Dan Brown – Rewilding
Independent – 17 September 2021
There is something intrinsically joyful in how Scottish traditional music blends so well with jazz, as witnessed over the last year through recordings by Matt Carmichael and Fergus McCready and Scottish folk collective Staran. To those ranks, we can now add the name Dan Brown, a 25-year-old multi-instrumentalist. Born in the English Lake District’s Kendal, Dan is now a stalwart of the Glasgow jazz scene who has toured and performed with the Joshua Elcock Big Band, a trumpeter who also appears on this disc and with Ross Wilson’s Blue Rose Code. Rewilding is his recording debut which features him on piano, acoustic tenor guitar, clarinet and accordion, alongside the talents of, among others, the aforementioned Matt Carmichael on saxophones and Laura Wilkie on fiddle (Kinnaris Quintet).
Whilst only a relatively short offering, at just 24 minutes long, spread over seven tracks, it is a joyous introduction, auguring well for Brown’s future. The opener, ‘Above the Clouds’, starts simply enough, with a fairly orthodox guitar and piano, duetting in a slow reel ahead of the accordion joining in. A simple and beguiling melody, it is as short as it is delightful. ‘Watchers of the Waves’ follows, creating an air of anticipation, as the piano is joined by Carmichael’s warm and smoky tenor sax, the instruments dancing around each other. It gradually loosens, and each musician stretches out without ever losing sight of the central theme. Utterly glorious.
‘Greenside’ again starts with the picked guitar, underpinned by the subtle undercurrent of Stephen Henderson’s percussion, ahead of the swoop of Wilkie’s fiddle, the two main instruments slotting in alongside each other effortlessly, a mild syncopation adding to the cadences of the tune. Midway, all accelerate for a brisk canter to the end. Throughout, there is a vibrating bass motif that adds to the overall buoyant nature of the track.
I have yet to hear a better title this year than ‘The Tractors of South Uist’. Again, the merest snippet of a tune, at barely over a minute, solo piano is all you need and all you get, my mind picturing kelp collection from a sandy beach. Brown says it was the rusting disused tractors that inspired him. The livelier ‘Seven Spires’ follows, featuring flautist Tom Campbell-Paine, another alumnus of the Royal Conservatoire. After a brief introduction, the drums of Stephen Henderson kick in, and off it goes, the jazziest track here, with elements of jazz-rock fusion in the electric keyboard. The track was inspired by the record-breaking Irish-Belgian climber Sean Villanueva O’Driscoll who recently celebrated his first solo ascent of the Fitz Roy Massif in Patagonia by playing the penny whistle.
The final two tracks feature Elcock on trumpet and flugelhorn. Firstly, ‘Lines Across the Sky’, with nimble guitar and piano giving a light Italianate chamber effect, accordion adding to the effect, with flavours reminiscent of some of the music from The Battlefield Band’s Music in Trust project, that thought then dispelled by the paired entry of trumpet and clarinet, skirting a countermelody in the hinterland. It makes for a wondrous connection of contrasts. Finally, ‘Seal Song’, with a languid piano opening segment. Clarinet and accordion dip in as the pace steps up, with a pastoral jig emerging, Henderson’s percussion joining the fray. Finally, by way of climax, the tenor guitar is added, and to crown it all, joint trumpet and flugelhorn fall into line. All too briefly, and it’s over.
Rewilding is majestic music. Dan Brown, the writer, lead-musician and producer, has a promising future, as do all the contributors here who must share some due credit for the outcome. It’s a half-hour well spent.
Order Rewilding via Bandcamp: https://danbrownmusic.bandcamp.com/album/rewilding
More: https://danbrown-music.com/