Rennie / Roberts / Serries — Translucence

Translucence is a four-track example of the improv from bringing together highly prolific Belgian-based Dirk Serrries – acoustic guitar, London-based Tullis Rennie- Trombone, and also London-based Cath Roberts-baritone Sax. The album is often tight and edgy, yet at the same time playful and at points quite boisterous.

The album appears as a CD on New Wave Of Jazz- which is curated/ run by Serrries. All of the labels releases come presented in identical white mini gatefolds which feature grey boxes, and inside we get a two-page write-up ( in grey text) about the CD and its players by Collin Peters. The album can be purchased directly from here, though there are only 200 copies of the release- so if this sounds like your thing act sooner-than-latter!. 

The four tracks were recorded live in the studio- with great clarity and balance with the recording capture/ mastering. And really at points, you can almost hear sparks and fire passing between the three players. We open with the nearing nine and half minutes of “Match” and here we find Serrries tightly strummed, strutted, and knocking guitar been bayed, roasted and manically trumpeted by Roberts and Rennie- there’s a wonderful taut urgency to the whole thing, and in the last quarter we get some great manic percussive flirts and darts appearing.

The album's title track comes in just sly of the thirteen-minute mark- with its mixture of tense and constant like honks & tight scrambling to picking guitar detail. Before moving into caustically smoky horn drift, and general angularly buzzing ‘n’ picking. All making for a wonderfully unpredictable run of a track. The album is finished off with its longest track "Found With In", which comes in at just under the thirteen-and-a-half mark. Here we find strutting to scarping guitar warbling to cheekily trumping horn work. From time to time the guitar drops back for a more upwardly mellow-if slightly angular to playful feel.

Translucence is a most worthy, at points nicely surprising and daring example of the improv form- and if you're looking for a fire-up and urgent example of the form this will be for you..  let us hope these three work together down the line again.