As part of our deep dive into one of the most important bands in UK jazz history, writer Ian Mann takes a look at 8 iconic British jazz artists recorded by members of Loose Tubes.
Stay tuned until the end for his dedication to a star drummer on the London scene who passed away recently at the all-too-young age of 60…
IAIN BALLAMY, “BALLOON MAN” (1989)
Even while they were still members of Loose Tubes, both Django Bates and Iain Ballamy were recruited by ex Yes and King Crimson drummer Bill Bruford for the first edition of his long running Earthworks jazz-rock group.
The pair appear on the first two Earthworks studio albums “Earthworks” (1987) and “Dig?” (1989) plus the live recordings “All Heaven Broke Loose” (1993) and “Stamping Ground” (1994). All of these recordings represent recommended listening.
Recorded during the period of Ballamy’s tenure with both Loose Tubes and Earthworks, his debut solo album “Balloon Man” enjoyed a major label release on EG Records, also Earthworks’ home at the time.
The album features a quartet with Django Bates appearing on piano, keyboards and tenor horn, plus Steve Watts on double bass and Martin France at the drums.
Iain Ballamy appears on tenor, alto and soprano saxes and seven of the eight compositions are his. The material includes the jazz / folk whimsy of tunes such as “Remember…” and the enduringly popular “Strawberries”, the latter still a staple of Ballamy’s live performances.
“Rahsaan”, presumably named in honour of Roland Kirk, is a surreal and often humorous tango, with Bates’ electric keyboards approximating the sound of an accordion. Bates switches to tenor horn for the rumbustious “Albert”, which represents one of the album’s most joyous moments.
There is also “Jumble Sale”, a musical depiction of the chaos that ensues when the doors at the village hall open and the people in the queue dash in and start squabbling over the bargains. Like “Remember…” and “Strawberries” it’s all very English.
Despite the absorption of musical influences from all over the globe there’s always been something quintessentially British about the music of Loose Tubes and its various offshoots.
“Balloon Man” itself is an appropriately airy, spacious and elegant ballad and the album concludes with “All I Ask of You”, Ballamy’s arrangement of a hymn written by a monk named Gregory Norbet. The hymn is dedicated to the memory of Ballamy’s late wife Jessica.
Made when Ballamy was only twenty five “Balloon Man” represents an exceptionally mature and individual statement.
The quality of the playing is exceptional throughout, particularly from Ballamy and Bates, but one shouldn’t underestimate the contributions of Watts and France, who both offer intelligent and sympathetic support.
DJANGO BATES, “SUMMER FRUITS (AND UNREST)” (1993)
Following the eventual demise of Loose Tubes, Django Bates – the band’s keyboard player and principal composer – formed a new large ensemble. He named the group Delightful Precipice, after one of his own compositions and also the title track of the second Loose Tubes album.
The new group featured many former Loose Tubes personnel and many jazz commentators and fans regarded Delightful Precipice as the logical continuation of Loose Tubes.
Released on the now defunct German label JMT “Summer Fruits” features pieces from both Delightful Precipice and his quartet Human Chain and includes a re-working of Loose Tubes’ “Sad Afrika”, plus a number of pieces written for Circus Umbilicus, a musical circus show.
Again it’s an impressive artistic statement as Bates’ virtuoso keyboard playing combines with vividly colourful writing as Bates and his colleagues embrace a whole gamut of musical styles. It exhibits Bates’ trademark traits of restless musical inventiveness, allied to wit, warmth and a very English eccentricity.
This is music that is complex, colourful, multi-faceted, wilfully eclectic and most importantly fun. Like that of its ‘parent group’ the music of Delightful Precipice, which is featured on seven of the eleven tracks here, is guaranteed to both challenge and delight the listener.
“Summer Fruits” was the first of a sequence of ‘seasonal’ albums that Bates recorded for JMT that included the solo piano set “Autumn Fires (and Green Shoots)” (1994) and “Winter Truce (and Homes Blaze)” (1995), the second Delightful Precipice / Human Chain album.
Django Bates has continued to enjoy a stellar career as a musician, composer and educator but several of his later recordings have placed a greater emphasis on vocals, which doesn’t always work for me.
However I do enjoy his acoustic piano playing in the exceptional Charlie Parker inspired Beloved Trio that he formed with bassist Petter Eldh and drummer Peter Bruun, two of his former students. The 2018 ECM album “The Study of Touch”, which places the focus on Bates’ original compositions, represents a high water mark for this line up.
He’s also continued to write for large ensembles including his own StoRMChaser Big Band, but nothing has ever quite hit the heights of Loose Tubes or Delightful Precipice.
For me “Summer Fruits” just gets the nod over “Winter Truce”, which I know is a favourite for many listeners. Both are excellent and it’s difficult to choose between them but I’ll go with “Summer Fruits” because I saw Bates and Delightful Precipice live in Birmingham around the time of its release – and I’ve even got the T shirt to prove it!
PERFECT HOUSEPLANTS (1992)
Former Loose Tubes saxophonist Mark Lockheart was among the founders of the quartet Perfect Houseplants, a group that also included ex Loose Tubes drummer Martin France, plus pianist/accordionist Huw Warren and bassist Dudley Phillips.
The quartet’s eponymous debut album from 1993 was an engaging mix of jazz and folk music influences with the compositional duties largely shared between Lockheart and Warren, with Phillips also making the occasional writing contribution.
Combining strong folk inspired melodies with sophisticated harmonic and rhythmic ideas the Houseplants’ almost ‘chamber jazz’ approach to their musical hybrid was very much in the whimsical, proudly British spirit of Loose Tubes.
It was music that proved to be very appealing to the listening public and the success of Perfect Houseplants also helped to bring the solo careers of both Lockheart and Warren to a wider public. Both have enjoyed long and successful solo careers and have released many excellent recordings in their own right.
Despite the individual commitments of its four very busy members Perfect Houseplants remains a going concern and still plays the occasional concert.
The quartet’s recorded output includes the albums “Clec” (1995) and “Snap Clatter” (1997), both featuring the original line up and incorporating a larger instrumental palette. But it’s still the charming debut that is closest to my heart.
The group has also explored beyond the conventional realms of jazz. The albums “Extempore” (1999) and “Extempore 2” (2002) teamed them with early music ensemble the Orlando Consort.
Meanwhile the acclaimed “New Folk Songs” (2000), based on the traditional folk music of East Anglia saw the Houseplants collaborating with the recorder virtuoso Pamela Thorley and remains one of the band’s best loved albums.
Mark Lockheart’s solo career has flourished and he has released many excellent albums under his own name. It should also be remembered that he was part of the hugely influential band Polar Bear, led by drummer and composer Sebastian Rochford, with whom Lockheart recorded six albums.
Membership of two of the most revered and influential bands in British jazz history in Loose Tubes and Polar Bear is quite a feather in Lockheart’s cap. Added to his solo output, his work with Perfect Houseplants and his work as a jazz educator Mark Lockheart has had a musical career to be proud of.
JULIAN ARGUELLES – “SKULL VIEW” (1997)
Of all the Loose Tubes alumni, it’s arguable that the career of saxophonist and composer Julian Arguelles has been the most consistently impressive over the course of the years.
In terms of Loose Tubes he was a comparative late comer, following his older brother Steve Arguelles (drums, percussion) into the band and only appearing on the second and third albums. Also a member of Django Bates’ Delightful Precipice he’s been making up for lost time ever since.
Such is the high standard of all of Julian’s output as a leader that it’s difficult to pick out a single album. I was tempted to pick his superb 1991 debut “Phaedrus”, a quartet recording featuring Mick Hutton on bass, Martin France at the drums and the luminous piano playing of the late, great John Taylor.
Julian has recorded in a variety of instrumental formats from duo (with brother Steve) to big band and in the 1990s led an international octet that recorded two superb albums, “Skull View” (1997) and “Escapade” (1999). They feature Julian’s rich, colourful, multi-faceted writing and his compositions are particularly rich in terms of colour and texture, the octet functioning as kind of ‘mini jazz orchestra’”.
Both albums attracted a compelling amount of critical acclaim with many writers citing “Escapade” as being among Julian’s best work. Personally I’ll plump for “Skull View”, again because I had the pleasure of seeing the music being performed live, this time at the 1997 (as I recall) Cheltenham Jazz Festival.
The music that became “Skull View” was commissioned by the BBC and was first performed at the 1996 Bath International Music Festival.
The band that Arguelles assembled to play it included himself and Iain Dixon on reeds, Mark Bassey on trombone, Mike Walker on guitar, Steve Watts on double bass and Martin France at the drums.
The group also featured Django Bates specialising on tenor horn, with the piano chair being taken by the brilliant Portuguese pianist Mario Laginha, whose playing was a real revelation.
Exactly the same line up was to feature on “Escapade”. Arguelles and Laginha were to continue their musical acquaintance, re-uniting in 2018 alongside the Norwegian drummer / percussionist Helge Andreas Norbakken on the album “Setembro” (Edition Records).
“Skull View” embraces a broad range of jazz styles and features some brilliant playing from all concerned, no matter how complex the music becomes.
Rousing and rumbustious passages featuring the dirty sounds of electronically treated horns alternate with more pastoral, lyrical episodes. There are moments of Loose Tubes style whimsy and passages of fiery, freely structured improvisation, the track “Juices”, somehow managing to combine both at once. It’s not uncommon for the ensemble to explore different moods and styles during the course of a single piece.
This is a highly versatile and adaptable ensemble, more than capable of rising to the challenges that Arguelles’ compositions throw at it.
STEVE ARGUELLES – “CIRCUIT” (1998)
Even when Loose Tubes was extant, its members were involved in solo projects and I recall Brecon Jazz Festival hosting a series of performances featuring various small group spin-offs under the generic title ‘Loose Tubes on the Loose’.
Among these were the Iain Ballamy Quartet, Django Bates’ Human Chain and Arguelles, a quintet featuring both Arguelles brothers, drummer Steve and saxophonist Julian.
The Arguelles band focussed on Steve’s compositions, alongside quirky and ingenious arrangements of tunes from the jazz canon and beyond.
The group also included Huw Warren, here specialising on accordion, and multi-instrumentalist Stuart Hall on guitar, violin and pedal steel guitar. Hall and Steve Arguelles had also worked together as members of Human Chain.
The bass chair was filled by Mick Hutton, who was later replaced by Steve Watts.
Released under Steve’s name this band recorded two albums, “Busy Listening” (1994), with Hutton on bass, and “Circuit” from 1997, which featured Watts. Both albums are recognisably from the ‘Loose Tubes school’ but “Busy Listening” is a little too self consciously quirky and wilfully eccentric and layers the whimsicality on a bit too thickly.
“Circuit” is a more mature album, more varied in terms of mood and pace and less obviously flippant. Although the quirky charm is still very much present it feels more natural and less forced.
There’s a greater focus on Steve’s original writing and he takes the composer credit for eight of the album’s eleven tracks, with Hall contributing the manic album closer “Pigshead Copanista (aka Poisoned Umbrella Dance).
The outside material includes a rollicking sax and accordion arrangement of Keith Jarrett’s “The Windup”, which works very well and which opens the album.
There’s also a beautiful and poignant arrangement of the Jimmie Rowles’ song “The Peacocks”, with Julian on baritone sax, which demonstrates the quintet’s more sensitive side.
Steve’s own writing displays a growing maturity as the quintet explores a range of musical moods and styles, from the free jazz eruptions of “Explosions” to the church like accordion sonorities of “Caraqueb”.
Jaunty folk inspired jazz dances alternate with more reflective episodes and the writing is consistently bright and intelligent, brimming with ideas and rich in terms of colour and texture.
As a drummer Steve serves the music faithfully, his playing is about musicality rather than technique, although, of course he has the latter in abundance. It’s an observation that can also be made about the other players, who are all superb musicians and who respond well to the sometimes complex challenges of Steve’s compositions.
Steve had moved to France by the time of the album’s release and worked there with a variety of international musicians under the collective name The Recyclers.
Although less prolific as a recording artist than brother Julian his membership of Loose Tubes and Human Chain plus his work as a solo artist represents an impressive artistic statement.
BIG AIR – “BIG AIR” (2009)
Following the demise of Loose Tubes, trumpeter Chris Batchelor and saxophonist Steve Buckley co-led their own Buckley Batchelor Quartet and recorded the albums “The Whole And The Half” (1994, FMR Records” and “Life As We Know It” (1999, Babel Records).
Both musicians continued to be busy presences on the London music scene, working in a variety of jazz and world music contexts.
In 2009 the pair released “Big Air” on the Babel label, credited to an Anglo-American ensemble of the same name. The duo were joined by another Brit in the form of the extraordinary tuba player Oren Marshall plus two guests from the New York Downtown scene, Myra Melford (piano, harmonium) and Jim Black (drums).
Big Air initially convened in 2001 as the result of a commission by the BBC’ s flagship jazz programme Jazz On 3. The resulting suite, the award winning “Ten Tall Tales”, made a big impression when it was broadcast and the quintet subsequently undertook a short British tour.
A genuine rapport developed between the players and Big Air re-united in 2005 for a memorable performance of the suite at the London Jazz Festival, with further re-union shows ensuing in the coming years. I was lucky enough to finally catch up with the band at the 2011 Cheltenham Jazz Festival.
“Big Air” the album draws upon the core elements of “Ten Tall Tales” but also adds extra improvisations and overdubs.
The composing credits are divided pretty much equally between Batchelor (four tunes) and Buckley (three) and the album can also be seen as a development of the ideas expressed on the pair’s 1999 Babel release “Life As We Know It”.
It’s still unusual to see British jazz musicians functioning as the ‘leaders’ in this kind of Trans-Atlantic alliance, The Impossible Gentlemen representing another example, and the success of Big Air was good to see.
“Big Air” is a heady brew, bringing together seemingly disparate elements but making everything work through a combination of a shared spirit of musical adventure and great technical skill. There is a real bravado about the playing on this album and a sense of fun that reflects Buckley and Batchelor’s Loose Tubes lineage.
By the time the “Big Air” album was released I had started The Jazzmann website and my review contained track by track descriptions which you can find here.
“Big Air” is a remarkable album, literally bursting with ideas. The sudden shifts in moods and styles don’t make it the easiest of albums to write about, most of the tunes end up in a completely different place from where they started out.
But that, of course, is half the fun, each track is something of an adventure and proof that at it’s best jazz can still be the sound of surprise. The free and written elements complement each other perfectly to create an adventurous brand of music that is still eminently listenable.
“Big Air” represents a high water mark for both Buckley and Batchelor and for the Loose Tubes alumni overall. Batchelor has since continued on a highly creative path with his Pigfoot and Zoetic projects, both very different and both very enjoyable, but Big Air really was something special.
MARK LOCKHEART “IN DEEP” (2009)
Mark Lockheart has already featured in this article as a member of the band Perfect Houseplants. However as one of the most consistently creative musicians to have emerged from Loose Tubes it feels appropriate that one of his solo albums should be included in this list.
Lockheart’s recording under his own name include the albums “Through Rose Coloured Glasses” and “Imaginary Dances” (2002) recorded with his twelve piece group the Scratch Band.
His small group work includes the quartet album “Moving Air” (2006), and the widely acclaimed “In Deep”, a 2009 release for Edition Records that introduced a new quintet featuring Scratch Band trumpeter Dave Priseman, pianist Liam Noble, bassist Jasper Hoiby and drummer Dave Smith.
The inclusion of younger musicians such as Hoiby and Smith, both members of the Loop Collective, was indicative of Loose Tubes’ influence on the next generation of jazz musicians.
“In Deep” strikes just the right balance between discipline and freedom and Lockheart’s attractive and memorable themes make each track a unique adventure. The album maintains the consistently high standards we have come to expect from one of the UK’s most talented musicians and is a strong candidate for his best work to date.
Since the release of “In Deep” Lockheart has continued to produce consistently interesting music and continued his creative relationship with Noble and Hoiby in the ‘chamber jazz’ trio Malija, with whom he recorded the albums “The Day I Had Everything” (2015) and “Instinct” (2017), both released by Edition Records.
“Ellington In Anticipation” featured Lockheart’s re-imaginings of Ellington’s music performed by a seven piece ensemble that included Noble and Polar Bear drummer / leader Sebastian Rochford.
The ambitious “Days On Earth” (2019) saw Lockheart working with an orchestra for the first time and the personnel includes both jazz and classical musicians.
Lockheart’s most recent album release is “Dreamers” (2022), which finds him combining jazz and electronica in the company of drummer Dave Smith, former Polar Bear bassist Tom Herbert and young keyboard wizard Elliot Galvin. It makes for enjoyable and absorbing listen, with Galvin’s inclusion another example of the far reaching influence of Loose Tubes. It’s very tempting to think of Galvin as the ‘new Django Bates’.
Lockheart’s post Loose Tubes career has seen him deliver some excellent music in a wide variety of contexts and formats, ranging from Matheran, his duo with ex Loose Tubes guitarist John Parricelli, to big bands and orchestras. As stated earlier, it’s a musical career to be very proud of.
JULIAN ARGUELLES – TETRA (2015)
I’m going to sign off with a second Julian Arguelles album.
The saxophonist’s 21st century output includes “Partita”, an excellent trio recording made with the American musicians Michael Formanek (double bass) and Tom Rainey (drums).
Arguelles eventually returned to the quartet format in 2014 with “Circularity”, his first release in this configuration since his 1991 debut “Phaedrus”. “Circularity” featured an all star quartet that included John Taylor on piano, Dave Holland on bass and Martin France at the drums.
The album was a huge success but this was hardly the kind of line up that was going to go out on the road and with his passion for the quartet format renewed Arguelles set about forming a new group featuring some of the UK’s top up and coming musicians. The new band was called Tetra and featured Kit Downes on piano, Sam Lasserson on double bass and James Maddren on drums.
One of the best albums of 2015, “Tetra” is an album title as well as a band name and the eight pieces on the record were composed by Arguelles specifically for this line up.
Originally conceived as a continuous suite but now broken down into separate entities the music to be heard on “Tetra” retains a strong sense of purpose, a quality that is no way undermined by the rhyming, sometimes jocular, tune titles.
The quartet had been touring this music for some time and I was lucky enough to hear a sneak preview at the 2015 Cheltenham Jazz Festival when it was performed at a superb show at the Parabola Arts Centre by an extended line up featuring the core quartet plus George Crowley (tenor sax, bass clarinet), Percy Pursglove (trumpet & flugelhorn) and Kieran McLeod (trombone).
“Tetra” is an excellent album that impresses with the quality of both the writing and the playing. It’s easily on a par with “Phaedrus” and “Circularity” and ranks right up there with Arguelles’ best work, performing with this superb young band certainly seems to have given him a new lease of life.
It’s almost impossible to think that an album this good was recorded in a single day and mixed in two, although given the fact that the material had obviously been comprehensively road tested maybe it’s not THAT surprising.
Nevertheless hats off to engineers Alex Killpartrick and Steve Arguelles whose efforts support the group supremely well.
The follow up was “Tonadas (2018)” which saw the rhythm section of Lasserson and Maddren remaining in place, but with Ivo Neame taking over from Downes at the piano. This was another superb album, right up there with “Tetra” in terms of excellence.
Now based in Graz, Austria Arguelles is as creative as ever and his latest release is “Doublespeak”, essentially a solo project that harks back to “Scapes”.
Julian’s reeds and keyboards are augmented by the work of three different drummer/percussionists, all long time associates, these being Steve Arguelles, Martin France and Helge Andreas Norbakken.
Wrapping Up: The Loose Tubes Alumni
The music of Loose Tubes and its alumni have been a huge part of my life for nearly forty years. The impact that Loose Tubes, and also their contemporaries Tomorrow’s Warriors, have had on UK jazz is incalculable, and their influence still lingers on.
Besides their output as musicians all of the artists that I have featured are acclaimed educators and both through their music and their teaching they have been a huge source of inspiration to younger generations of jazz musicians both in the UK and continental Europe.
I would like to dedicate this article to the memory of Martin France, who died earlier in 2024 aged just sixty following a long illness.
Although Martin didn’t appear on any of the Loose Tubes studio albums he was the band’s drummer in its later years and as can be seen above he continued to collaborate widely with other former ‘Tubes’ and returned to the LT drum stool for the 2014 re-union gigs.
He was a superb drummer whose distinctive style of playing enriched every project that he was involved with and he appeared on literally dozens of recordings, including two by his own electro-improvising group Spin Marvel.
Martin France still had so much to offer and was taken from us far too soon. But together with his Loose Tubes compadres he leaves an enduring and indelible legacy.
Looking for more British jazz? Check out Ian’s guide to the original Loose Tubes ensemble and its enduring legacy.