Chicago power-jazz trio Tiger Hatchery proudly comes out of the ESP-Disk' free jazz tradition, as Forbes's playing makes clear, but there's an added noise-rock edge, especially in Billington's aggressive drumming, that keeps the sound modern. Young does much more than lay down the bottom, emerging as an equal member of their glorious cacophony. Their 2013 ESP release, Sun Worship, earned huzzahs from press and free-jazz aficionados (see below).
Press Quotes for Tiger Hatchery's first ESP album, 2013's Sun Worship:
"One of the best openings in music I’ve heard this year happens on “Chieftain,” the first of three tracks on Sun Worship, a short and to-the-point CD by the young Chicago free-jazz band Tiger Hatchery. There’s no lead-in, no windup: It’s as if all members were running as hot as possible, frozen in time, and then unfrozen: Blam, drums and cymbals under attack, tenor saxophone gasping, electric bass on extreme low judder. Sun Worship is released on ESP-Disk, the imprimatur of some of the best New York free jazz in the early- and mid-’60s, but it feels different, especially after the initial onslaught, through its various episodes of velocity and mood. Andrew Scott Young, the bassist, uses the rugged tone you’d associate less with jazz than, say, the Jesus Lizard’s David Wm. Sims; the tenor player Mike Forbes and drummer Ben Billington have 50 years of free jazz from around the world, as well as nearly that much of improvised noise, to assimilate. They bring these three pieces home rather elegantly, and begin the other two much more softly. But I’m fine with the record’s first five seconds." – Ben Ratliff, The New York Times
"Tiger Hatchery offer a similar experience of surrendering to a massive and unstoppable sonic tsunami..." –
allaboutjazz.com
"... the trio’s union of Scratch Acid scrawl and AACM aggression has earned them a half-hour on wax for legendary jazz label ESP-Disk. And these cats do not disappoint..." –
jambands.com
"'Chieftain' is primal jazz therapy that signals to the world they’re about to unleash an album worthy of the ESP-Disk’s legacy of unbound, anti-commercial music." –
somethingelsereviews.com
"Mike Forbes incants on various members of the sax family with an in-your-face insouciance that you will want to pay attention to, since this is no background music. Ben Billington on drums is a dynamo in the way you might expect. He adds considerably to the level of power here. But it is bassist Andrew Scott Young who puts it over the top and gives this trio an almost rock push. He is all over the place, kicking the living H out of the proceedings in ways that make me listen to what he's doing." –
gapplegatemusicreview.blogspot.com
released November 30, 2018
Personnel: Mike Forbes, saxophones;
Andrew Scott Young, basses;
Ben Billington, drums