Thursday, June 15, 2017

NEW MUSIC RELEASES: REUBEN FOWLER – BETWEEN SHADOWS; BURT BACHARACH / ELVIS COSTELLO – PAINTED FROM MEMORY; DIEGO BARBER – ONE MINUTE LATER

REUBEN FOWLER – BETWEEN SHADOWS

Between Shadows is the debut album by award-winning trumpeter and composer Reuben Fowler. This is an album of huge ambition, delivered impeccably by an artist with a vision to match. Here is a young musician with plenty to say as both a player and a composer, however what s most impressive is his boldness and maturity in bringing together an ensemble of world-class musicians to create an album of huge breadth and poise. Featuring some of the most renowned and revered musicians in British jazz - including Stan Sulzmann, Jim Hart and Guy Barker (who conducts) - as well as US trumpet star Tom Harrell, Fowler's ensemble echoes the brilliance and invention evident in some of the great British big band leaders. Recorded flawlessly at Angel Studios, London, Between Shadows is one of the most impressive all round debuts for some time. Reuben Fowler graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in 2012 as the second Winner of the Kenny Wheeler Award. He has also received the Musicians Benevolent Fund Peter Whittingham Award and an award from the Jazz Services Recording Support Scheme. To receive three such accolades in such a short period is evidence of Reuben s potential as an emerging artist of huge natural talent. Between Shadows is final confirmation that he will become a vital figure in British Jazz.

BURT BACHARACH / ELVIS COSTELLO – PAINTED FROM MEMORY

Limited, numbered 180gm vinyl LP pressing on Mobile Fidelity. Mastered from the original master tapes. Painted from Memory is a collaboration between Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach. It was released 29 September 1998. The collaboration commenced with "God Give Me Strength", a commission for the 1996 film Grace of My Heart. Apparently pleased with the result, the pair expanded the project to this full album, the first for Costello after an absence of two years, and for Bacharach after an absence of 21 years. Lyrics and music are co-credited to both Bacharach and Costello. "I Still Have That Other Girl" won a Grammy Award in 1998 for "Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals" for Bacharach and Costello.

DIEGO BARBER – ONE MINUTE LATER

For 'One Minute Later', guitarist/composer Diego Barber recruited a superb rhythm section in bassist Ben Williams and drummer Eric Harland. Both musicians are incredible technicians and fantastic accompanists. Harland has made a name for himself as one of the most exciting and expressive drummers in jazz, while Williams has become a force because of his ultra clean tone and incredible groove. It was Barber's discovery of wunderkind percussionist Alejandro Coello that drove Barber to make this recording. Coello has an orchestral role within the ensemble. He utilizes a multitude of instruments on 'One Minute Later', including marimba, vibraphone, tympani, gongs, crotales, tam-tam and kalimba, creating tones and colours that make these compositions really stand apart. Most of Coello's parts are written out, adding a precision within the energy generated by the ensemble. Barber's intent while writing the music was to create a diverse program of pieces that sound different from each other. The influences of classical and jazz are apparent in the music. There are also elements of more emphatically rhythmic genres like electronic dance music and rock that influence the structure and drive of many of the pieces.


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