"Waterlily Boogie" belies its title, which hints at a bouncy syncopated tempo yet the track turns out to be melancholy, a mood Rob Statham's bowed bass helps to create. On this cut (one of the album's highlight tracks), Travis' tenor assumes a light, delicate sound as Gary Hammond again adds a subtle calypso beat on congas. The only song on the play list Travis didn't write, Charles Mingus' "Nostalgia in Times Square," is done as sophisticated swing featuring some excellent work by Gordon in McCoy Tyner mode. The opener "Lulworth Night" is a heady and quite pretty musical dissertation by Travis and pianist David Gordon. "Out of Sight, Out of Mind" has a calypso beat laid down by Gary Hammond's congas and Marc Parnell's drums. This cut notwithstanding, Secret Island offers over 60 minutes of music of varying moods by Travis and his able band members, augmented from time to time with invited guests. The psychedelic influence is apparent on "Crow Road," with Travis' soprano attempting to excise or feed the demons those 1960s-culture drugs begot. Since May 1999 he has been part of the group Gong, whose music has been described as cosmic-psychedelic-jazz-improvised-progressive rock-space metal, etc. Travis' musical interests are in no way limited to jazz. Theo Travis' second album, View From the Edge, was voted Best British Jazz CD of 1994 by the Jazz on CD readers/critics poll. This is the third CD the British saxophonist has recorded for the 33Jazz label and an exciting one it is.
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