Work Money Death - People of the Fast Flowing River (ATA Records Vinyl LP)

Work Money Death - People of the Fast Flowing River | Vinyl LP - 2024 ATA Records (ATA036)

Work Money Death started in 2017 as a vehicle for Tony Burkill's tenor saxophone. Burkill has been a working musician on the Leeds scene for three decades, favouring study and practice over profile, and when Neil Innes and ATA Records built a group around him the personnel came from the same Leeds orbit: Sam Hobbs on drums, Innes himself on double bass, and a rotating cast of brass, woodwind and percussion players drawn from The Sorcerers, The Lewis Express and Nat Birchall's touring band. The music is spiritual jazz without hedging: long improvised pieces recorded at Innes's All Things Analogue Studios, built on modal structures that cite Pharoah Sanders, Alice Coltrane and Sun Ra as primary sources and sound like them without attempting impersonation.

People of the Fast Flowing River is their third album under the Work Money Death name and runs to four tracks, none under nine minutes. Richard Ormrod is the wildcard. He's credited with harmonium, Wurlitzer electric organ, flute, alto flute, baritone saxophone, contrabass clarinet, tenor horn and euphonium, plus piano on two of the four tracks. That range means the ensemble's colour changes completely from piece to piece: harmonium opens "Head Waters Of The Soul" with a drone that pulls the music toward Indian classical territory, while the contrabass clarinet and baritone saxophone thicken the low end on other tracks. Burkill's tenor runs through the centre of everything, and the ATA Records description places the four pieces between the meditative blues of Alice Coltrane and the soulful swagger of Galt MacDermot. Supporting the quartet are Danny Templeman on percussion, Sam Bell on congas, Johnny Enright on trombone and tuba, Olivia Cuttill and Tom Sharp on trumpet, James Hobbis on tuba and Tom Sharp doubling flugelhorn. Neil Innes recorded, mixed and produced the album at All Things Analogue Studios. This is the 2024 ATA Records release (ATA036).