Swift - Apus Apus (2025)

Tracklist

01. Throw a Six
02. Can't Remember
03. Four Triads
04. K
05. Love Me Voodoo
06. On The Red
07. Mizpah
08. Perfectly Frank
09. Love Me Blue

Hugh John (keyboards); Larry Dundas (guitar, bass, programming); Frank Mead (saxophones, harmonica, flute); Brendan O’Neill (drums and percussion); Linley Hamilton (trumpet)
Recorded Low Road Studio, London.

Although the British jazz-rock band Swift was formed in 1976, it wasn’t until 2022 that the band released their first album. Thankfully, the gap between the first and their second album is less than three years. The core band retains three of the original members – keyboardist Hugh John, guitarist Larry Dundas and drummer Brendan O’Neill.

Swift’s original bassist John McCullough has moved onto other projects and so Dundas also takes up the bass chair. A new – and welcome – addition to the line-up is Frank Mead, who seemingly plays every type of saxophone, as well as harmonica and flute. Irish musician and broadcaster Linley Hamilton has been a terrific supporter of the band, and he plays trumpet on two tracks.

Hugh John writes that ‘This album draws on many and varied influences at the heart and soul of our collective musical journey,’ and this includes keyboardists like Joe Zawinul and Chick Corea – the track ‘Love Me Voodoo,’ is dedicated to them.

Apus, Apus (the Latin scientific name for the Common Swift) offers nine tunes, five of them written by Hugh John, two by Larry Dundas, and two tracks which combine the compositional skills of Miles Davis and Lennon & McCartney – all will be explained below.

The album’s opener, ‘Throw A Six,’ was written by Dundas and starts the album off on a bright, upbeat feel with a driving Latin beat. It’s music with momentum and Dundas plays fast, flowing melodic guitar lines, with Mead providing a powerful solo on alto sax. Dundas’s second number, ‘Four Triads’ offers up a slinky, syncopated groove, with heavy bass riff and a circular vamp played on electric piano. Dundas’s sparse guitar lines and a harmonized horn section (presumably Mead overdubbed his parts) are added to the delightful mix.

Hugh John’s ‘Can’t Remember’ is a jazz-funk song which reminds me of the music of jazz bassist Brian Bromberg, with a heavy bass riff kicking off a hot horn section. The song meanders through various time signatures and there are sharp solos on guitar, electric piano and tenor sax. Mead switches to soprano sax, playing a tender solo at the coda, and sounding a little like Wayne Shorter during his late 60s period with Miles.

‘K’ is the album’s longest track at a little over eight minutes long. It’s a very interesting composition, with a mysterious opening and a slow, dark theme, before opening up at about ninety seconds in. The tension builds, amplified by O’Neill’s incessant cymbal taps and a bass riff marks the beginning of a swinging section, with John’s light-touch stabs and funky chords on electric piano supporting Mead’s wailing tenor sax. There’s a definite Weather Report feel to the sound and that is meant as a compliment.

‘On The Road’ has a slow, sweet, sorrowful theme played on soprano sax before transforming into a mid-tempo piece packed with scampering soprano sax lines, funky electric piano and Dundas’s spacious guitar phrasing. ‘Mizpah’ is an exciting number with pounding drums and blazing horn lines. Dundas plays one of his best guitar solos with fast, winding runs, topped off with a touch of the overdrive at the end. John picks up on electric piano, playing a fine solo. Not to be outdone, Mead solos furiously on alto sax. A cracking piece.

‘Perfectly Frank’ showcases the talents of Frank Mead, starting with a flute solo played over a light, Latin beat, and switching to alto sax. Dundas plays a punchy, extended guitar solo.

The two non-original songs are glorious musical mash-ups, which combine Miles Davis’s ‘Miles Runs The Voodoo Down’ (from Bitches Brew), with Lennon & McCartney’s ‘Love Me Do’ (performed by a Liverpool band whose name escapes me). Joe Zawinul and Chick Corea both played on the original ‘Voodoo.’

The first mash-up has a neat title: ‘Love Me Voodoo.’ Starting off with a cheeky-sounding chugging percussive beat, the original ‘Voodoo’ bass vamp and touches of electric piano, Linley Hamilton muted trumpet dances over them, with brief interjections from Mead’s harmonica.

At 1:50, the tune seamlessly switches to the chorus of ‘Love Me Do’, with Linley’s trumpet joined by alto sax and harmonica. Mead plays a bluesy harmonica solo bringing to mind Miles’s ‘Red China Blues,’ from the Get Up With It album, which also featured the instrument. John’s long, rippling electric piano solo is ably supported by O’Neill on drums (just listen to those fills). It’s where jazz meets blues meets pop, and it’s a sheer delight.

‘Love Me Blue’ is essentially a reprise, with some new elements and subtle changes here and there – for example, John’s electric piano solo around the three-minute point on ‘Love Me Voodoo’ is now replaced by a mix of trumpet and harmonica treated with some echo. So there you have it: strong compositions, an excellent band and even a couple of tracks that will bring a smile to your face. Swift is a band that is definitely flying high...

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