"SPARK IN THE DARK" Full Monte SLAMCD 209
Chris Biscoe alto sax track 1,2,3, sop sax1,4,5, alto clt 1,4,6; Brian Godding gtr synth; Marcio Mattos bs; Tony Marsh dms (except track 1)
Tracks 1, 2, 3 & 4 recorded at Porcupine Studio London, 3 Nov 1990. Tracks 5, 6 & 7 at Exeter and Devon Arts Centre, 23 January 1994.
Tracks:
1 Bubbling marsh 5m 03s
2 Spark in the dark 11 16
3 Mogadonic tonic 14 15
4 Lift life 8 33
5 Grand Hotel Ascenseur 7 26
6 Spiritual cleavage II 13 18
7 Wind dance 1 50
Jazz Journal, December 1994 The four members of Full Monte - ex-pats from various Mike Westbrook bands - are catholic in their musical tastes, encompassing everything from free improvisation through orthodox swing to jazz rock. They are also remarkably democratic in performance, equal contributors to the work in hand. What results is very engaging. The title track is impressionistic and sparky, the guitar synth of Brian Godding well integrated into the whole as it sends out abrupt chiming runs to disturb the even flow. Mattos's double bass is heard to good effect on Lift Life, while Biscoe is both fluent and mercurial in performance, his contributions always surprising in the directions they take. With Tony Marsh ever inventive, the four turn in a set that, while rigorously uncommercial in appeal, is nonetheless highly enjoyable, a timely reminder that sparks can fly from every direction. Simon Adams
RUBBERNECK 54 Debut album from this British quartet. Seven improvisations that sometimes get close to fusion but wriggle away across more interesting terrain. Chris Biscoe's saxes and clarinet are richly melodic, boppish, at times lead from the front with a rising intensity into abstraction; bassist Marcio Mattos provides his usual undersung. robust textural activity, never content to merely run through routine rhythm section duties. Brian Godding's guitar synth is on the problematic side, its lush, fusion-like chords tending to overdetermine the complexion of some phases. Tony Marsh is brillian throughout, never over-emphasizing tempo and quick to use cymbals and snare to expand the sound field. Their experience shines through.
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