Saxophonist Chip Wickham issues Cloud 10 on Gondwana Records

UK saxophonist/flautist Chip Wickham shows off a more lyrical side on his new Cloud 10 album out now. Listen below. 

Here's the scoop...

Saxophonist, flautist Chip Wickham takes us to Cloud 10 with his most soulful and lyrical album to date 

Chip Wickham is a jazz musician and producer who divides his time between Spain, UK and the Middle-East and who has made a name for himself with a series of beautifully crafted solo albums that draw equally on the hard swinging spiritual jazz of Roland Kirk, Yusef Lateef and Sahib Shihab, alongside the music of British jazz legends such as Tubby Hayes and Harold McNair and the more contemporary sounds of Jazzanova, Kyoto Jazz Massive and Robert Glasper. 

Originally from Brighton, Chip studied in Manchester and became involved in the 00's UK jazz, soul. trip-hop and funk scenes, working with the likes of The Pharcyde, The New Mastersounds and Nightmares On Wax as well as playing with Matthew Halsall's Gondwana Orchestra. And his relationship with Gondwana Records goes right back to the very beginning as he played on Halsall's 2008 debut Sending My Love. 

Cloud 10 is his debut album for Gondwana Records – following the Astral Traveling 12" EP of three Lonnie Liston Smith covers in May) and it is a wonderful, timeless, lyrical, slice of hard-hitting, soulful, spiritual jazz and modal hard-bop with a distinctly UK flavour - driven by Chip's deftly funky flute work and hard-hitting tenor. Underpinned by Chip's restless energy and driven by his desire to connect with the listener on a deeper level. 

"My albums are my legacy. Each one is a statement to the world of music and my contribution to its growth, its energy and ultimately it's history." 

Cloud 10 features pianist Phil Wilkinson, vibes player Ton Risco, bassist Sneaky and drummer Jon Scott (all veterans of previous albums) together with harpist Amanda Whiting and percussionist Jack McCarthy whom Chip met touring in the Gondwana Orchestra, and rising star Irish trumpeter Eoin Grace who also doubles on flugel horn. The album was recorded at the legendary all analogue Estudios Brazil in Madrid, with the band spending a week at Chip's house in the mountains just outside the city, eating and drinking together, listening to music till the small hours and recording all day. It was a magical time and the positivity seeped into the recording. 

"It was a beautiful week of pure music and joy, I think you can hear it in the recording and that's the inspiration for the title: Cloud 10 is a place of a great happiness, way out beyond Cloud 9!" 

Get a copy of Chip Wickham's Cloud 10 album via your platform of choice right here. Check it out below. 

Trumpeter Matthew Halsall draws on Alice Coltrane inspiration for Oneness

Oneness is a triple 12" set of Matt Halsall's previously unreleased spiritual jazz recordings which share a meditative vibe. 

Here's the scoop...

The recordings on Oneness date from Jan, March and September 2008 and were born from a period of experimentation as UK trumpeter Matthew Halsall first began to explore the music that would provide the inspiration for his spiritual jazz recordings Fletcher Moss Park and When the World Was One. They also offer an intriguing snapshot into the birth of Halsall’s Gondwana Orchestra and feature many musicians who would go on to become a key part of Halsall’s musical journey, such as harpist Rachel Gladwin, bassist Gavin Barras and saxophonist Nat Birchall. The recordings sat in the Gondwana Records vaults for over a decade before Halsall felt it was the right time to share them. Asked about the recordings Halsall says:

“I’ve always treasured these recordings and loved how vulnerable, open and free they are, but I just felt they were too subtle and sensitive to release early on in my career, so I held them back until now. I also feel now is the right time to release these before I begin a fresh journey with a new bunch of musicians.”

Remarkably, the beautiful compositions heard here were all built around a simple tanpura drone sound. An instrument Halsall heard on Alice Coltrane’s ‘Journey In Satchidananda’ album and then at a later date in a concert featuring Arun Ghosh on clarinet and John Ellis on piano. “I loved the way this instrument created a sort of meditative atmospheric pulse for the musicians to work over and it had this beautiful feeling of togetherness, so after the gig I went out and bought a Raagini Shruti box featuring the tanpura drone and began to practice my trumpet over it and wrote lots of loose themes and melodies”.

The sessions that make up Oneness capture Halsall in the process of building a new band, reaching out to various musicians he’d discovered and admired on the Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds music scene. “I really liked this idea of bringing lots of musicians together from different backgrounds and was fascinated with how they would all react to each other and the tanpura drone box seemed to bring everyone together really well, it was kind of like a nice meditative icebreaker exercise for everyone to loosen up, before we got stuck into the more composed tunes I’d created, some of which ended up on the Sending My Love and Colour Yes albums”.

The album’s title, Oneness, speaks to both Halsall’s conviction that the planet should be shared equally with all of its inhabitants. That no human being or other inhabitant deserves to exist more than the other and that we can achieve far more together than against each other. And also importantly to what Halsall was aiming for musically:

“I really believe in Oneness and I’ve always loved the term ‘greater than the sum of its parts’. I could make music on my own and live a fairly isolated antisocial life, but there’s something far more rewarding about creating things with others. And for me these sessions document the coming together of lots of different musicians in a wonderfully organic soulful way to make egoless music”.

It’s a belief that continues to underpin Matthew’s music making and a message that the world sorely needs right now as we feel more divided and separated than ever. This then is Oneness, a decade in the making and well worth the wait. Get it right here. Listen to the track "The Traveller" below.

UK-based jazz mag Straight No Chaser issue #99 due July 16

Here's the scoop from Straight No Chaser HQ...
It was in the summer of 1988, three decades ago, that Straight No Chaser – the magazine of World Jazz Jive was launched. Back then, the venture was a “designer fanzine” and in many respects that definition still holds true. The magazine evolved as a hub for a global community of music devotees committed to exploring diverse cultures of the African diaspora. From Sun Ra to Jeff Mills, Straight No Chaser explored ‘Intergalactic Sounds: Ancient To Future’ but in 2007, with the arrival of the internet, we were forced to call it a day.

However, 10 years down the line, a fresh, bold jazz influenced, nu-generation have emerged and it felt right to pick up where we left off with #SNC98. Over 130+ pages, this issue – #SNC99 (out July 16th) – connects with band-leaders Cassie Kinoshi (SEED Ensemble), Tenderlonious (22a), Femi Koleoso (Ezra Collective) and keys whiz Joe Armon-Jones.

Also in the mix are a host of spirited individuals like Nat Birchall (left), Midori Takada, Nabihah Iqbal, and Ben LeMar Gay. The London-Lagos-Accra connection is explored alongside Durban’s Qgom scene. On the indie label tip there’s Gondwana, Jazz re:freshed, Detroit Love and On the Corner.

For the crate diggers there’s Motown’s Black Forum + nuff reviews. #SNC98 sold out in under three weeks and though we’ve printed more mags there’s no room for complacency when it comes to getting your copy. You can pre-order Straight No Chaser #99 right now, right here.

Matthew Halsall's spiritual jazz gem gets overdue vinyl release in May

Being a DJ himself, you'd think that Matthew Halsall would've had his On The Go album on wax much quicker. 

It's been a long wait but UK rising star jazz trumpeter Matthew Halsall's fantastic On The Go album from 2011 is finally being issued on vinyl as a limited double-LP edition on May 20.

Hailed as the "Best Jazz Album of the Year" at the 2012 Worldwide Awards, Halsall's third set on Gondwana label – featuring the stellar line-up of saxophonist Nat Birchall, pianist Adam Fairhall, bassist Gavin Barras and drummer Gaz Hughes with Rachael Gladwin on harp – has been specially remixed and remastered by Matt with George Atkins at 80 Hertz boasting three previously unissued bonus tracks.

Hopefully Matthew will have the good sense to re-press that Alice Coltrane tribute 12" he recorded with his Gondwana Orchestra (featuring the aforementioned harpist Rachel Gladwin) at the BBC's Maida Vale Studio released in a tiny edition last year. You can pre-order On The Go (Special Edition) right here.





Matthew Halsall - On The Go
1. Music For A Dancing Mind
2. Song For Charlie
3. The End Of Dukkha
4. Samatha
5. The Journey Home
6. The Move
7. Only You*
8. Singing Everyday*
9. Breathless* 
*bonus track

Happy Birthday Nat Birchall!

We're celebrating the birthday of mighty Mancunian jazz saxophonist Nat Birchall today with the track Dance of the Mystic from his dazzling new album Sacred Dimension (Gondwana) which features stellar support from Rachel Gladwin (harp), Adam Fairhall (piano),

Dance of the Mystic by Nat Birchall

 


This year Nat Birchall celebrates 30 years of playing the saxophone. During that time he has been quietly working on his craft, slowly but surely progressing towards a style and concept that best communicates his view of the universe. Initially inspired by the great horn men of Jamaica, people like Roland Alphonso, Don Drummond, Tommy McCook and Cedric "Im" Brooks, Nat found his way into the music of Charlie Parker, John Coltrane and the whole world of Jazz, before finding his own voice on his instrument. Along the way he has played in many different musical situations, playing Turkish Folk/Jazz with percussionist Okay Temiz, forming the ground-breaking “Corner Crew” which experimented with elements of jazz and hip hop, and the heavy Roots Reggae of Dubdadda. Nat’s quintet, The Sixth Sense made his debut CD of the same name in 1999. The album was well received and was one of Jazzwise magazine’s editor’s CDs of the year, earning a 4 star review. Unusually amongst UK musicians, Nat’s sound and concept has been favourably compared to John Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders and Charles Lloyd. Nat currently plays in Matthew Halsall’s adventurous groups, appearing on his Sending My Love album, as well as performing with Arun Ghosh’s Indo-jazz ensemble, Jon Thorne’s Oedipus Mingus and guitarist Gary Boyle’s quartet.

Sacred Dimension
01. Ancient World 9:52
02. Sacred Dimension 7:48
03. Dance of The Mystic 8:03
04. Peace In Nineveh 8:51
05. Radiant Will 6:46








  




LINKS
site http://www.natbirchall.com/
label http://www.gondwanarecords.com/