Orlando Le Fleming Romantic Funk ; Wandering Talk

Orlando Le Fleming

Romantic Funk ; Wandering Talk ****

Orlando le Fleming & Romantic Funk

“Wandering Talk”

(Whirlwind Recordings WR4825)

Orlando le Fleming – upright & electric bass, Philip Dizack – trumpet, Tom Cawley – piano, Rhodes MK8 electric piano,  Prophet 12 and Oberheim OB-6 synthesisers, James Maddren- drums
with; Nathaniel Facey – alto sax, Chris Martin, Nadia le Fleming – vocals

First released in June 2024 “Wandering Talk” is the third album release from bassist and composer Orlando le Fleming and his band Romantic Funk. The band made its self titled debut in 2017 for OLF Records before moving to Whirlwind Recordings. Its second album, 2020’s “The Unfamiliar”,  is reviewed elsewhere on The Jazzmann and can be found here;
https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/romantic-funk-the-unfamiliar

This review provides the basis for much of the following biographical detail.

A review copy of this current album was kindly given to me by le Fleming when we met at a recent EFG London Jazz Festival performance by the Israeli pianist and composer Shai Maestro at Ronnie Scott’s. This was an excellent show that featured Maestro and le Fleming alongside the pianist’s regular drummer Ofri Nehemya. My account of this performance can be found as part of my Festival coverage here;
https://www.thejazzmann.com/features/article/efg-london-jazz-festival-2024-thursday-21-11-2024

le Fleming is a British born bassist and composer who studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London before beginning to establish himself on the UK jazz scene. He had also been a promising cricketer and had briefly played the game professionally, before his love of music eventually won out. In a sense his career is a mirror image of that of former England cricket captain Alistair Cook, an accomplished musician who played clarinet and saxophone to a high standard before deciding to concentrate on his sport.

I first recall seeing a young le Fleming perform sometime in the late 1990s at Colchester Arts Centre when he was part of the ‘Electric Project’ quartet led by pianist and composer Julian Joseph, who was experimenting with electric keyboards at the time.  As I recall the band also included guitarist Adam Salkeld and drummer Mark Mondesir, but although it was an excellent gig I don’t think that the quartet ever got to record.

In any event le Fleming’s playing left an impression on me, although I wasn’t to see him play live again for another twenty years when he appeared at The Jazz Café in Camden as a member of the Migration ensemble led by the Mexican-American drummer and composer Antonio Sanchez. That event formed part of the 2018 EFG London Jazz Festival and the Migration band also included another British born musician, pianist and keyboard player John Escreet. My account of this performance can be found as part of my Festival coverage here;

le Fleming made the move to the US in 2003 after playing on the UK scene with Joseph, pianists Jason Rebello and Tom Cawley, saxophonists Iain Ballamy, Tommy Smith and Jean Toussaint, trumpeters Guy Barker and Gerard Presencer and vibraphonist Roger Beaujolais, among others. Following his recent return to the UK he has been performing with guitarist and composer Ant Law’s Unified Theories quintet.

He quickly established himself Stateside, performing with such high profile names as vocalist Jane Monheit and one time Miles Davis drummer Jimmy Cobb. Others with whom Le Fleming has worked include saxophonists Branford Marsalis and Seamus Blake, pianists Joey Calderazzo, Bill Charlap and David Sancious, guitarists Kurt Rosenwinkel, Wayne Krantz and Lage Lund and drummers Billy Cobham, Ari Hoenig, Jochen Reuckert and Jeff ‘Tain’ Watts. It’s a pretty heavyweight list, and one which indicates the esteem in which Le Fleming is held.

In addition to being an in demand sideman le Fleming has also forged a career as a solo artist, releasing his first album as leader, “From Brooklyn With Love”, in 2010. This was a quartet offering featuring Will Vinson on alto sax, Lage Lund on guitar and Antonio Sanchez at the drums.

He has also recorded two albums with the co-operative OWL Trio, featuring Vinson and Lund, a group taking a contemporary, ‘chamber jazz’ approach to the standards repertoire.

More recently Le Fleming teamed up with drummer Jeff ‘Tain’ Watts and saxophonist Mark Turner on the 2022 album “Misterioso”, credited to Watts, Turner, Le Fleming.

In addition to these recordings there has also been the Romantic Funk series, which has featured Le Fleming leading a fluctuating cast of musicians. The 2017 debut featured Fleming alongside a host of guests, among them regular collaborators such as saxophonists Seamus Blake and Will Vinson, drummer Ari Hoenig and pianist Sullivan Fortner.

By the time of “The Unfamiliar” Romantic Funk had become a regular working band with a residency at the famous, but sadly now defunct, 55 Bar in the heart of Greenwich Village. The line up included le Fleming and Vinson plus trumpeter Philip Dizack and keyboard player Sean Wayland with drum duties divided between Kush Abadey and Nate Wood.

Post pandemic le Fleming has returned to the UK and has assembled a British version of the band including keyboard player Tom Cawley, drummer James Maddren and alto saxophonist Nathaniel Facey. This line up has performed regularly at the Vortex Jazz Club in Dalston, north London.

“Wandering Talk” features a core quartet of le Fleming, Cawley, Maddren and Dizack, the latter having flown in from New York specifically for the recording. Facey’s alto is added on four of the eight tracks and the title song features the guest vocals of the leader’s daughter Nadia le Fleming and his old schoolfriend Chris Martin, front man of the stadium rock band Coldplay.

Le Fleming says of Dizack’s involvement as part of an otherwise all British line up;
 “Philip is such a mellow and musical trumpet player - but he can really create drama. He’s essential to the project - we think alike.”

Album opener “Don’t Dwell On It” draws its inspiration from electric era Miles Davis and features the leader’s propulsive, funky bass grooves allied to Maddren’s crisp and decisive drumming. This combination fuels the often fiery interplay of trumpet, alto sax and Cawley’s layered keyboards. Dizack and Facey feature briefly as soloists, as does Cawley on Rhodes. It’s an emphatic opening statement from the ensemble with the emphasis primarily on the powerful overall sound of the group.  “I told them to go in at 90% and go up.” , offers le Fleming by way of explanation.

“Tragic Magic” adopts a gentler approach with an atmospheric intro courtesy of Cawley’s various synths, later augmented by a shuffling drum groove. Dizack subsequently emerges as the featured soloist, his melancholic trumpet sound perfect for a rubato style melody inspired by the music of Keith Jarrett.

The album’s lengthiest piece is the Weather Report inspired “Sense of the Sacred”, which introduces the sound of acoustic instruments for the first time. Another atmospheric introduction features the sounds of mournful, breathy trumpet, double bass and grand piano, with Maddren’s cymbals subsequently added. Gradually Dizack’s trumpet playing becomes more assertive and the overall band sound more powerful, with Facey’s alto also added to the equation as a strong melodic theme emerges. However this is a piece that moves through several distinct phases, including a more subdued trumpet and alto sax dialogue that becomes increasingly abstract until the main theme emerges once more. The final section sees Cawley moving to Rhodes and le Fleming to electric bass, helping to create a funky and propulsive groove that provides the impetus for Facey’s incisive alto sax soloing.

As its title might suggest the all acoustic “Gardening Shearing Blues” pays homage to another British jazz musician who made a name for himself in the States, pianist and composer George Shearing. Based on series of Shearing inspired block chords this is a genuine blues and a piece that finds le Fleming praising Maddren’s contribution; “James sounds great swinging, and it’s hard to find a drummer who can do pocket and swing as well.”. Elsewhere Dizack’s trumpet whispers and slurs convincingly and the leader’s muscular double bass lines evolve into a melodic and dexterous solo. 

Cawley and le Fleming go electric again for the Headhunters inspired “Repose”, which le Fleming describes as “an 8-bar sequence with plenty of space for improvisation., The leader’s bubbling electric bass and Maddren’s skittering drum grooves provide the momentum for a typically inventive and incisive alto solo from Facey. “Nathaniel has such great rhythmic imagination and has that roughness and adventurousness - he really brought the band alive - I love the contrast between him and Philip”, remarks le Fleming. Dizack combines well with Facey and their absorbing interplay is a source of fascination throughout the album.

The only piece not composed by le Fleming is the Wayne Shorter composition “Plaza Real”, a tune first recorded by Weather Report on their 1983 album “Procession”. It was subsequently performed by Shorter’s own bands and covered by trumpeter Wallace Roney on his 2012 album “Home”. “Wayne is my hero” explains le Fleming, “his live version just builds and builds and builds, and so that’s how we do it”. It’s a beautiful performance featuring the wistful trumpeting of Dizack, Cawley’s tasteful, quasi-orchestral keyboard layering and Maddren’s exquisite cymbal work, all grounded by the leader’s bass. As le Fleming observes the tension builds throughout the performance, embracing a widescreen magnificence as the music becomes increasingly powerful and anthemic.

Electric bass, underscored by synthesiser washes, introduces “Spots of Time”, with Cawley subsequently switching to Rhodes as drums are introduced and a rolling 12/8 groove is established. Dizack states the melodic theme on trumpet and subsequently shares the solos with Facey, the saxophonist’s razor sharp playing complemented by Maddren’s increasingly dynamic drumming as Cawley sculpts a towering wall of sound on keyboards. As on the previous “Plaza Real” the band continue to build the tension throughout the tune. le Fleming says of Cawley’s contribution to the album; “Tom and I go back a long way - we think alike musically and personally.”.

The album concludes with the title track, “Wandering Talk”, which takes its title from a poem by the 13th century Persian poet and mystic Rumi. The words of Coleman Barks’  English translation are movingly sung by Chris Martin and Nadia le Fleming, accompanied by acoustic piano, double bass and mournful trumpet.

The lyrics read;
“There is a channel between voice and presence,
A way where information flows,
In a disciplined silence the channel opens,
With Wandering Talk it closes.”

I’ll confess that I’m not a fan of Coldplay’s increasingly lugubrious stadium anthems, but nevertheless I found Martin’s contribution here to be both impressive and enjoyable, perhaps all the more so because of its brevity.

“Wandering Talk”, the track, provides an effective coda to “Wandering Talk”, the album. Its simplicity represents an effective contrast to the often complex, heavily orchestrated fusion sounds that distinguish the rest of the album.

This third instalment in the Romantic Funk series represents a worthy follow up to past glories and combines intelligent rhythmic grooves with imaginative, multi faceted compositions and arrangements. Dizack’s trumpet and Cawley’s various keyboards are pivotal to the sound throughout, the skilful blending of piano, Rhodes and synths helping to give the music an almost orchestral quality. Le Fleming and Maddren represent a flexible and intelligent rhythm team whose ever evolving grooves are at the heart of the music. Facey makes a strong and distinctive contribution to all the tracks that he appears on and provides some attention grabbing solos. Martin and Nadia le Fleming harmonise effectively and add a certain gravitas to the title track.

“Wandering Talk” is an album that wears its ‘70s and ‘80s fusion influences on its sleeve, and to these ears is none the worse for that, although it may not appeal to some straight-ahead jazz purists.

I like it, and I’m grateful to Orlando for sending it my way. I’d certainly relish the opportunity of seeing the Romantic Funk band live now that le Fleming is again resident in the UK.

from www.thejazzmann.com