Loose Grip - Looking Glass

(Fabrikant)

This is the debut recording of an Edinburgh-based band led by Canadian drummer Chris Wallace, with John Burgess on tenor saxophone, Malcolm MacFarlane on guitar, and Sean Pentland on bass. The opening track, ‘The Fool’s Confidence’, has a loping funk groove that sits well with the band, and there is more in a funk vein to come, but they also go on to demonstrate that they have a much wider spread of approaches in their stylistic locker.

Their own publicity mentions names like John Scofield, Joe Lovano, Chris Potter or Dave Holland as touchstones for their approach, so they can’t be faulted for ambition. Wallace provides all of the nine compositions on the album, and it is the more up-tempo tunes that emerge most strongly – the slower material feels a little over-stretched at times.

Available from www.loosegrip.co.uk