Partisans: Swamp

Swamp
    
Artist: Partisans
Genre: Jazz
Label: Whirlwind

Streetwise London quartet Partisans have stuck together long enough to be more than just a bunch of good players on a recording project. They may all be in demand as sidemen elsewhere, but their fifth album in 18 years suggests a certain kind of pig-headed determination to make some original noise together. Guitarist Phil Robson and saxophonist Julian Siegel, two of the most influential leaders of the UK jazz scene, supply the tunes and the harmonic adventure, while bassist Thaddeus Kelly and ex-pat New York drummer Gene Calderazzo supply the muscle. Their sound artfully straddles the boundary between acoustic and electric music, equally capable of digging into a dirty funk groove or soaring to freer, post-bop altitudes. partisans.org.uk

Cormac Larkin

Cormac Larkin

Cormac Larkin, a contributor to The Irish Times, is a musician, writer and director