ALBUM REVIEW: The John Pope Quintet – Citrinitas

New Jazz & Improvised Music Recordings

Released: 06.10.23

Newcastle’s John Pope Quintet hit a number of genuinely sweet spots on their modern, mellifluous and melodic take on Blue Note Jazz. Double bass player extraordinaire John Pope has put together an extraordinary cohort of musicians to realise his joyous vision, including Jamie Stockbridge on expressive saxophones, Faye MacCalman on tenor sax and clarinet, Graham Hardy on trumpet and flugelhorn and Johnny Hunter on drums.

Citrinitas zips with a pleasing spontaneity and joie de vivre. Recalling Mingus at his most irreverent, the eight songs traverse a spectrum of moods with a consistent emphasis on melody and movement, from more plaintive moments like Shadow Work to truly kinetic opener Free Spin. It all makes for a tremendously enjoyable listen, and embraces brevity rather well in spite of its scope and scale.