Over the
course of four albums, Manchester based trumpeter, composer, arranger and
band-leader Matthew Halsall has carved out a niche for himself on the UK music
scene as one of it’s brightest talents. His languid, soulful music has won
friends from Jamie Cullum and Gilles Peterson to Jazz FM and Mojo as well as an
ever-growing international following. His label Gondwana Records is home to
GoGo Penguin and his own albums have found Halsall exploring the modal jazz of
John and Alice Coltrane, paying tribute to the hard bop of the late ’50s and
early ’60s or most recently on Fletcher Moss Park drawing on Eastern influences
in his most personal statement yet. His latest album When The World Was One is
something of a companion piece to Fletcher Moss Park (much of the music was
written at the same time) but draws more explicitly on Halsall’s love of spiritual
jazz and Eastern music as well as his own studies in meditation and travels in
Japan. Beautifully recorded at Hasall’s favourite studio, 80 Hertz in
Manchester, and engineered by Brendan Williams and George Atkins it features
the recording debut of Halsall’s large ensemble, The Gondwana Orchestra, which
utilises the exotic flavours of harp, koto and bansuri flute and Eastern scales
to create a global palate for Halsall’s life-affirming sounds.
The
Gondwana Orchestra features long time collaborators Nat Birchall, saxophone,
Gavin Barras, bass and Rachael Gladwin, harp as well as Taz Modi on piano. Modi
who also plays with Halsall in their more electronic trio shares his passion
for spiritual jazz and plays the music with real feeling while the role of the
harp here is to bring a touch of ‘magical reality’ a floating dreaminess that
is a vital part of Halsall’s elegiac and beautiful music. The drummer Luke
Flowers is perhaps best known as part of Cinematic Orchestra, and Halsall
describes him as ‘one of the best drummers in the world’ and hails him for
‘playing the music exactly as I heard it in my head’, Keiko Kitamura is a
Japanese Koto player who is becoming an increasingly important part of the
Gondwana Orchestra, her role is similar to Gladwin’s in that the koto helps
free up the music while also bringing a real sound of the East. Finally,
flautist Lisa Mallett brings a love of Indian music to the orchestra, much
travelled on the continent she brings all of her knowledge and experience to
play offering a unique texture to Halsall’s dreamy melodies.
The
album opens with the title track, When The World Was One, an expansive
ascending tune that nods to Art Blakey and McCoy Tyner and draws the listener
in before giving way to the dreamy, meditative A Far Away Place which features
great work from Gladwin on harp and draws on Eastern influences alongside the
music of Alice Coltrane and Yusef Lateef. Falling Water which features the
beautiful soprano of Nat Birchall nods to classic spiritual jazz as well, but
mixes in the more contemporary influences of Nostalgia 77 and Cinematic
Orchestra, while the hard-driving Patterns conjures an up-lifting celebratory
vibe with fine work from pianist Modi to set the mood. The beautiful
Kiyomizu-Dera is inspired by Halsall’s travels in Japan and in particular his
visit to the Buddhist temple of the same name. Likewise Sagano Bamboo Forest is
named for another place that left a deep imprint on Halsall and aims to capture
his feelings as he worked through the vast maze of bamboo trees. Finally the
album closes with the self-explanatory Tribute To Alice Coltrane a grooving
tribute to one of Halsall’s key influences. Driven by a powerful bass line and
featuring wonderful work from Mallet on bansuri flute and harpist Gladwin, the
band all really find their way into Halsall’s groove before the leader plays a
beautiful wistful solo of his own and it is the oneness of the Gondwana
Orchestra that makes it such a powerful vehicle for Halsall’s music as the
leader takes you on his very own journey through his musical and spiritual
world.
Tracklisting: 01. When
The World Was One / 02. A
Far Away Place / 03.
Falling Water / 04.
Patterns / 05.
Kiyomizu-Dera / 06.
Sagano Bamboo Forest / 07.
Tribute To Alice Coltrane
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