Chris Standring announces March shows at Pizza Express Jazz Club to launch release of Wonderful World on vinyl

Guitarist Chris Standring has announced the long-awaited vinyl release of Wonderful World, the stunning new album by jazz guitarist, Chris Standring, which will be played in the intimate setting of Pizza Express – Holborn on 3rd March (8pm), 4th March (8pm) and 5th March (6.30pm and 9.30pm).

Backed by his drum-tight quartet, he will be performing a selection of songs from Wonderful World alongside some much-loved classics from his extensive back catalogue. Former Incognito frontman, Tony Momrelle will be appearing as special guest for all four shows.

“My kind of jazz music undoubtedly works best in an intimate setting, and it doesn’t get much more intimate than Pizza Express – Holborn,” Standring explains. “I haven’t played a club show in London for many years, so I’m incredibly excited.

“It was so important for me to release Wonderful World on vinyl because it is undoubtedly the best format to listen to jazz. Streaming is great, but there’s a palpable pleasure that you can only get when the needle hits the record and you immerse yourself in the warm glow of the music.”

In an illustrious career that stretches back over the last 25 years, Chris Standring has earned a reputation as one of the world’s most virtuosic jazz guitarists. Whilst he has enjoyed huge commercial success in contemporary jazz, Wonderful World is the record he was destined to make from the very moment he first picked up a guitar.

“I’ve had an affinity for strings for as long as I can remember. The idea of doing an album of Great American Songbook standards with a trio and orchestra came to me a few years ago, but the ambition and the huge expense kept the project on the back burner. When Covid hit, I had no gigs in the diary, so with time on my hands, I started to seriously study the art of writing for strings.”

After cutting a demo at his studio in Los Angeles, Standring approached Geoff Gascoyne to write the sublime string arrangements, leaving him free to focus on playing the guitar. His fantasy finally came to fruition when he enlisted some of the world’s best jazz musicians and recorded the orchestra live in Studio Two at Abbey Road.

“I then called up the finest musicians I knew – Randy Brecker, Peter Erskine, Harvey Mason, Darek Oleszkiewicz, David Karasony and Chuck Berghofer. In March 2021, we recorded the orchestra in Studio Two at Abbey Road – the final piece of this jigsaw. When everything came together, it sounded spellbinding. From beginning to end, it really has been a dream come true.”

Wonderful World, his 13th studio album, finds Standring at the very peak of his powers. With the help of some of the world’s best jazz players, he manages to breathe fresh life into these magical, ageless songs, somehow making them sound both old and new at the same time. Although you can hear echoes of George Benson, Grant Green and Pat Martino in his deceptively simple style, Chris Standring’s sound is unmistakable.

Wonderful World will be released on CD and Limited Edition Heavyweight 180g vinyl on Ultimate Vibe / Lateralize Records - 3rd March 2022.