Ron Caines and Martin Archer reconvene here for their third Axis album, two years on from Dream Feathers and with a cast of collaborators that includes familiar faces and some new to the adventure, but all willing to lend their personal stamp to Ron’s suite of undulating shoreline visions.
Spilt into three distinct suites, that sweet sax sound of his is ever present throughout Port Of Saints, but the support of the ensemble has the perfect weight, always supportive, sometimes forceful but never overwhelming.
The album opens with the sax unfurling like smoke from the speakers, writhing and twisting in the wind as Johnny Hunter‘s drums tumble and shiver like the waves in Susan Caines‘ lovely cover art. Gus Garside‘s bass picks out the foreshore, a steadying influence on the ever-dancing sax. There is a muted quality as the pieces progress, a sense of restraint that acts as a kind of shelter for the listener.
Ron’s reveries are measured and dreamy, and unfold with a keening sweetness that soothes and hints at protection. Although there are ten players listed on the cast list, it is a shared and delicate series of arrangements and while written by and centred around Ron, his playing is so generous in the space left for the others to entwine. Chris Sharkey‘s guitar is fine and painterly, and as the opening suite progresses, so a groove of sorts is attained and the sense of the players drawn into its wake with Ben Higham‘s tuba lending a faint sense of urgency; a drawing together giving more of an ensemble feel that lies somewhere between drifting jazz and minimalist orchestra on the final section. There is a lovely duet between Martin and Ron that highlights their different approaches, and the squalls of seabirds and the search for textures are ever satisfying. This is music of detail and the interstitial subtleties are a delight to spot. The addition of Corey Mwamba‘s vibes on the second suite lends that magical feel that only they can to an already charming sound. The sense of distance form the everyday is reinforced when all else drops away and Ron weaves a spell that entrances the rhythm section and gradually draws them back in. Their gentle insistence pushes him a little further out as things progress, and a brief storm flash of vibes and drums shakes things up into a stately march that winks to New Orleans with its ruffling snare but continues to paint its own unique soundscape like the impressionistic washes of the cover art. The listener constantly marvels at Ron’s lightness of touch and the generous support of the ensemble who splash the odd repeated motif into the mix like sonic landmarks seen through the sea mist.Each suite feels as though it starts from a slightly different perspective of a particular place, and the final one builds ghostly passages that have a touch more deliberation and obfuscating interventions. A sense of underwater adventure pervades and the longform “Oceania” is replete with sonar and the distant cry of whales. It is shrouded in blue, that sense of ocean floor disturbance that renders things opaque and indistinct. There are few more surprises here including and electronics, drum and tuba workout that feels as though something is being dragged unwillingly from the depths, while the violin, guitar and birdsong outro finds the clouds parting, the sea settling and calm reigning once again.
Port Of Saints is a real pleasure of an adventure and one from which really demands repeated plays as the listener searches for the little details that tie this group of players together. Everyone is on good form and the production from Martin and Hervé Perez is top notch. It pleases and surprises that Julian Tardo from Insides is also involved; but then this album is all about the willing the listener to ignore expectations and give up to the gravitational pull.-Mr Olivetti-
