Turning The Tables On Tired Expectations

The Age

Friday January 16, 2009

Andrew Drever

The Cinematic Orchestra challenge fans to tune in to a different beat, says Andrew Drever.

TEN years ago, the Cinematic Orchestra's blending of sample-based turntable culture with so-called "higher music culture", such as jazz and orchestra-driven film soundtracks, was very much of the time.

Back then, Coldcut's Ninja Tune imprint, the Cinematic Orchestra's label, was primarily releasing music that fused jazz and hip hop, and the mid-late-'90s London music scene was flush with the success of genres such as trip hop, big beat and nu jazz, which melded contemporary electronic music culture with music from yesteryear.

Three studio albums on, however, and Cinematic Orchestra main man Jason Swinscoe has left behind the beats, electronics and samples. The band's previous album, 2007's Ma Fleur, eschews turntables and breakbeats in favour of a stripped-down sound, with an emphasis on song structures, subtler rhythms, live instrumentation and classic string arrangements.

A recent live album was recorded at London's legendary classical venue the Royal Albert Hall, with more than 40 musicians on stage, including a 24-piece orchestra.

"I don't see very many people still making that trip hop or nu jazz or whatever you call it," says New York-based Briton Swinscoe.

"I think it obviously still exists, but it's not something that really comes to my mind as something new and fresh.

"There's been all this time passed and music's moved on. Everything was always focused on the beats, but with Ma Fleur, I needed to move away from the focus being on the beats, move into more melody and harmony and explore those aspects."

Some things do remain the same, however. On Ma Fleur, Swinscoe again collaborated closely with band stalwarts in string arranger, co-writer and bassist Phil France and jazz drummer Luke Flowers. Also returning for an encore is legendary US jazz singer Fontella Bass, who on the 2002 LP Every Day turned in the jaw-dropping All That You Give. This time, 68-year-old Bass, reputedly in frail health at the time of recording, features on tracks Familiar Ground and Breathe.

But fans hoping for a repeat of Every Day's inspired collaboration with premier Brit rapper Roots Manuva on the introspective All Things to All Men - unquestionably that album's jewel in the crown - will go wanting.

"Gilles Peterson (UK DJ, radio show presenter and nu-jazz identity) said that was the best hip hop/jazz track he'd ever heard, with the way the two genres came together," says Swinscoe. "And that's cool, but why bother repeating it? I think if I did repeat something of that nature, it would end up not being as good or being the same idea with a slightly different direction.

"I'm not willing to just settle in something very specific and not move from there, in case of disrespecting my fans. If they don't like it, well, they can find something else. That's not a dis on my fans at all. It's just that I can't keep still."

The Cinematic Orchestra play the Palais Theatre, St Kilda, on Tuesday.

© 2009 The Age

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