With Morning Glory, John Surman has declared that hes back in action, breaking off his self-imposed retirement from U.K. public performances. And coming back with a new assurance, a muscular and transfixing vitality. But hes not corning back to a rigidly defined jazz world. Nor is he coming back as a sensational solo star. This time around Surman is a member of a well-defined group, one in which all participants really do participate. The listener will have to go far to hear another group whose members are so in tune with one another and who improvise as though they were all interworking parts of the same singular body. Individually, they are John Taylor on acoustic and electric piano, Malcolm Griffiths on trombone, Chris Laurence on bass, John Marshall on drums and the astonishing Norwegian guitarist Terje Rypdal who really can make the guitar speak. And then of course, theres John Surman, who devotes his attention to soprano saxophone bass clarinet, and synthesizer, having temporarily set aside baritone sax to explore new areas of sound.
morning glory