John Horler - Free and Easy (TRIO RECORDS April 13, 2018)

John had a classical training, studying at the Royal Academy of Music. Many of his compositions are influenced quite strongly by twentieth century classical composers. He has been known for many years as one of the UK’s finest jazz pianists working closely with Pete King, Tony Coe and, of course, Cleo Laine and John Dankworth. He has accompanied many of the big names in American jazz including Bob Brookmeyer, Clark Terry, Zoot Sims, Al Cohn, Art Farmer, Pepper Adams, Bud Shank and Shorty Rodgers.

I think Dave Gelly described John’s playing best writing “Horler has a delightful habit of lulling you into a sense of false security with sweet, simple phrases and warm chords, before suddenly heading off into the harmonic undergrowth. Little scraps of melody, which at first seem quite random, gradually come together into a fascinating pattern.”

Stuart Broomer said “Horler has a personal lyricism, formed from a subtle economy and a fine sense of sonority.” Doug Campell talked about his free playing, saying “Horler has a beautiful touch and is an imaginative melodic swinging improviser with technique to spare.”

Having lived with John for several decades it is his free playing that I have come to love listening to most. Of course I’ve also enjoyed listening to the groups he’s played with over the years. I still remember hearing him play with Chet Baker at The Canteen in 1983 and the great man telling me what a fine pianist my husband was. Still, what I most enjoy is his solo piano playing. That’s why I decided to move to the role of patron and commissioned this recording. It will mean that others can enjoy the “fascinating patterns” and the “personal lyricism” referred to by the critics.

I requested some of the tunes I’ve come to love over the years; Bernstein’s “Some Other Time”, “ After Supper”, the famous Count Basie tune, and of course John’s own composition “Piece for Poppy” written for me. I generously allowed him to choose the others, as long as most of them were free pieces!

I am delighted with the outcome of this project and I must say that Andrew Cleyndert’s recording of the piano is superb and has contributed in no small measure to what I consider to be a really excellent CD. I hope that others will listen to it with equal pleasure.

1. Free Piece One 01:57

2. Piece For Poppy 05:08

3. Free Piece Two 01:39

4. My Ship 04:49

5. Free Piece Three 01:02

6. Beija Flor 05:24

7. Some Other Time 04:25

8. After Supper 04:27

9. Free Piece Four 01:06

10. What's New 03:46

11. Improvisations On Bach;s Prelude In Eb Minor 03:13

12. Free Piece Five 01:51

13. What Kind Of Fool Am I? 04:33

John Horler Website

Karen Sharp - The Sun, The Moon and You (TRIO RECORDS March 1, 2018)

Karen Sharp returns with a long awaited second album on Trio Records featuring her now well established quartet of Dave Green, Niki Iles, and Steve Brown - a stella line-up indeed.

Following the same format as the critically aclaimed debut, the album featueres some Cole Porter as well as some more contemporay themes by Tom Harrel, Danny Zeitlin as well as originals by Karen and Nikki. The album also features a great version of Monk's Pannonica as well as the little heard, deceptively simple tune by bassist Ron Carter, Little Waltz.

Far from being a horn with accompanying trio, Karen's Quartet features each voice to its fullest without ever undermining the integrity of the group, with fine contributions by all.

1 - get out of town - cole porter 6.36

2 - the sun, the moon and you - tom harrell 6.04

3 - pannonica - thelonious monk 8.28

4 - the ford - karen sharp 6.40

5 - little waltz - ron carter 8.03

6 - all of you - cole porter 6.31

7 - iris - nikki iles 5.04

8 - quiet now - danny zeitlin 5.51

9 - night and day - cole porter 6.41

10 - terminus - karen sharp 5.08

Karen Sharp on saxes

Nikki Iles on piano

Dave Green on bass

Steve Brown on drums

Mark Cherrie Quartet - Joining The Dots (TRIO RECORDS 2018)

'Joining the Dots' is the debut album by the Mark Cherrie Quartet. What makes this a little unusual is that the album is led by Mark Cherrie, a steel pan player. The quartet also features the great pianist John Donaldson, superlative Mick Hutton on bass and, Eric Ford on drums.

The quartet is also joined by special guests including guitarist Nigel Price, vocalist Sumudu and saxophonist Dave O'Higgins.

The titles on it are a very mixed bag including jazz classics by Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter, to more modern jazz standards by Pat Metheny, to jazz takes on contemporary tunes by Nirvana and The Police.

This is a really enjoyable album featuring the steel pan which is rarely heard in jazz but which easily holds its own in the company of the more usual instruments. This eclectic collection of tunes lasting well over an hour is great to listen to and all the more interesting because it includes tunes that were written specifically for the steel pan as well as others of different genres that were not - a rare gem not to be missed.

Howard Lawes

In Mark's own words:

I decided to record a jazz album with musicians that are well known on the UK jazz circuit, where the music was deliberately not at all Caribbean. All the band tracks were recorded all together in the studio live room in one day, in fact between 12 noon and 6pm. The second day was reserved for overdubs, i.e. sax, acoustic and electric guitars and voice. I mixed the album myself, in my own studio and then it was professionally mastered. I believe that there is no other album out there that attempts to cover the musical area that I have done with this one. Hopefully, there will be some people out there that will want to hear it, ha ha!.

1. Morse Code

2. Maiden Voyage

3. Little Wing

4. Footprints

5. October's Child

6. Just Like Lovers Do

7. Scarborough Fair

8. When We Were Free

9. Sippin' At Bells

10. Smells Like Teen Spirit

11. Starless And Bible Black

12. Walking On The Moon

13. Last Summer

14. Just Like Lovers Do

Mark Cherrie - steel pan

John Donaldson - piano

Mick Hutton - double bass

Eric Ford - drums

Special guests:

guitarists Nigel Price and Dominic Grant

vocalist Sumudu and saxophonist Dave O'Higgins

Chris Biscoe - Profiles of Mingus (TRIO RECORDS 2017)

Saxophonist and clarinetist Chris Biscoe has been on the British scene for a long time, but he's made the territory between postbop and free-jazz entirely his own, and his sophisticated tributes to the jazz giants are always distinctive. This varied set offers 10 reappraisals of compositions by Charles Mingus, plus originals by Biscoe, pianist Kate Williams and guest bassist Dave Green (Larry Bartley assumes all the other bass duties). The classic Fables of Faubus unfolds in growls and smears from Biscoe and trumpeter Henry Lowther over the full-on drum tattoos of Stu Butterfield and Paul Clarvis, and Lowther's shining long notes hold the harmonies under the leader's soaring alto sax on the sighing Duke's Choice.

Williams has a gleaming solo meditation, and Biscoe an unaccompanied alto feature deploying his arsenal of bent tones, slithering runs and bluesy multiphonics, but through it all he maintains a rootsy quality that fits the set.

The album's almost worth it for Boogie Stop Shuffle alone, one of Mingus's most deviously funky themes; but tenor saxophonist Pete Hurt is a powerful presence, and just reading the Mingus title All the Things You Could Be By Now If Sigmund Freud's Wife Was Your Mother has a pretty compelling appeal as well. The Guardian

2017 Gigs

March 15th 2017 8.30pm

TWO OF A MIND

Chris Biscoe – baritone sax; Allison Neale – alto sax; 

Colin Oxley – guitar; Jeremy Brown - bass; Stu Butterfield – drums

606 Club 

90 Lots Road

Chelsea, 

London SW10 0QD

Tel 020 7352 5953

www.606club.co.uk

Friday 17th March 2017 - 8.00pm

THE WESTBROOK BLAKE

Phil Minton, Kate Westbrook, Chris Biscoe,

Billy Thompson. Steve Berry, Mike Westbrook

London College of Music Choir dir. Paul Ayres

Kings Place

Hall One

90 York Way

London N1 9AG

tickets online £14.50 - £24.50 savers £9.50

box office 020 7520 1490

www.kingsplace.co.uk

March 23rd 2017 8.00pm

Chris Biscoe – saxes; John Critchinson – piano; 

Dave Whitford - bass; Stu Butterfield – drums

The Karamel Restaurant

4 Coburg Road, 

London N22 6UJ

Admission £10

Tel 020 8829 8989

May 4th 2017 8.00pm

TWO OF A MIND

Chris Biscoe – baritone sax; Allison Neale – alto sax; 

Colin Oxley – guitar; Jeremy Brown - bass; Stu Butterfield – drums

The Karamel Restaurant

4 Coburg Road, 

London N22 6UJ

Admission £10

Tel 020 8829 8989

May 25th 2017

TWO OF A MIND

Chris Biscoe – baritone sax; Allison Neale – alto sax; 

Colin Oxley – guitar; Jeremy Brown - bass; Stu Butterfield – drums

Cambridge Jazz Club

Booking 07827 012875

www.cambridgejazz.org