Dominic Ingham: Role Models
Dominic Ingham

Dominic Ingham's violin fronts his new quintet so effectively, one wonders why the instrument isn't more commonly used in a lead capacity. Of course other violinists, past and present, have placed it front and centre, but it's still a rare thing. The British musician certainly brings an impressive pedigree to his debut album Role Models. He's a member of the UK-based quintet Bonsai, which features his trombone-playing brother Rory and Kenny Wheeler Jazz Prize winner Jonny Mansfield on drums, and has also performed with Mansfield's Elftet and Camila Meza's Nectar Orchestra. Live appearances have included UK and European tours plus the London Jazz Festival, Ronnie Scotts, Cheltenham Jazz Festival, The Royal Albert Hall, and The Barbican.

Whereas Bonsai's sound gravitates to jazz fusion, the music on Role Models is still categorically jazz but of a kind enriched by Ingham's classical and folk background. His quintet also features Mansfield, though this time on vibraphone, plus Scottish pianist David Swan, NYC bassist Will Sach, and Boz Martin-Jones on drums. The combination of vibes and violin makes for a striking front-line, and the group's all-acoustic sound is easy to get behind when the leader's originals are delivered with élan and conviction.

The title track introduces the album with an urgent, rather Latin-tinged dynamo that bodes well for what's to come. Ingham establishes himself strongly with a dextrous, acrobatic solo, his bright tone helping the violin to assert itself against the muscular backdrop stoked by his band. Swan makes his presence felt also in a couple of unaccompanied solo spots, after which the leader leaps into his instrument's upper register for a reprise of the head. Even more fueled by Latin fire is the later “Phones,” which sees the quintet soaring at light speed, and helping to make the burning closer “Passport” stand out are solos traded between Ingham and Mansfield.

It's the second piece, however, that makes perhaps the strongest impression. A noir-blues ballad, “Fall” is elevated by a number of things, the sultry groove with which it begins, for starters; there's also the unison presentation of the track's haunting theme by vibes and Ingham's wordless vocalizing, the latter adding a subtle Brazil folk-tinged quality to the performance. Soon thereafter, vibes and violin voice the theme, the gesture demonstrating how well they mesh as a front-line pair. Well-conceived solos by the leader and Mansfield follow, their expressions complementary to the restrained tone of the composition. Executed at a similarly relaxed pace, “Daydreaming” replicates the ballad-styled allure of “Fall” and includes one Ingham's most affecting solos.

June 2020