Sean Trane If memory serves, Westbrook and a few London jazz scene stalwarts all were part of their armies’ jazz marching bands; and apparently for some, it had some lasting impact, to the point of dedicating album in the course of the pacifist-era in the heart of the Cold War. Obviously, it worked (and sold) well enough to release a second batch of the same kind. Ok, I’m exaggerating a tad, because not everyone of these tracks are actually marching band tunes. Indeed the ones where Westbrook plays piano are not marching band tunes (never seen a portable piano out on a stroll). With a consequent cast of musical strollers - 13 brasswind players (incl. Wheeler, Lowther, Griffiths, Rutherford, Gibbs) and seven woodwind players (incl. Surman, Osborne, Skidmore, Warren, Smith), we’re also finding three bassists (Miller, Bare Phillips and Laurence) and two drummers (Marshall – then in Soft Machine - and Jackson). Quite the fµçqing crowd, uh?? Anyway, this is the second of two albums, and they will have similar wartime child drawings and both will find a Decca subsidiary label Deram release, within a few months of each other, and to be fair, the Vol2 makes more sense as a concept than its predecessor.

Compared with the Vol1, which featured a few lengthy tracks, Vol2 presents some 11 tracks, even if there are some rather shorter (Requiem is less than a minute long), but still shows the 11-mins Conflict. Opening on the solemn Transition, Home is more of a big band affair and Rosie is unremarkable. The Surman-penned Prelude and Tension are two of the better tracks, providing much drama and intensity, while remaining calm; but the chaos starts (gently) with Introduction the fairly dissonant and improvised piece leading into the very boring and slow Ellington-ian Ballad precedes the 11-mins of absolutely chaotic mayhem from the Conflict track, almost uninterrupted quagmire of dissonant screeches and aggression, if it wasn’t for the second section made of drums and didgeridoo-like drone/growls into wind instruments, but here it doesn’t hurt or repel, although past the initial amusement, it overstays its welcome. The short Requiem leads into the dissonant intro of another Surman track, but Tarnished is a fairly quiet affair that doesn’t ruffle much feathers. The closing Memorial is a typical army jazz piece, mixed with some dissonant screechy wood screeches and growling brass growls.

Personally, I prefer the second volume of this double project, despite the two major bouts of dissonance, but I must be amazed by the almost-hour-long length of the album, where every facets of the wide spectrum of jazz seems to have its say.