Tiny Hearts - Alluvium

One of the wonders of collective music making is the way a composition conceived by one person in isolation is interpreted, filtered and transformed by the assembled pool of sounds, experiences, muscles, emotions, imagination, expertise and aesthetic sense.

It happens in rock bands and orchestras, but the process is magnified when improvisation is extensively involved. All five members of Sydney’s Tiny Hearts have contributed pieces to this debut album, yet what hits home is not so much the diversity of compositional approaches as the cohesion of the group interplay in realising them.

Aiding the cause is the distinctiveness of Eamon Dilworth’s trumpet which, unlike most jazz-oriented players, sometimes carries a blast of the raucous vibrancy associated with Balkan Gypsies or Spanish bullfight bands. Other members are saxophonist Dave Jackson, pianist Steve Barry, bassist Tom Botting and drummer Paul Derricott: all musicians whose improvisation deepens the colour of a composition rather than just decorating it.

JOHN SHAND