ALAN SKIDMORE — Once Upon a Time... (review)

ALAN SKIDMORE — Once Upon a Time... album cover Album · 1970 · Avant-Garde Jazz Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
Sean Trane
Skidmore was a usual fixture on the London jazz scene, having played with almost everyone more or less involved in the late-60’s cauldron, and for a while he even fronted his own quintet that featured some rather heavy names, like Wheeler (trumpet) and Taylor (piano). To my knowledge, this AS Quintet only recorded this one album in 70, but then again, looking at the composition dept, Alan was apparently not much of a songwriter as one of six tracks is his own, and it’s more of a free-jazz non-tune. Indeed buddy John Surman, the group catalyser (but not member) wrote two tracks, while pianist Taylor and drummer Oxley signed another each.

Opening on the Surman-penned 7-mins title track, the album is off to a cool standard-y start written for and about Skidmore’s baby daughter (featured on artwork) Alice, but Taylor’s piano is giving the track a little extra flavour. The following Majaera is a discordant non-tune, which would’ve best been thrown at the end of the album. The atypical (for then) Taylor piece The Yolk is a fast and furious standard-y jazz piece, where Wheeler Skids-more all over the track at 100MPH.

The highlight of the album is the almost 12-mins Old San Juan, written by a young Canadian composer (as is Kenny Wheeler), an epic track with plenty of tempo change and a tad of Spanish influence, where Taylor’s piano is simply astounding (sometimes reminiscent of Tyner), while Wheeler finds his ease in Aranjuez or in a Spaghetti-Western movie. While Skidmore’s Free For All is self-explanatory and segues directly from the Juan piece, the closing Surman piece Image is much slower, but just as dissonant or free (at least in its start), but finishes in an accessible manner…

A relatively uneven album, which is kind of saved by the 12-mins epic opening the flipside, because if it wasn’t for that and the title-track, we’d be tempted to add to the album’s title: “… there was nothing”. Reissued on the Vocalion CD batch of 2005, this is a somewhat interesting album, but I can think of some much better in that series of reissues.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Jazz Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

JMA TOP 5 Jazz ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
A Love Supreme Post Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners
Kind of Blue Cool Jazz
MILES DAVIS
Buy this album from our partners
The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady Progressive Big Band
CHARLES MINGUS
Buy this album from our partners
Blue Train Hard Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners
My Favorite Things Hard Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners

New Jazz Artists

New Jazz Releases

Lucky All Along Post-Fusion Contemporary
LISA HILTON
Buy this album from MMA partners
GNX Jazz Related Electronica/Hip-Hop
KENDRICK LAMAR
Buy this album from MMA partners
Christopher Dell - Søren Kjærgaard : Ruptures Jazz Related Improv/Composition
CHRISTOPHER DELL
Buy this album from MMA partners
Live at 55 Jazz Related Rock
CHICAGO
Buy this album from MMA partners
Moon Shifts Oceans RnB
EMILY SAUNDERS
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Jazz Online Videos

Chicago - Hard to Say I'm Sorry / Get Away [Live At 55]
CHICAGO
snobb· 16 hours ago
John Coltrane's iconic Parker Blues: "Freight Trane" w/ Tobias Meinhart, Rick Rosato & Jesse Simpson
TOBIAS MEINHART
js· 17 hours ago
Yo Viné Para Echar Candela
SPANISH HARLEM ORCHESTRA
snobb· 21 hours ago
Joe Armon-Jones - Sorrow (feat. Liam Bailey) (Official Audio)
JOE ARMON-JONES
snobb· 1 day ago
Ambrose Akinmusire - muffled screams
AMBROSE AKINMUSIRE
snobb· 1 day ago
More videos

New JMA Jazz Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Jazz News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed