It’s been over two years since Tim was on tour with his Lighthouse Project, but we know from his work with Gwilym Simcock in Acoustic Triangle that he’s not the type to be spending time musing on what to do next.

So it wasn’t long after his re-location to the North East that he was asked to do a ‘northern’ version of the Underground Orchestra he started in Soho. Sounded a good idea so, apart from Gwilym and Asaf, 13 other musicians for various northern cities got together to form The Northern Underground.

Apparently this was recorded in a big room at the Redworth Hall Hotel but you would never guess. Taking influences from the 70s & 80s, like Ben Lamdin’s Nostalgia 77 and Graham Collier, this is a proper big band sound. Ideal for ‘Flag March’ (a take on the Durham Miners Gala) and even if some of the track’s titles are a touch cliché, I think we can forgive that.

Especially as ‘Flag March’ has some funk in it! Phil Donkin givin’ it some serious bass (he’s also on Gwilym’s album, Perception), with massive horns including a bass trombone. Even though there’s a guitar solo, this is no jazz-funk as it’s hard.

Not so hard is ‘God Bless The Child’ with vocals by Hannah Jones who can even do “gutsy powerhouse vocal” on this Billie Holiday tune. She gets it spot on with the opening track ”We Got A Future Together’ which is a bit jazz-funk like with Gwilym on keys but there’s an edge to it that you wouldn’t find Bob James doing.

At times this project sounds like the Matthew Herbert Big Band without the electronics, like ‘Toon Town’, ‘Tynemouth Spray’ and Tommy Smith’s ‘Angel Of The North’ (see what I mean about the titles). And then there’s a couple of commissioned tracks, Nikki Iles tribute to ‘Red Ellen’ and Adam Dennis’ tribute to Captain Cook (who hailed from near Middlesbrough), ‘Voyage Of Discovery’.

‘Prelude’ by Gwilym, is downtempo Acoustic Triangle in a big band setting as Garland solo’s along with Graham Hardy, Ryan Quigley (trumpets) and Paul Booth (saxophones).

The band started on an extensive tour since the beginning of October so now there’s only a few dates remaining (see below). Kicking myself that I missed that now but I suspect, if Tim doesn’t move, this Orchestra has a future together and we’ll be seeing them again.

The Power of Song Tour 07 Dates (Remaining)

21st November 2007 ~ Purcell Room/Southbank Centre, London ~ 0871 6632500
1st December 2007 ~ The Drill Hall ~ Lincoln, 01522 873894
8th December 2007 ~ The Sage Gateshead, Tyne & Wear ~ 0191 4434661

Asaf Sirkis drums
Phil Donkin bass
Gwilym Simcock fender rhodes
Stuart McCallum guitar
Ryan Quigley trumpets
Richard Iles trumpet
Graham Hardy trumpet
Andy Schofield saxes
Lewis Watson tenor sax
Tim Garland saxes
Paul Booth saxes
Barnaby Dickinson trombone
Hannah Jones vocals

Reviewed: Tim Garland’s Northern Underground — Due North (Jazzaction) Cat. No. JA11 Release date: November 2007
1. We Got A Future Together (4:31)
2. Toon Town (5:19)
3. Just For Now (3:58)
4. Tynemouth Spray (6:52)
5. Prelude (7:40)
6. Flag March (4:47)
7. God Bless The Child (5:15)
8. Red Ellen (8:39)
9. Voyage Of Discovery (5:56)
10. Angel Of The North (6:49)

Hectic Mix nominations: ”Flag March’, ‘Angel Of The North’, ‘Toon Town’, ‘Tynemouth Spray’, ‘We Got A Future Together’

Links:
www.timgarland.com
www.jazzaction.co.uk
Gwilym Simcock
www.asafsirkis.co.uk
Red Ellen