Mike Milligan Solo Flights
(Transit Records)
Reviewed by Tommy Babin

A group of five jazz aficionados sit around a candle-lit table, sipping red wine as they discuss their recent jazz festival-induced record buying spree.

"I just picked up--’s new solo piano record."

"Oh, I've heard that that’s simply fantastic . . . "

"Yes, I heard a bit on the radio."

"I found an old copy of --’s solo guitar record at one of those places on Mount Royal and got it for a song."

"I'd love to hear that."

"Well, I just bought a solo bass record."

"Err. . . . . ."

". . . . . . . . . . ."

A small drop of wax resounds on the oak table, filling the awkward silence, and a dog beyond the open window responds.

Sound familiar? Maybe only to me, but the double bass is quite possibly the least understood and appreciated of our European musical instruments, and this truly is a crying shame. Few others share the same sort of rich and diverse history, which encompasses every European and American (non-native) musical style, and unfortunately, since we see bass guitars everywhere that we look, we tend to think of the one which is closer to our heart as a larger, more awkward predecessor. But, it is a different, subtle, beautiful instrument with a vastly different range of sound (the fact that the double bass and bass guitar are tuned the same is a coincidence- the bass guitar is one octave lower than the bottom four of the standard guitar, which happens to correspond to modern double bass tuning).

In any case, those of us who wish to look will find various types of solo bass recordings, from overdubs of two or more tracks (Gary Peacock’s December Poems and Mark Dresser's Invocation), to bass-and-tape (Barre Philips’ Camouflage and Aquarian Rain) to plain old solo bass, such as Dave Holland’s Emerald Tears and Mike Milligan’s Solo Flights.

Now skeptical readers may think to themselves, "This guy must be a bass player- he just gets off on his instrument," but any of us can listen to a very good pianist or sax player exploiting their instruments creatively, so why not a bass player. Some of us may be musicians, but we’re all listeners.

This recording is of a very good bass player exploiting his instrument. Milligan starts it off with a bang of a piece called First Light, a relatable and visualizable rhythmic and melodic affair. Then, from there, we take off into a world of extended techniques and physical prowess that transcends sideshow freak captivation to become musically coherent and expressive from frantic joy to quiet desperation.

Furthermore, thanks to recording engineer Geoff Mitchell, we really hear what a bass sounds like. How many of us have really heard a bass? The instrument is usually either drowned out by bandmates or subject to poor and inappropriate amplification.

When I listen to Solo Flights, I’m in the same room as the fingers on the strings and the wood of the bass.

Well, this having all been said, I have to say that I really like this record, and I'd like to think that I’m man enough, and well rounded enough to dismiss specialty records as just that.

I think that this is very good music that has obviously been well prepared and thought out, and as I listen, I close my eyes and imagine.

Tommy Babin is a bass player. He’s a founding member of the quartet FACT and the trio Punch Drunk.

More about: Mike Milligan; Solo Flights