CD Reviews: SHOWING THE WAY
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Posted by: Adminon Monday, June 16, 2003 - 09:58 AM |
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BACK DOOR : Askin’ The Way (Cultural Foundation. Cult 023) : Cultural Foundation, Rosedale, North Yorkshire, YO128 8RL
Thirty years ago Back Door were flogging their debut album across the counter in The Lion Inn on Blakey Ridge out on a remote part of the Yorkshire moors. Though no record company would touch it at first, you probably can’t buy it anywhere now. A collectors’ item, without a doubt. Back Door rose to a certain kind of fame and ended up on world tours, before the inevitable break-up and return to relative individual obscurity. Now they’re back, gigging at the same pub.
The reason being there’s a new album to promote and, like the very first, this one sees them on an independent label. It also finds them doing what they’ve always done best.
They play a tight fusion of the blues with jazz sensibilities. Although they often supported prog-rock noodlers – I saw them with PFM – they always kept their tunes brief and succinct. I have no doubt that Ron Aspery could have recorded solos to match his contemporaries on either alto or soprano but he exercised restraint. He showed how it could be done. The longest tune here is only 4.09 and he’s still a master of the subtle nudge and nuance. Listen to the title track for instance, it just gets better with each version. Any of the newer ballads such as Hurlingham Down or the blues-drenched Spare Me The Tears show him at his lyrical best. And he accompanies himself on piano for music to help nurse your hangover, The Cold Light Of Day. All of these also show the Aspery/Hodgkinson flair for the concisely melodic.
Drummer Tony Hicks always played what mattered and he is doing it just as well now, propelling these little gems and adding just enough to fill the spaces. No solos either, though he’s picked up accordion en route, and treats us to a little extra colour. What can be said of the virtuoso bass man ? He knows when to attack and when to lie low. All sorts of daft comparisons were made once but he is simply Colin Hodgkinson, his own man, playing in his own way, leathery, supple and gritty.
Though a couple of older tunes are taken at a slightly slower tempo, it isn’t all bluesy reflection. There’s still the jostle of Vienna Breakdown with mercurial sax and throbbing grounded bass and Slivadiv, still taut and wiry, given a new free- ish opening from sax and drums. For those who like it rockier there are a couple of new pieces, Drinking With Boxers and Get Lucky, which are buoyant and loose, affording opportunities for anyone wanting to play air-saxophone.
I have one quibble. How come there’s no singing ? There should have a been a vocal track or two since Hodgkinson has a certain way with Robert Johnson songs. But that aside this is a welcome return for one of the more enduring and unique trios of that era, the ones who didn’t make the concept album or perform with three-ring circuses on ice. They just played bloody great music. They still do.
In case you have any difficulties finding it, which is quite likely, go straight to sales at www.cultfound.org where there is a secure on-line purchase facility.
Note: BY Paul Donnelly
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