Identity by Subtraction - Denys Baptiste
by Chris Searle
As he roared through the title-track chord changes, with bassist Gary Crosby rock steady, and drummer Rod Youngs dropping bombs of encouragement, it was clear that the years have certainly advanced his considerable playing.
Denys’ musical relationship with pianist Andrew McCormack is thing of joy and telepathy. On Harriot’s Charriot - dedicated to saxist Joe Harriot, their swopping of long inter-related choruses was a delight. The pianist brought a dreamlike, impressionistic air to Special Times – the family dedication. It evolved through agitation into life-affirming emotion, seeming to say that happiness comes through effort. It also came with Dance of the Marquiritari, inspired by a family member who belonged to that South American tribe.
Whatever, with the under-recorded band firing over a dynamic rumba beat, it was very apparent that another recording studio date, can’t come too soon.
Indeed, his set was taken from a new album entitled Identity by Subtraction, thus emphasising the intensely personal nature of his music, and with longtime associate Gary Crosby providing rock-steady but suitably propulsive bass, the dazzling Andrew McCormack tearing into everything set in front of him as if he feared he might never get a chance to play piano again, and drummer Rod Youngs both versatile and rousing, this was a highly enjoyable set, not least for the chance it provided of listening to a cultured but emotive tenor player making a series of utterly individual statements.
