Don Rendell/Ian Carr Quintet 'Live at the Union 1966' [Reel Recordings 2010]

I'm always excited to see a new one out from the Reel camp, and this is no let down. For their latest, stellar Canadian label Reel Recordings sticks to its guns, yanking another rare reel-to-reel recording from obscurity with the Rendell/Carr Quintet's 'Live at the Union 1966'. Previous Reel discs came from national broadcasting companies, or otherwise professional recordings. But in December 1966, young jazz devotee George Foster plugged into the board for the show he'd organized at the University College London student union. Shortly afterward, the tapes disappeared and it took them 40 years to resurface -- we're lucky they did.

On the merits of 'Live at the Union 1966' alone, I'll call the Don Rendell/Ian Carr Quintet the hottest ticket in town [the UK] at the time. With help from the keen ear of the University's campus promoter George Foster (who also booked Tubby Hayes and Chris McGregor's Blue Notes!) , the band -- riding a years-long creative plateau -- became a fixture at the university, regularly performing for a packed house. This time out, the group included Rendell (flute, tenor, soprano), Carr (trumpet, flugelhorn), Michael Garrick (piano), and Trevor Tompkins (drums), with bass duties split between regular bassist Dave Green -- booked elsewhere for the night, he had to pack it in after two songs -- and Tony Reeves.

The atmosphere is one unparalleled even in the best Rendell/Carr studio recordings: all restless energy emanating from and bouncing around the densely packed room. Drummer Trevor Tompkins whips up a quick cadence to start the evening, breaths are drawn, and the ensemble lets it rip for the next 70 minutes. The band works at a sweaty intensity, hacking away at the changes until it seems they'll break; this is perfectly suited to the interplay of Don Rendell and Michael Garrick. Piano and tenor battle for the hill from opposite points of entry -- a perilous strategy on a bad day, but one which excelled on this particular December evening. To cool down their taxed instruments, they shift into slower, elastic swing/smolder. In any other context this would shine but, considering the burners surrounding them, these excursions the ones of the least interest to me. The set ends in a middle ground of shifting tempos, ultimately ruled by the deep thrum of Reeves' bass. By the end, I'm spent and my ears nearly burnt. Without a doubt, 'Live...' bests what little of the Rendell/Carr recordings I've heard, and is an undeniable high point in the recorded history of British jazz.