Matthew Herbert Big Band Goodbye Swingtime
According to Duke Ellington, it don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing. […]
According to Duke Ellington, it don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing. Such a declamatory statement should cause no insomnia for Matthew Herbert or those involved in his latest project. From the deftly brushed snares and lissome brass section of the opening “Turning Pages,” the rhythmic fluidity of Herbert’s big band is both plain to the ear and plainly pertinent. Herbert’s personal beliefs are almost as well-known as his idiosyncratic working practices. Under his own name and as Doctor Rockit and Radioboy, he adheres to a rigid set of creative guidelines (laid down in his essay “Personal Contract for the Composition of Music”) by which he hacks and sculpts the live audio environment into abrasive and luxuriant structures, molding the imperfect into exquisite designs and vice versa. The dogged self-sufficiency (and, frankly speaking, sheer bl__