The Occasional Quintet

Six spontaneous compositions by five skilled improvisers with wide ranging backgrounds from jazz, folk, rock, classical, avant-garde, and of course improv; their performances are indeed occasional, with their first being in early 2023, with four more following that year, and 2024 looks to be about the same. Recording Rites is the group’s first release, and the liner notes state “The music was played without prior planning… there are no overdubs and no edits.” So who are these players? The group is Steve Day (drums and percussion), Roger Hall (cello, double bass, gongs, and percussion), Ezra Jacobs (electric cello), Sam Richards (piano, keyboards, accordion, harmonica, and voice — although there are no vocals other than some grunts and howls in this set), and Ric White (saxes, flute, EWI, and electronics) with the support crew on this album of Chris Batten (live mix) and Martin Archer (live production, post-recording mix and mastering). The six cuts range from gentle, dreamy and free spirited unclassifiable whim driven sounds to harder, edgy impulse powered jazz honking and everything in between; on their site they list Ornette Coleman and Sun Ra among their influences, and that can be heard especially in the louder more aggressive moments, but some of the quieter moments almost qualify as ambient. The six cuts, in line with the album title, are simply titled “Rites 1” through “Rites 6,” none of that crazy concept stuff to get in the way of the great music at hand, and these players are using a variety of extended techniques in addition to the standard ones one would expect. The recordings were made live at Ashburton Arts Centre in Devon on June 8, 2024 – where the group has performed many times prior. The pieces range from as short as three minutes to as long as nearly nineteen, with no spaces or applause between, not even at the end – like a continuous sixty-five minute piece of music, though it does go through numerous changes along the way. For a first album, Recording Rites is an amazing and powerful statement that should please any fan of superbly crafted group improvisation. – Peter Thelen, EXPOSÉ http://expose.org/index.php/articles/display/the-occasional-quintet-recording-rites-3.html

The Ashburton Arts Centre in Devon – like Kinkskerswell, where Leo Records is based, not far from Newton Abbot – has been named “One of the best small live music venues in the UK” by the Guardian. One reason for this is THE OCCASIONAL QUINTET, which is formed by bassist & percussionist Roger Hall, poet & percussionist Steve Day, known for Blazing Flame (on Leo) and with the Day Evans Dale Ensemble (on Discus), who came to Devon from Bristol in 2021, and tenor saxophonist & EWI horn player Ric White, along with Eliza Jacobs on electric cello and Sam Richards on piano. The latter would be a chapter of his own as the composer of “Kropotkin”, “Vox Populi” or “Trees” and as the author of “Sonic Harvest: Towards Musical Democracy” and “The Engaged Musician”. The five seniors, who also resonate together in the Occasional Liberation Music Orchestra and Sonic Harvest Ensemble, have channeled their devotion manifested in word, image – White painted the cover painting – and sound in an exemplary way in Recording Rites (DISCUS 184CD), recorded on 8.6.24 at the Arts Centre, and as unique as their playing live without prior planning in Totnes, Teignmouth or N Abbot. Between tender solemnity with bowed cymbals, symphonic gong, ritual percussion, fragile and sonorous string playing, breathy and fluting blower and a more firmly drummed, plucked ductus, evocative sounds are explored. Chamber jazz is just a pigeonhole that they daydreamily leave behind. On melodic paths, melancholy decelerated and with dark bow strokes, dark pizzicato, or with energetic jerks, sharpening cello, bubbling tenor sax, rushing drumming. With the kick of the wild boar, the dancing, rattling druid in his ear. With a rough saxophone, akin to the cry of crows and jays and the blazing fire, glassy and bittersweet piano sound, the clatter of metal and stone, sorrowful or rough strokes. As traditional craftsmanship and indispensable human art. – Rigobert Dittmann, BAD ALCHEMY

Suitable group name and CD title for a quintet of veterans that occasionally performs thanks to a handful of organizers who are not always looking for the latest hype. However, don’t expect classic swing or bop. This is experimental ambient improvisation of the dangerous type with some anarchist excesses. It took just over an hour, without the slightest preparation, for Sam Richards (piano), Ric White (tenor saxophone, EWI, electronics), Eliza Jacobs (electric cello), Roger Hall (double bass, gong, percussion) and Steve Day (drums, percussion) to record six “rites” that vary in length from nine to eighteen minutes with the exception of three minutes. Respect! – Georges Tonla Briquet, JAZZ HALO

The Occasional Quintet‘s first recorded outing is a low-key masterpiece that finds the five players, Sam Richards on piano, Ric White on sax and electronics, Eliza Jacobs on cello, Roger Hall on bass and Steve Day on percussion, convening for an hour’s improv at Ashburton Arts Centre. Split into six sections, Recording Rites starts as a progressive, surreptitious unfurling, the instruments gradually awakening into a half-light of squeals, brushes and percussive hints. You can sense the players swapping glances, offering opportunities, little tasters of what is to come. The percussion is a stream of stamps and rattles, causing an outcry of unfamiliar sounds, and the slow agglomeration of instruments feels like the soundtrack to something unseen but will appear in its own good time; but for now the listener is just looking over their shoulder, waiting. The production is such that you can make out each player in all their subtle glory, from the low keen of the double bass through the shielded wail of cello to the scattered heartbreak piano. The heart-attack percussion and panting sax are accompanied by the growl of electronics that lurk in the shadowy spaces. The six sections do differ, a wild sax and melancholy piano duet opening “”Rites 2”. There is a hint of Ennio Morricone‘s Il Gruppo in the sense of creeping dread and the relentless forward motion. A trickle of piano allows a moment’s pastoral respite that opens the atmosphere up before strings sweep low and insistent. It is a constantly expanding vista that often finds two instruments pairing up briefly before something else sweeps that into the past; a brief trickle of water, the sound of frogs, it never settles and not one single second is repeated. The constant drive to evolve and pursue is felt by all five players and the breadth of sounds is fantastic, with bowed cymbals and gong clearing the air ready for the next meandering assault.. Bass and piano offer sparse, haunted accompaniment with cymbal cries and a full width of musical textures in section three, with the percussion gradually raising the temperature briefly and stirring it into free-flowing maelstrom that allows the players to shake loose as the piece builds to an unexpected crescendo, the dancing sax leading the way through the wreckage. The segues are almost imperceptible, although the openings are generally gentler; but there is a natural flow to each piece that the quintet subliminally understands. The percussion is almost rhythmic on section four, with the odd vocal interjection; but the furniture-moving joy as the piece proceeds makes it seem as though it is your floor that is being stomped. Things slow down a little, allowing the rivulets of piano to dictate the direction, an offbeat melody drawing the others in its wake before transforming like Mr Hyde into a torrid outpouring of drama. There is no time for coasting here as there is always somebody waiting, preparing a spark that will catch fire and urge things onward; but towards the end, the low key melancholy of the piano is a mood changer, stilling the other players briefly as they search for an appropriate entry point. Due the length of the pieces here, there is always that opportunity, but perhaps the most extraordinary thing is how much you discover with each listen. You could leave this album on repeat for the day and it wouldn’t grow old. Whether this is a one-off or not, I have no idea; but Recording Rites is a sublime example of improv players working together, adding just enough to keep the listener intrigued. Perfectly weighted, it is a joy from start to finish. – Mr Olivetti, FREQ https://freq.org.uk/reviews/occasional-quintet-recording-rites/

Born out of workshop sessions Recording Rites is a 60-minute spontaneous composition. [The musicians] can claim credit for this fascinating (and beautifully recorded) journey in sound. – Kevin Whitlock, JAZZWISE

Here is an album like only the British can make, sound waves that could come from the instrumental parts of King Crimson’s first records crossed with hints of noise dear to Lee Ranaldo. The first listens of Recording Rites highlight heterogeneous assemblages, the melodies being suggested. Once the speech is deepened, a variety of sounds appear and thus exciting details. Along with percussionist Steve Day and saxophonist Ric White, bassist Roger Hall initiated an improvisation workshop at the Ashburton Arts Centre located in the city’s former Methodist Church. Cellist Eliza Jacobs and pianist Sam Richards soon joined them to work on the composition Recording Rites. Six simply numbered pieces follow one another and offer variations in climates based on the space-time relationship. Percussion plays an important role: it participates in the rise of musical pieces with finesse. “Rites 1” accentuates experimental research, atonality confronts the piano played in a minimalist way. Breaks in atmosphere follow one another sparingly. The long piece “Rites 2” attests to a nervousness induced by the saxophonist in the first part of the piece. The group advances on arid lands, marked by the many punctuations that the pianist brings. The very energetic free explosion at the end of the composition echoes chance, the energy is feverishly renewed. The Occasional Quintet offers cinematographic music, focused on a stripped-down work surface. The interiorization that gains “Rites 6” takes the time to deploy a liquefied chemical substance, as if deformed. A semblance of blues resurfaces with the piano, quickly erased in favour of the abstractions of the saxophone. This record dedicated to improvisation seduces with its melodramatic anchors. – Mario Borroni, CITIZEN JAZZ https://www.citizenjazz.com/The-Occasional-Quintet.html