#secondscount

Plunger’s gonna party like it’s er, 1990-something

… so it’s nice to take a wavy-line screen-fade back to those days with the first release on CD of Seconds Count, the 1990 album by Sketch, a five-piece comprised of vocalist Sue Hawker, pianist Pete Saberton, Rob Koral on guitar, Jeremy Stacey on drums and bassist Laurence Cottle.

One of the best things about Planet Jazz is that it’s one of the few places not touched by the dead hand of punk: no-one has to pretend they’re ‘edgy’; ‘energy’ and ‘attitude’ aren’t substitutes for talent; and musicianship isn’t a dirty word.

And there’s plenty of skill and artistry on display, exemplified in the smooth, latinate opener Feels So Good with Pete combining rhythmic percussive playing and a fluid break, Jeremy’s stylish rhythm-and-pace switch drumming, Laurence’s taut fusion bass lines and a fiery-toned discursive solo from Rob. All this topped with Sue’s deceptively oomph-laden velvety vibrato. The bustling Crazy Sunday keeps up the latin vibe, with complex drum-and-bass work weaving around the trenchant bop guitar and piano. Laurence and Jeremy provide tight, discotastic backing for the funkier pulse of Cool For Love, the punchy keys and choppy guitar adding a splash of Caribbean flavour overlaid with Sue’s gritty, soulful vox before she closes the song with impressive vocal gymnastics in a snappy head-bobbing coda.

Taking things down a little are Was It Something You Said, a mellower, NY-by-night smoocher, led by Sue’s vocal and some very nice elastic, swooping fretless bass, and the stately late-night epic Heroes. Pete’s sophisticated piano is supported by lyrical bass and guitar trills and crisp, spare drums, Sue’s smoky, breathy vocal simultaneously melancholy and stirring. Rob’s guitar outing encompasses delicate octaves, arpeggios and bags of ‘space’ while Pete’s cascading piano break mixes the pugnaciousness of Camilo with crisp Loussierisms and grandiose Moraz passages.

As well as these five originals, three standards are given a sketch makeover: Fever (as made famous by Peggy Lee) begins as a fairly faithful, louche cover before swinging out with fluid piano and fittingly-fevered, abandoned vocals, before a gimlet-toned Coltrane progression guitar break heralds a clever deconstructed close; Stormy Monday Blues is rendered as a stripped back blues-jazz archetype showcasing Sue’s impassioned belter voice (with a burst of Cleo Laine scat!) and a simple but effective piano break, although Rob’s contribution does range from classic blues phrasing to scorching angry-wasp-in-a-jar fusion; there’s more skittering fusion from Rob on a breezy loose-limbed run at the Billie Holiday staple Fine And Mellow, as well as an extended helping of the same from Laurence’s bass, driven at a canter by Jeremy’s intricate-but-never-too-showy drums.

It may be 27-years old, but actually Seconds Count doesn’t evoke waves of nostalgia in Plunger: that’s because (whether it was made last millennium or last week) quality music is timeless.