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Mike Westbrook Orchestra
Bar Utopia
ENJA Records - 1995
Bar Utopia, premiered at the 1995 Bath Festival, is a 7 song meditation on the subject of Utopias, combining the intelligent and witty lyrics of the acclaimed author Helen Simpson, with some of Westbrook's most memorable writing. Described by the composer as a 'Big-Band Cabaret', BAR UTOPIA centres on the remarkable vocal duo of Kate Westbrook and John Winfield, together with a 19 piece ensemble that features some of Britain's foremost improvising musicians.
"The Mike Westbrook Orchestra (Bar Utopia) is a phenomenal band, and Westbrook himself a master of of jazz orchestration. He can suggest a carnival, a ballroom, or a greasy back street with a few cunningly placed notes. The full effect is awe inspiring."
The Observer.
June Tabor
A Quiet Eye
Topic Records - 1997
This album features June Tabor backed by members of the Creative Jazz Orchestra. Not strictly a jazz album this, but June in her finest voice with a selection of predominantly English material from both traditional and contemporary sources in settings ranging from solo to full ensemble with brass, reeds and strings. Musicians include Mark Bassey, Huw Warren, Andy Schofield and Iain Dixon among others.
"June Tabor's angelic voice marries perfectly with the gentle but sophisticated jazz arrangements of her accompanying band as they range through folk, jazz and contemporary material that's spine-tingling from beginning to end."
Amazon.co.uk
Julian Arguelles Octet
Escapade
Provocateur Records - 1999
Escapade consolidates recent live work with the Octet, a bonded unit which boasts the presence of Mike Walker (guitar), Iain Dixon (assorted reeds) and Django Bates (concentrating on tenor horn rather than keyboards). The emphasis is increasingly placed on Arguelles as composer, fine-tuning a very distinctive writing style. The album's core is provided by five themed pieces originally commissioned by the Birmingham Jazz organisation, chewing over a band's life on the road. Julian has a way of combining delicate, painterly hues with charging unison themes, hummable after only a few airings.
Amazon.co.uk
"Escapade is a conspicuous triumph and indeed may just be the most distinguished British jazz album of the year."
IRISH NEWS
Skull View
Babel Label - 1999
Named as Jazz CD of 1999 by Independent on Sunday and the Birmingham Post, Skull View ranks as one of internationally renowned tenor saxophonist Julian Arguelles' finest moments. Continuing a successful relationship with the Babel Label which has already produced two award-winning albums, Skull View combines the energy and drive of Home Truths with the sound world evoked by Scapes.
Amazon.co.uk
"Its a sensational disc. Modern British jazz may not have had a finer moment."
Peter Bacon, Birmingham Post
Leon Rosselson
Harry's Gone Fishing
Fuse Records - 1999
"His songs unquestionably reveal the sharpest of minds, a wicked sense of fun and, whatever you make of the politics,
thought-provoking assumptions and assertions."
Daily Telegraph - 19 February 2000
"He speaks the unspeakable, articulates the unthinkable, observes the tiny, absurd details that denote a darker, deeper picture.
It's brilliant."
Folk Roots - November 1999
Laura Zakian
Just One of Those Things
Dancing Rhino Records - 2001
"An impressive debut album from this young singer. The female vocal scene has become quite crowded of late, but she has the style and personality to make a mark. Zakian can make a melody swing without beating it into submission first, and sings with a smile on her face - a pleasant relief after some of the doom-laden tones one hears so often these days. Her accompanying quartet features that excellent pianist Steve Melling and trombonist Mark Bassey, a superb, witty player and one to watch out for in the near future."
Dave Gelly - CD of the week - The Observer, July 2001
Renato D'Aiello
Introducing the Euro All Stars
Spotlite Jazz - 2001
“Renato is a superlative saxophonist with a passionate and poetic soul. He has all the virtues - a beautiful sense of time and pacing and a technique which effortlessly projects his brilliantly flowing ideas.”
Ian Carr. Trumpeter, writer & Jazz luminary
Renato D’Aiello (as, ts)
Mark Bassey (tb);
Gary Husband (p);
Phil Lee (g);
Nicola Muresa (b);
Sebaastian de Krom (d)
Ingrid Laubrock
Some Times
Candid Records - 2001
Ingrid Laubrock is a member of the F-IRE Collective, a group of musicians that got together to work, share ideas, interests, contacts and to create a scene that's alive and forward thinking. F-IRE won the BBC Jazz Aaward for Innovation in 2004.
"She plays exquisitely and with an atmospheric sense of space and delay reminiscent of Lee Konitz."
John Fordham - The Guardian
"Her seamless negotiation of the soprano's different registers and admirable pitching of the high-end in particular, are deserving of much respect by punters and musos alike. I feel that she is among the top few on the instrument in Britain today...An auspicious CD by a fine saxophonist/composer with a multitude of stylistic avenues of expression."
Frank Griffith - Musician's Union Magazine
Don Rendell
Reunion (featuring Ian Carr & Micheal Garrick)
Spotlite Jazz - 2002
"Don Rendell is a great restorer of faith in honest music. It seems sacriligeous even to suspect that throughout his professional career he has ever given less than 100 per cent of himself in a performance. The music on this CD demonstrates this quite explicitly."
Chris Lee
The Blowpipes
The Trombone trio 'The Blowpipes' debut album, Zenoria, demonstrates the ensembles diverse musical interests with Greek, Iberian, and Japanees folk tunes, Jazz standards and originals and poetry.
Based in London, England, The Blowpipes play imaginative and versatile trio plays traditional music, classical pieces, and real jazz!
Founded in 1993, the trio plays all styles of jazz, from traditional to contemporary, while the world music played ranges from Mexico to Tokyo. The ensemble performs all over the country providning a musical feast of classical music, and pop favourites, with film and TV music also on the menu.
The Blowpipes have also collaborated with Chris Biscoe.
Paul Taylor, Mark Bassey and John Harborne : Trombones
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