NEW MUSIC: NAT BIRCHALL – CREATION; RICH HALLEY – THE OUTLIER; NELS CLINE - LOVERS

NAT BIRCHALL – CREATION

“Creation” is Nat Birchall's eighth album and his most fully realised to date. The group assembled for this recording features two drummers, Johnny Hunter and Andy Hay, and along with Nat, pianist Adam Fairhall and bassist Michael Bardon they create a sound and energy perfectly matched to reveal the deepest messages within the music. The group create enough kinetic energy for interstellar travel, which is exactly where the music takes the listener! From the opening bars of “Love in the Cosmos” to the closing diminuendo of “Light of All Worlds” the music stretches and soars, taking the listener both deep within themselves and also to the furthest reaches of space/time on a journey of profound emotional expression that ultimately uplifts the spirit. Gilles Peterson said Nat is “one of the best musicians in the UK, no question”, plus Nat's last album (“Invocations”, on Jazzman Records) was featured in his best of 2015 show. Nat's music is regularly featured on Gilles' radio shows, as well as BBC Radio 3 shows, Jazz on 3 and Jazz Line-Up, plus Jamie Cullum's BBC Radio 2 show and shows like Gideon Coe on BBC 6 Music.

RICH HALLEY – THE OUTLIER

Saxophonist and composer Rich Halley releases The Outlier, featuring multi-reed player Vinny Golia, trombonist Michael Vlatkovich, bassist Clyde Reed and drummer Carson Halley. The Outlier is the new recording by the Rich Halley 5 and features a mix of new original compositions by Rich Halley and free improvisations by the group. The addition of Vinny Golia's baritone sax and bass clarinet to the front line creates new colors, textures and harmonic possibilities which energize the music.  The Outlier combines roots, exploration and real emotion in an engaging and powerful statement. Rich Halley has released nineteen recordings as a leader.  The Outlier follows the Rich Halley 4's earlier Eleven, Creating Structure, The Wisdom of Rocks, Crossing the Passes, Back from Beyond and Requiem for a Pit Viper, all critically acclaimed.

NELS CLINE - LOVERS

Lovers is an expansive double-album that Nels Cline has dreamed of making for over 25 years. Inspired by the likes of Bill Evans, Jim Hall, Gil Evans, Johnny Mandel, Henry Mancini and others, Cline finally realized his ambitious mood music project with an ensemble of 23 stellar musicians conducted and arranged by Michael Leonhart. Lovers was produced by David Breskin and recorded and mixed by Ron Saint Germain. The material on Lovers is wide-ranging; the album s 18 tracks include Cline s striking originals as well as Great American Songbook standards and songs by Sonic Youth, Arto Lindsay, Jimmy Giuffre and others. Cline was named by Rolling Stone as one of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. He has led various groups of his own, most consistently the avant-garde ensemble the Nels Cline Singers, and appeared as a guest or feature player on more than 200 albums. In addition, for the last dozen years, he s been a full-time member of the acclaimed rock band Wilco.