"In the garden of music, jazz is bindweed". So said 'The Thick of It' writer Ian Martin in a recent interview. Nothing on this album is likely to change his point of view.
I don't pretend to be a jazz aficionado, although I wouldn't be as dismissive as Ian Martin on the genre as a whole.
One thing's for sure, this album is not designed to appeal to the casual listener looking for soothing background music.
The harshness of many pieces is, I assume, entirely intentional so, while I've labelled this as 'ambient' it is the antithesis of any discreet sounds you usually associate with that term.
With the saxophone skronk of Musson, meandering piano of Nooble and free-drumming of Sanders, the seven tracks on this album are totally improvised.
A clue to the loose mood they evoke lies in the title since a 'tatterdemalion' is a person dressed in ragged clothing.
The London-based record label pitch its as "emphatic interplay with an emphasis on texture and energy" and you are thrown into the deep end with the dense and disonant opening track,May Be A Silken Thread.
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After this challenging initiation, there are quieter moments of random precision, notably on The Blue Man and the understated The Blanket Feels Woolen.
I am drawn to the rebellious spirit of this trio in a way that I am not to more conventional jazz forms such as be-bop or swing.
At the same time, I confess that find myself struggling to find a way into the music that is so technically accomplished yet so committed to sabotaging conventional notions of melody or form.
A cautious appreciation is the best I can muster.
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