As John Harle is equally capable of playing the alto saxophone in its topmost register to sound with the fluency of a soprano, and the soprano to sound in its lowest register with the richness of an alto, I will offer only a guarded opinion: that although the booklet offers two illustrations of him holding an alto, it is nevertheless the soprano which he plays on this occasion. No reservations, however, about two more opinions: that the sax-playing, of whatever altitude, is superlative; and that the music to which it is applied is, at the very least, of great interest.
Much of it rather more than just that. Especially so is Mike Westbrook's Bean Rows and Blues Shots, which is indeed in many passages very closely related to the blues. In all this is a fascinating exploration of many possible relationships between classical and jazz styles, with the resemblances and the differences explored in a masterly fashion.
The other two composers are not, on this occasion, quite so convincing. Gavin Bryars's The Green Ray refers to the Jules Verne novel, set in Scotland, in which the green ray itself appears momentarily at sunset, but which nevertheless has alarming effects on its observers. I do not wish to suggest either that Bryars's music is in itself alarming, or even that it seems just right for Verne. But it is, unlike the ray itself, very slow indeed, and remains so for what seems to be a very long time: even the beautiful playing of both soloist and orchestra has difficulty in making the music seem a natural winner.
Michael Nyman's Where the Bee dances is similarly splendidly performed, the Bournemouth orchestra seemingly as much at home in the more obviously jazz-derived passages as in those more obviously classically-derived. But their efforts are pitted against relentlessly long-winded music, which is also relentlessly noisy. A great deal of it (''most of the material'', Nyman himself writes) is derived from an overworked four-chord sequence: this turns out to have a startling resemblance to the first four chords of Jeepers Creepers, an accident which will possibly make older listners nostalgic. But equally, it may also make their enjoyment of today's high-powered symphonic emphasis on the chords difficult. Perhaps other passages—there are many—will have more luck!
In total, this is a fascinating disc. Production, performance and quality of recording are all of the very first class. Reactions to the music itself will necessarily be more variable. Have a go!'