Double Talk Theo Travis

Adventures In Prog-Jazz

Double Talk
Theo Travis
33Records

Theo Travis seems to delight in changing his musical skin with every album he releases. This is no surprise for a player who is at ease in the worlds of blistering tenor work-outs in straight ahead jazz, progressive rock (with The Tangent, Gong) post-rock (David Sylvian), jazz-rock (Soft Machine Legacy) and ambient excursions via Cipher and now Robert Fripp.

If you want to know why Travis is in such demand then the soprano sax solo on “Ascending” tells you all you need to know. His talent for finding the very heart of a melody is reminiscent at times of the steely poise of Jan Garbarek in places, and certainly just as rewarding. That canny sense of judgement is reflected in his choice of the core group.

Pete Whittaker’s ethereal Hammond organ provides a flowing backdrop for Travis and guitarist Mike Outram. The latter’s contributions are simply outstanding – offering splenetic David Torn-like outbursts on “The Relegation of Pluto” and sublimely limpid echo-drenched arcs on “Oblivionville.” Along with Roy Dodds’ shrewd drumming, they fuse into a magnificent unit on the epic “And So It Seemed,” a breath-taking assault played to perfection.

Alongside his own writing, Travis regularly pulls off quality cover versions. 2004’s Earth To Ether breathed life into “21^st Century Schizoid Man”, whilst “Here’s That Rainy Day” (2001’s Heart of the Sun) caught the ballad’s eerie air of haunted desolation. His choice of Pink Floyd’s “See Emily Play” is understandable given his affections for the 1960s (evidenced elsewhere on the record by the fabulously catchy “Portobello 67”). Although it doesn’t quite capture the elusive stellar sparkle of the original, it allows Travis to squeeze out some enjoyable old-school wah-wah on the sax.

Guest player Robert Fripp helps Travis’ looped, multi-track flutes create a refined and sensuous gravity-free ballet, adding to the sense of depth, space and stylistic abandonment that transcends the usual conventions and concerns of the jazz album. It’s a difficult tightrope for any jazz player to walk, but the sure-footed progress displayed throughout Double Talk, Theo Travis makes it look and sound effortless.