The 3 Out - Move

2004 reissue

Move was made in 1960 by a Nock-led trio called the 3 Out. The hipness of the band’s name is echoed in the moody shadows on the cover photograph of Nock, drummer Chris Karan and bassist Freddy Logan. The album was recorded only six weeks after the band was formed, so a growing cohesion mingles with the excitement of the new in realising sharp arrangements of what are mostly standards.

Although it was recorded in a studio you can imagine the packed coffee-sipping, cigarette-smoking El Rocco crowd whooping its encouragement of sensational playing that on the more bluesy pieces bristles with the sort of testifying intensity that Charles Mingus would have relished.

While Nock’s playing was not quite as distinctive as it is now, it already contained the ebullience that remains such a prominent feature of his work. Karan displays the snappy precision that two years later would become a hallmark of the Dudley Moore Trio for four decades, and the insistent 5/4 groove of Logan’s Primitive is a distinguishing highlight. Any fan of the modern-day Nock should hear this.

John Shand