the octet and wanted to scale everything down a little, to get a more acoustic sound. I'd been feeling inspired by the William Parker and Sonny Rollins trio records and thought – maybe this is the way to go. It worked!” Stripped of keys, Riaan's strong ability on the bass is exposed, though self effacingly he says: ‘I just lay it down, the others do the fancy stuff”.

Whilst this is most definitely a jazz record, its wide-ranging ideas and hooks will pick up an army of fans from across the musical spectrum. Influences range from American magic realist dramas to obscure hip-hop and traditional folk. Mercury nominated Zoe Rahman, appearing on two of the tracks, adds greater depth with piano.

If William Morris was still winding through the roads of Walthamstow's streets today, I think he might just knock at Riaan's doorbell and say. “When's your next gig young man? Sounding bloody good!”

 

 

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