New releases

  • Sarah Heneghan: Grass Will Grow Over All Of Us

    26th October 2023

    Grass Will Grow Over All Of Us is the third and final single from Sheffield-based drummer Sarah Heneghan’s debut album, ‘Power Out’. Power Out is also a stunning solo show of live drums, electronics, and lights, and the music will soon be available for your ears, 24/7. After three single releases, the campaign will be wrapping up with the album release in November. Power Out will be touring the UK in mid-late October to promote the album and the show itself. It’s not to be missed.

    Sarah Heneghan presents: Power Out has received support from Arts Council England, Manchester Jazz Festival, Serious Music, Sage Gateshead, and Jazz North. All music recorded and produced by David Glover at Tesla Studios, Sheffield. Photography & film by Kate Griffin Photography.

    'Grass Will Grow Over All Of Us is a gentle climate change anthem and reminder that, ultimately, nature will overcome us and our cosmic insignificance. The track oozes dreamy spacious electronics driven by a drum ‘n’ bass groove with a relaxed jazz feel, inspired by the drummers of contemporary Scandi jazz and EDM.'

    Upcoming Live Dates:

    Adelphi Club, Hull - 12/10/23

    Newcastle, Cobalt Studios - 14/10/23

    Hyde Park Book Club, Leeds - 16/10/23

    Full of Noises, Barrow-in-Furness - 19/10/23

    Newcastle, Gosforth Civic Centre - 20/10/23

    Peer Hat, Manchester - 25/10/23

    Secret location, Sheffield - 26/10/23

    Vortex, London - 15/11/23

    For further info and to follow and support click here

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  • Jocelyn Gould: Sonic Bouquet

    13th October 2023

    Swing, blues and bebop are the core musical values of Jocelyn Gould’s new album Sonic Bouquet. With this record, the JUNO-winning guitarist builds on the success of her first two albums with a studio recording that captures the spirit and spontaneity of a live club performance. It was recorded in a single day, immediately after Gould’s return to Toronto from a six week, thirty-three concert tour of the United States. Gould and her internationally acclaimed band landed in Toronto together, just in time to start an electric, four- night run at Toronto’s storied Rex Hotel. The morning after their last show, they entered a studio in the heart of Toronto to capture the energy of these performances.

    The title Sonic Bouquet refers to a musical process where each musician can add their own colour, timbre, and personality to a recording - much in the same way that a collection of individual flowers combines in a bouquet. The ensemble features an unconventional front line of two guitars and clarinet: this unique instrumentation was central to the writing and arranging process.

    Gould has always put together world class bands for her recordings, and Sonic Bouquet is no exception. Featured musicians include drummer Quincy Davis from Texas, bassist Rodney Whitaker and guitarist Randy Napoleon from Michigan, pianist Will Bonness from Winnipeg, and clarinetist Virginia MacDonald from Toronto. The band, spanning 3 generations, brings decades of love and passion for jazz music to life.

    Sonic Bouquet is full of swing, bebop, blues, jazz standards - both familiar and obscure - and original compositions. It is the result of Gould’s long-time desire to collaborate with Randy Napoleon, an old friend and one of her favourite guitarists. Both Gould and Napoleon contributed arrangements and original music written specifically for this collaboration.

    Sonic Bouquet will be released worldwide on Friday, October 13th, 2023.

    Click here for more information

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  • Rotraut Jäger: Dynamite

    6th October 2023

    The flute ... it is a very special instrument. Jazz history is not exactly rich in musicians who specialised in the flute alone; most of them also played the saxophone, clarinet or other woodwind instruments. The German/Swiss Rotraut Jäger, who lives in Zurich, is a flutist with a passion. On her second album "Dynamite", she manages the remarkable feat of calibrating herself completely to the flute and yet not recording a flute album. Because the focus of her music, which is refreshing in every respect, is without exception the respective song - the melody, the groove, the mood and the mental environment in which the song was created. With a relaxedness that is rarely heard in jazz, she simply plays. And in this case, playing is to be taken literally. She plays her instruments in a completely uninhibited way.

    Instruments? Doesn't Rotraut Jäger only play the flute? Yes, but like the saxophone, the term flute covers a whole family of instruments that are used here. In the end, it is completely irrelevant to the listening ear whether Rotraut Jäger plays C, bass, alto, piccolo or the unpredictable bansuri flute, because the album is not an advertising soundtrack for different types of flute. But with a fine feeling for contexts and sound associations, the German/Swiss finds the right timbre and thus the appropriate instrument for every mood, every ambience and every context. When she lovingly talks about her flutes, it actually sounds as if she were talking about family members. "The C flute is very flexible, I can use it well for all styles. On the bass flute you can play groovy things, but also express yourself very softly. That's also true of the alto flute. The lower instruments sound very good and are best suited for ballads. But you can also play them a bit more percussively. The piccolo is not exactly the most popular instrument. I had the ambition to use it in a way that would fit cool. The bansuri flute, on the other hand, is a more difficult instrument because it's often a bit out of tune and you have to be very precise with the intonation. But that's what makes its timbre so appealing." 

    The charm of her record, however, is made up of quite different components. Rotraut Jäger is a gifted storyteller. Just by playing different flutes, very different voices come into play, which act like the characters in a plot. Coming from the classical flute, the musician was also interested early on in the rock band Jethro Tull, whose band concept was dominated by a flute, and played in funk and fusion bands. She has remained faithful to classical music to this day, but it is in the exchange of her experiences with diverse styles, cultures, traditions and playing styles that she sees her chance to address a wide range of listeners who go far beyond one of the aforementioned segments.

    To avoid misunderstandings: "Dynamite" is neither classical with jazz nor jazz with classical. Nor is it a jazz cake with rock cherries and ethno icing. Rotraut Jäger creates her very own universe, with a vocabulary within which she can move freely and impartially and - perhaps more importantly - which imposes no conditions at all on the listener. As demanding and complex as her compositions are, they nevertheless sound away as easily as a fresh spring breeze. "I often think about what style or groove I want to compose a piece in," she describes the creation of her songs. "I'm very rhythmically oriented and always sit down at the piano first. That's where rhythmic patterns or motifs emerge. I record them and start improvising on them with the flute. In the process, I come up with new melodies and motifs from which I put the pieces together. I always think of a bass line to go with it."

    Rotraut Jäger does not record her album alone, but with her band Sonambique, which includes drummer Omar Diadji Seydi, bassist Abdourakhmane Fall and pianist Andreas Ebenkofler. All three bring very different qualities to the table. The bassist and the drummer come from Senegal and also function as a rhythm unit outside of Sonambique. They are not only familiar with jazz, but also have experience with African music as well as reggae, flamenco or pop. Pianist Andreas Ebenkofler is also a brilliant improviser and spontaneous creator. All three bring a great passion for odd meters, which makes them virtually predestined for the flutist's compositions.

    Although Rotraut Jäger herself has developed a distinctive language on her flute and the chemistry within her band also holds all the songs together like a good bonding agent, each track on the album describes its own stylistic world. The record as a whole seems like a multi-stylistic hike, not only through manifold moods, but also through a whole series of regions of this planet, without ever getting a flat global village feeling. The flutist, composer and, in a certain way, sound colour cartographer deals with her influences very sensitively and subtly. "I am interested in very many styles, which I have heard on the one hand, and which I have also played in various bands on the other," confesses Rotraut Jäger. "For me, the central question is always, what music do I want to listen to myself? What interests me?"

    Good thing. Because "Dynamite" is nothing less than an explosive outburst of undisguised joie de vivre that depicts life in its interaction of banal ordinariness and complexity.

     

    For further information, please visit website here

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  • Sylvia Schmidt: Sketches of Carol

    3rd October 2023

    London-based vocalist and composer Sylvia Schmidt launches her new solo project ‘Sketches of Carol’ with the release of her extraordinarily cinematic EP, ‘Messengers’.

    ‘Carol’ presents a symbolic encapsulation of the multi-faceted female experience; a single figure representing a diverse, often underrepresented community of women.

    In homage to Sketches of Carol’s love of science fiction which she shares with her father, ‘Messengers’ pays tribute to the stunning sound worlds and effects of Ridley Scott’s ‘Blade Runner’ (1984) and the 1980’s Star Wars trilogy.

    Delivering an ethereal depiction of interplanetary communication, the other-wordly three-part offering was inspired by the Golden Record, a gold-plated disk produced by NASA which contains audio intended to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth to spacefarers.

    Underpinned by a lulling loop of rich, close vocal harmony, ‘Messengers’ boasts a soaring central melody shared by voice and violin that treats the listener to a showcase of Sketches of Carol’s improvisatory talent.

    Expertly mixed and produced by award-winning pianist and songwriter Gonçalo Abrantes, the enchanting 7.5 minute trip-tech features layered strings from esteemed violinist William Newell (Solem Quartet).

    The EP marks the first of four planned releases from the German-born artist, who takes inspiration from the magical, romantic quality of the fairy tales that she grew up watching and reading as a child. Hailing from the Silesia region, Sketches of Carol was spellbound by the folkloristic traditions, clothing, and music that accompanied her childhood.

    Speaking on ‘Messengers’, **Sketches of Carol **comments:

    “This project displays the most raw, pure form of my creative being. Led by my voice as an immediate instrument, rather than planning the composition of the suite, ‘Messengers’ was intuitive, borne from a wholly emotional place. In that sense, it truly carries the moment. Translating that to other people feels empowering.”

    The EP’s artwork was created by Italian visual designer Giulia Cavallini, whose distinctive illustrative style will be exhibited throughout all upcoming releases from Sketches of Carol. The release will be accompanied by a music video as envisioned by the Catalonian artist and filmmaker Cadhla Kennedy (Pan Seco).

    “Unique vocal soundscapes. Cinematic and surreal melodies…So captivating!”

    Maria Chiara Argirò, Pianist, Composer, Producer, commenting on ‘Messengers’

    "Quietly rebellious", with a “fearless approach” and “unique style”

    Kevin Burke, Songlines Magazine, on Kitchman / Schmidt Duo album ‘As Long As Songbirds Sing’

    “It is profound and enchanting to hear her voice, sweet as liquid gold…”

    Peter Stickland, Writer & Poet

    To support and find out more, please visit website here

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  • Teri Parker: Shaping the Invisible

    29th September 2023

    Shaping The Invisible - Toronto-based pianist Teri Parker’s sophomore album as a bandleader - is the culmination of years of playing, composing, and artistic growth. It’s a fusion of musical heritage and innovation that places Parker squarely in the lineage of ground-breaking musicians such as Aaron Parks, Joshua Redman, Aaron Goldberg, and Fred Hersch.

    The album first started to coalesce during a period of writing that Parker undertook as part of a Toronto Arts Council grant, which allowed her to lock herself up in a room for hours a day, listening to music from a wide range of artists, studying compositional methods, and writing. During this months-long process, Parker would typically start a composition at the piano, letting ideas develop organically before committing them to the page. Eventually she assembled a body of work that would become Shaping The Invisible. Following a string of performances with her band at The Rex Hotel, one of Canada’s premier jazz clubs, she decided that it was time to hit the studio.

    The album begins with Becoming, a through-composed piece named for Michelle Obama’s memoir, which features a dreamy opening that gives way to an insistent straight-eighths groove. Humph, inspired in part by saxophonist Dewey Redman, sees the band playing joyfully and openly, with exceptional brushwork from Cervini. K.T.T features soaring solos from McAnsh and Deniz, before Desolate Places, a tender duet between Parker’s piano and Deniz’s soprano saxophone. Segment sees Parker boldly rearranging a classic bebop tune, with masterful solos from Deniz and Parker, and Paw Prints showcases Parker’s skills for imaginative rhythmic comping and for highly communicative soloing. Retrograde, a cover of the British producer/singer James Blake’s well-known song, is given a thoughtful, backbeat-driven treatment, before the album’s final track, the original Monk-style blues Strolling, in which the band stretches out with inspired, electric synergy.

    **Shaping the Invisible **will be released worldwide on Friday, September 29th 2023. Click here

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  • Charlotte Keeffe: Right Here, Right Now Quartet: ALIVE! in the studio

    19th September 2023

    For her second Discus Music release, Charlotte has convened her regular working quartet to explore open ended versions of her compositions which form the basis of their live set. Captured with energy and clarity in the studio, here we have 50 minutes of real group interaction where the music from each player is balanced equally within the total group sound.

    Charlotte writes: "Charlotte Keeffe’s Right Here, Right Now Quartet featuring Ashley John Long, Ben Handysides and Moss Freed, is a breeding ground for squelchy, sploshy, splashy Sound Brush playing - music-making! …Overtly over-blowing, splitting, splattering, squirming, squeaking and squealing out ALIVE! Howling and hooting, chomping and chaffing… Dusty, distorted, flimsy, fragile, manic, ghostly, guttural sound strokes rip through whirlwinds and whirlpools of wholesome gooey-sound-dough! A turbulent tease, staggering, swaying, abruptly plunging into intentional vagueness… A messy emporium of raw, raucous realness. Alive. Right Here, Right Now. It is as it is…"

    Charlotte Keeffe - Sound Brush / trumpet, flugelhorn and compositions

    Ashley John Long - double bass

    Ben Handysides - drums

    Moss Freed – guitar

    Produced by Martin Archer

    Cover painting by Gina Southgate

    To purchase click here

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