Recording of the Week, Tony Kofi - Another Kind of Soul

There's something extra special about jazz recorded in front of a live audience that a studio album just can't quite replicate. That frisson of excitement and expectation (when the moons are in alignment), between performer and punter gives the music an extra dimension, which is exactly what we get with Another Kind of Soul the new album from Tony Kofi, which was recorded live in glamorous Luton to an appreciative audience.

Born to Ghanaian parents in Nottingham, Kofi spent several years studying at Berklee College of Music before first making his reputation as a member of the UK’s Jazz Warriors in the early nineties. It was here that he first worked alongside bassist Gary Crosby with whom he would subsequently perform in soul-crossover groups Nu-Jazz and Jazz Jamaica, whilst establishing himself as a solo artist in his own right. His international reputation is underlined by some of the names he has appeared with over the years, including Eddie Henderson, Ornette Coleman and Donald Byrd. Favouring alto saxophone, Kofi’s tone is warm and sophisticated, able to leap-frog between different styles with ease and grace. That Julian ‘Cannonball’ Adderley is one of Kofi’s formative influences is abundantly clear through their similarly good-humoured playing styles, and this led to the Portrait of Cannonball project that Kofi has been touring over the past few years. Another Kind of Soul acts as a musical snapshot of the project (removing the spoken-word parts) and presents Adderley originals alongside new pieces penned by Kofi and fellow band members. Recorded live at The Bear Jazz Club in Luton, the Kofi Quintet constitutes Andy Davies (trumpet), Alex Webb (piano), Andrew Cleyndert (bass), and Alfonso Vitale (drums), a super-tight ensemble completely inside the material.

A Portrait of Cannonball is a canny way to open the set, a short appetizer composed by Webb that presents various facets of Adderley’s music, functioning much like an overture at the start of a musical. After a brisk introductory section in the soul-jazz style that Adderley pioneered, the music slows down for Kofi to demonstrate his svelte alto in a ballad-like section, before zipping back to several up-tempo sequences. Kofi’s Operation Breadbasket follows with tight unison playing between himself and Davies’s trumpet over the Latin-infused bop rhythms to which Adderley was so partial. Nat Adderley’s swaggering Another Kind of Soul (Julian’s younger trumpeter brother and member of the classic quintet, as well as being a jazz composer in his own right), gets a suitably gutsy reading here, with some sporting interplay between Kofi and Davies. The rhythm section impressed me throughout, with Vitale’s drums being especially explosive when called for, and Cleyndert’s walking bass keeps things grounded.

Cannonball Adderley’s compositions and his playing style always conveyed a sense of optimism in the face of adversity; that he didn’t go in for Coltrane-style soul-searching was a factor that helped make their appearances together in the Miles Davis Quintet so compelling. Kofi and his band are true to this spirit, and it’s no surprise that the highlight is the trio of Adderley tunes that take up the second half of the record: Things Are Getting Better, Sack O’ Woe and Work Song, Adderley’s signature piece. Kofi is clearly relishing every bar of these classics, all of which have big memorable themes for him and the band to get their teeth into. It’s a pleasure to hear a hugely talented contemporary saxophonist honouring another with so much soul, helping to keep his music alive and as irresistible today as it was over sixty years ago.