Mitchell is a pianist that has been on the British jazz scene for ten years. His pianist influences are Cecil Taylor (try the Blue Note CDs Conquistador! and Unit Structures for what was going on in 1966 free-jazz state of minds) and McCoy Tyner (absolutely anything is worthwhile either in John Coltrane’s group or as a leader himself, especially the Latin-jazz-funk of the 70s). Also, if you think there are some Steve Coleman influences, don’t be surprised as Robert was his pianist for some time.

Barak Schmool (saxes), Richard Spaven (drums), and Volker Sträter (Percussion) have been longstanding members of Panacea whilst Tom Mason (electric and acoustic basses) and Deborah on vocals are new. You wouldn’t guess this and we find Deborah (Silhouette Brown and shortly Abstract Blue Records) in particularly impressive form.

Mitchell’s love of lyrics and poetry gives Deborah a platform to excel, which she does on ‘The Thief of Dimensions’, which is possibly the strongest track. The opener, ‘The Brink’ combines Robert’s poetic lyrics with song writing experimentation in a broken beat/Latin/jazz fusion form where he goes off on a manic Rhodes solo. Too jazzy for club play perhaps but annoyingly fades out when the synth-space waves start floating about, one for an extended remix rewerk on the 12”?

That’s as ‘commercial’ as it gets for sometime as the following track, ‘Cotopaxi’ goes even deeper into modern jazz modality. It features Deborah and Barak in a more avant-garde style at a slow tempo with a dramatic tension. Guest bassist Mike Mondesir (ex-Panacea) is in a Lonnie Plaxico mood and he also appears on ‘The Thief of Dimensions’.

‘The Thief Of Dimensions’ is a track that brings many of the influences together. Deborah gets to sing lyrics such as, “Time and Space have not meaning” — together with a skat solo and there’s a mighty fine bass solo by Mondesir (see Links below – recommended) while Mitchell gets out the Mini-Moog thing to sound a bit electric violin in Mahavishnu Orchestraland. Fade to eerie wind-gong-noise.

This is the first inkling of post-Sun Ra meets prog rock influence as the following track ‘Shukran — Dedicated To Bheki Mseleku’ delves into mystic-street poetry. It reminds me in delivery of David Hemmings narrating Rick Wakeman’s ‘Journey To The Centre Of The Earth’ (shows what little poetry I know). Eugene Skeef reads the poem well and the sleeve notes promise the lyrics on the web site. Barak and Mitchell lead the interplay with Volker getting in some Asian sounding percussion in the background before Skeef returns. It sounds spiritual and could be thought of as a Part I before, Part II of the title track ‘Trust’, which sees Deborah back on vocals. She sings, “Pick up just one piece of the dream,” as it starts in a really slow tempo. Think sultry jazz club in black and white with fag smoke. The bass and jazz drumming enhance this image. Volker gets a turn and the sax and piano join in. Let’s just say the core band is excellent throughout but Deborah leaves us with the haunting refrain in the fade.

Now for some more guest artists in ‘A Heart (Full Of You)’. It’s another broken beater. Deborah starts the vocals and slips into the backing vocals when TY (Big Dada) jumps in with his own spoken word rap. This isn’t the Ty of the award winning and excellent Upwards LP. Deborah and TY work well together while the band goes fusion freedancing in a Sunday afternoon park moment. Ty ends with, “wishes to be blessed with a heart full of you,” which is a very romantic thought when you think about it. Oh! another guest, Robin Mullarkey (2 Banks Of 4) makes an appearance on this track.

The album ends with ‘Ocean (In A Small Hand)’ which is a another spot-on title. Whist you might not be able to stand a whole album of Gurdeep Stephens in this style, it is a brilliantly judged skat of “doh doh doooohs” with a mixture of sexy inflections at times and gargling at others. It creates a spellbinding combination capable to reducing listeners to tears. Now, regular readers with have noticed I’m no fan of ‘chill’ but if this is chill, it’s staggering. This could be a big marketing plus to crossover this album into a different (if not mass) market. I love this one.

Not only that, Robert has been astute enough to have British legend Norma Winston make a guest appearance. Panacea and Winston worked together on a celebration of Wayne Shorter’s work (see below) in the not too distant past. On this occasion, it mostly features Norma backed by Robert’s piano playing. I was very impressed with Ms. Winston at the Neil Ardley memorial and this is another chance to hear her on top form in a modal influenced ‘If These Walls Could Speak’.

And another lady of choice, Eska appears on ‘Breath On The Mirror’. Eska was on Ty’s Upwards tour and stole the show when she effectively took over on ‘Look 4 Me’. But this is more in broken beats/70s Miles/Steve Coleman/contemporary UK jazz style than funky-hip hop so be prepared [Hey, didn’t Eska tell Gilles Peterson about 12 months ago her solo album was coming out soon?]

In the Hectic way of things, I’ve just found out I’ve missed the CD launch gig at Pizza Express in Dean Street (5th September). I hope there’ll be another chance to see Panacea live and this album gets the exposure it deserves. I’m sure Cecil Taylor and McCoy Tyner are chuffed we’re still getting their music decades after it was first released but it would be a shame if you were planning on waiting that long to get ‘Trust’. I think it’d be a good idea to enjoy it now before some critic in 10 years time will be musing on its influence on jazziod skoap (or whatever a future fad might be called). Trust it now.

Reviewed: Robert Mitchell’s Panacea - Trust (F-IRE) Cat. No. F-IRE CD 05
Sleeve notes by Kevin Le Gendre (Echoes & ex-Radio London)
Tracklisting:
1. The Brink (5:45)
2. Cotopaxi (6:43)
3. Breath On The Mirror (6:35) Electric Bass - Mike Mondesir Vocals - Eska
4. If These Walls Could Speak (7:27) Vocals - Norma Winstone
5. The Thief Of Dimensions (6:32) Electric Bass - Mike Mondesir
6. Shukran - Dedicated To Bheki Mseleku (10:06) Poetry - Eugene Skeef
7. Trust (6:33)
8. A Heart (Full Of You) (5:43) Electric Bass - Robin Mullarkey Poetry - TY
9. Ocean (In A Small Hand) (4:59) Vocals - Gurdeep Stephens

Links:
Robert Mitchell www.robertmitchellmusic.com
F-IRE www.f-ire.com - F-ire 2004 British Jazz Awards nominated in Future Sounds of Jazz
Steve Coleman & The Five Elements www.m-base.com
Eugene Skeef – “Rhythmn – the healing power of the Universe” www.eugeneskeef.com
Bheki Mseleku
Volker Sträter (Percussion / Illustrator)
The Gary Husband - Mondesir Bros Collaboration - TO THE POWER OF THE THREE (Mark Mondesir – Drums, Mike Mondesir bass, Gary Husband, Keys) See part of the DVD click HERE (Courtesy of Drummer World)
Ty
Two Banks Of Four
As a quick aside, at the same time as 70’s British jazz rebirth, the much laughed at but Prog Rock extravagancies seem to be getting possite reappraisals; not least by Andy Votel.
Vertigo Mixed By Andy Votel
Last year’s Big Chill/Blue Room crossover track; Sebastien Tellier – ‘La Ritournelle’ (UK release 12.09.05) www.luckynumbermusic.com
Michael Garrick Sextet with Norma Winstone - The Heart is a Lotus (Vocalion) (Review Published: August 18, 2005)
Shorter Stories Norma Winstone (voice), Robert Mitchell (piano), Julian Siegel (saxophones/clarinets), Mike Mondesir (bass guitar), Ben Davis (cello) & Volker Strater (percussion). Friday 17 October 2003 at 8.00 pm “A celebration of music by the legendary Wayne Shorter. A brilliant line up of creative talent to celebrate the wealth and variety of Shorter’s music. Now in his 70th year, he is among the greatest living jazz musicians and composers and has inspired generations of musicians world-wide. Robert Mitchell, one of our brightest and most individual young pianists and composers and runner up in the BBC’s Rising Star Awards 2002, has collaborated with Norma Winstone, BBC Vocalist of the Year 2001, to arrange and write original material for this outstanding band.”