Numerologists will tell you that angel number 6161 signifies a time of turbulence and that, as a result, you should buckle in for a bumpy ride and have faith you’ll come out alive. One might surmise that drummer Matt Stockholm Brown is doubling down on the meaning by embracing the digits as both his jazz ensemble’s name and album title, but it doesn’t much matter. All one need know is this: 6161 is a riveting set.
Brown previously played with the Bristol (UK) band Run Logan Run, which won the Montreux Festival Award in 2019, and has also accompanied such artists and bands as Massive Attack, Rodriguez, Liz Lawrence, Marc Ford, Squirrel Flower and Cosmo Sheldrake in the studio and on stage. This project finds him joined by Get the Blessing’s Jake McMurchie (tenor sax) and Pete Judge (trumpet), his wife and long-term bandmate Sophie Stockham (tenor sax), Bristol youngster Tom Taylor (baritone sax), Modulus III’s Dan Moore (synths), and Riaan Vosloo (electronics, bass); Vosloo also produced.
The eight-track album, which was recorded live at J&J Studio in Bristol, mimics the Severn Sea to an extent, calm one moment and stormy the next. Brown leads the way with taut drum fills and rhythms throughout, while the brass rises and falls like rough waters, errant trumpets and sax representing the windswept crests crashing to shore. It’s a remarkably evocative piece with nominal starts and stops, one that somehow leaps metaphors—and numerology—to apply to the landlocked, as well. It’s an enthralling set that strengthens with each new listen. Highly recommended.
The Old Grey Cat 
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