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The seeds for this project were sown a few years ago, after I was invited to play at Hamburg's Birdland and Dennis Swing Clubs. Björn Lücker and his trio were recommended to me as the rhythm section on that occasion. I immediately warmed to Björn's relaxed feel and sensitive playing and we quickly established a musical rapport. Björn has played with Stefan Weeke in the excellent Triocolor trio for several years, and when I wanted to put together an Anglo-German band for a UK tour, it seemed logical to ask Stefan if he would be interested in the project. I had heard Stefan's playing on a Triocolor CD (KlängeMachenGehen) and found it strong, melodic, imaginative, and always providing firm support. I have always enjoyed Roger's playing and his beautiful tone. Over the years we have done occasional gigs on the London scene and had spoken in general terms of doing a joint project. There is a very special flavour of sound when the vibes are the only chordal instrument. There is a huge openness from the sustain and vibrato of the vibraphone, with particularly good examples here on Lazy Days and Life in Sand. This quality combined with the swinging feel of Stefan and Björn is what makes this album so special in my opinion. It all came together in June 2000 when the Goethe-Institute, London enabled a UK tour of the four of us, known then as the Berlin Vibe. Every night was a real joy. On the last night we were approached by a very enthusiastic punter who explained he was working with a record producer in setting up a new British jazz label and they'd love us to record for them - whatever we wanted to play. It was an offer we couldn't refuse! So here we are a year later with this album, which combines my tunes, Roger's tunes and a couple of others. I think it's turned out well and hope you enjoy it! Theo Travis www.theotravis.com I first met Theo about 10 years ago when he asked to sit in on a quartet gig I was doing. He seemed like a nice guy but I had no idea whether he could play or not but decided to take the risk and was glad that I did. Chances are I wouldn't be writing this today if I hadn't! At that time (and still today come to think of it) I didn't use to just let anyone sit in. I got stung once when I agreed to let a tenor player sit only to find out he'd only been playing a week and wouldn't shut up! Luckily for me Theo sounded great - good tenor sound, lots of ideas and a strong approach. A few years later after he'd released a couple of albums he asked me to guest on the occasional gig. We've always got on well and enjoy each other's playing so it all seemed natural. Theo sometimes plays in my quintet too. We've said for a few years that we should get "a project" together. So often these things never come to fruition but Theo mentioned this project early in 2000 and organised a tour for June. It was fun and one of the few occasions recently that I've had the chance to play as the only chordal instrument. In fact the last time where I've done this acoustically in a jazz setting was in the quartet I had 10 years ago that Theo had sat in on. The Berlin Vibe tour was a great success and as Theo has outlined elsewhere, we were approached by Symbol Records to record the quartet. That was good news as it helped give the project a more solid future. So that brings us up to date except to say that part of the reason Symbol signed us up to record was on the strength of the original compositions when Nick Belcher saw us play. Most of those tunes were from albums that had previously been recorded by Theo, myself or Triocolor that we didn't at that time feel like re-recording. Antony and Nick from Symbol were keen to have mostly original tunes on the album so we had to write some tunes especially for the album. I'm really pleased with the way they've come out and feel that the band's identity is stronger as a result. Great playing all round guys! Roger Beaujolais www.rogerbeaujolais.com Some comments about some of the tunes (Theo Travis):- Life in Sand - comes from an orchestrated improvisation of mine comprising various melodic fragments played together by the soprano sax and double bass. The piece is very open with a free vibes intro and a rhythm feel that floats over the entire composition. The drums and vibes paint a huge expansive picture and the sax and bass provide the local details, like tiny worlds of life going on in the sand and rock pools of a vast beach. Bags' Groove - is a simple blues by the great vibes master Milt Jackson. This was in fact the first jazz tune I ever learnt and is beautiful in its simplicity. Everything Matters - originally written and performed as a bossa nova, this is a very different arrangement, played on flute (which I am playing increasingly these days) and with a drum solo outro. The title is a response to the all too common comment "Oh, it doesn't matter..." Two of a Kind - written by Rob Statham, a fine bass player on the London scene. This tune of his has stuck in my memory for years as a great melody and piece to improvise on (and dance to!) and I thought this CD provided a good opportunity to record a version of it. Lark in the Dark - is a roller coaster of a tune that starts in a bluesy groovy vibe and builds in the sax solo into a climax. I actually wrote this some years ago but never found the right band to record it till now. Some comments about some of the tunes (Roger Beaujolais):- Lazy Days - is a lazy, relaxed, bluesy kind of tune that (I hope!) creates an image of hot evenings with no pressure to be anywhere or do anything other than sit back and take it easy. Unfortunately only a fantasy of mine! The solos from Theo and Stefan really capture the mood I was looking for. For Those Who Dream - I wrote this tune for this album with Theo in mind. I love balladsand wanted to create something that sounded like a standard but stayed away from a lot of the cliches that ballads use although the structure is the same. I was aiming for something that sounded old but was new - perhaps I'm one of the dreamers in the title. It's About Time - was also written with this band in mind. We played quite a few tunes in 6/8 during the tour we did in June 2000 and I wanted to write something that used that feel but also had an underlying 4/4 feel. This is something used a lot in African and Afro-Cuban music-Björn and Stefan sit nicely on the groove on this one. Flash in the Pan - is an old tune that I originally recorded in 1985 with the Chevalier Brothers. It always reminded me of Parker's "My Little Suede Shoes" and it's good to record it again as I've been playing it live for years. I'm really pleased with the feel of this version. Some Things Just Happen - is another old tune. Probably from 1988, although I've never recorded it before. I have always loved the bossa novas of Antonio Carlos Jobim and wanted to recreate something similar. Theo's flute is the missing ingredient this tune needed.
Conclusion/Beginning - is the loosest tune on the album adding an interesting contrast to some of the more arranged compositions. Introduced to the session by Stefan and composed by fellow bassist Anthony Cox, it starts and ends with a unison melody played by all instruments. In between are free, sometimes overlapping, solos with no defined key or chord changes. This creates an openness that gives space to expand on whatever mood you're in at the time. On this particular day the energy levels were high & interplay was peaking.
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