Jazz, Music, piano, Saxophone, Soundtrack

The South Downs Suite by The Full Circle Quartet

May 5, 2023May 6, 2023 PlayroomArundel

OUT NOW! May 2023.

What a proud and exciting moment! This beautiful album is the first to be recorded here at The Playroom, Arundel using the recently acquired Yamaha Grand Piano (more about that on our previous blog entry here).

The Full Circle Quartet is made up of award winneing musicians and writers and are based in Sussex. They came to The Playroom, Arundel for 3 days in late 2022.

Once settled in, microphones in place, headphone levels set and tea made, the Quartet had a very relaxed and enjoyable few days recording tunes they had previously played live, expanding ideas and tweaking arrangements as they went. (The engineer enjoyed it very much too!!).

All of the members of Full Circle write and arrange, so 12 of the 13 tracks on the album are written and arranged within the band. One track, ‘One January Morning’, was written by friend of the band, multi-reed player Julian Nicholas and was arranged by members of the Quartet.

The album is called ‘The South Downs Suite’ and the music is inspired by and reflects living and working in the South Downs of England.

Josephine Davies – Soprano and Tenor Saxophones. Joss Peach – Piano and Percussion. Terry Pack – Double Bass. Angus Bishop – Drums

You will hear magnificent playing from all involved with ensemble cameos from Kate Hogg (Flutes) and Michelle Andrews (Clarinet and Bass Clarinet).

‘The South Downs Suite’ album is definitely worth a listen if you are a lover of Jazz and Soundtrack-style music. Pure escapism.

The album cover art is detail from a mixed painting named ‘Amberley’ by local artist Polly Dutton, who is working with the Quartet on a companion set of artwork which will be launched at Petworth Festival 2023. More information on this through Polly’s site: www.pollydutton .co.uk.

The Quartet will also be playing at the festival and various other venues through the South, details of which can be found though their website.

The South Downs Suite by The Full Circle Quartet – Recorded, mixed and mastered at The Playroom, Arundel.

Excerpt from ‘Flight of the Dragonfly’ by Josephine Davies

Further information about The Full Circle Quartet including live dates and album details can be found here: www.fullcirclequartet.com

Reviews – What ‘they’ say

Some pre-release comments that the album has received (via Bandcamp):-

fairman*****6

Bought it almost blind because I love Jo’s sound and inventiveness in her playing. However, I now have listened to this whole album. Wow ! what an album. Pianist, Bassist and Drummer are all top draw. A very classy album indeed. Thoroughly recommended for any jazz enthusiast. Go and buy it . You will not be disappointed. On this basis, I would gladly book the band for my Jazz club.

Groo*****8

This is a superb piece, it flows in a wonderful way. Great playing and recording. Just sit back and enjoy.

jazz #jazzmusic #soundtrack #josephinedavies #saxophone #piano #quartet #newmusic #inspiration #classy #album #josspeach #angusbishop #terrypack #juliannicholas #PlayroomArundel #pollydutton

piano

What an absolute beauty!!! Grand Piano arrives.

January 17, 2023April 8, 2023 PlayroomArundel

New at The Playroom, Arundel – Yamaha C7 Acoustic Concert Grand Piano

Yamaha C7 Concert Grand Piano at The Playroom, Arundel

Built in 1979 in Hamamatsu, Japan for a Japanese customer the piano then came to England early in the 21st Century and was sold to a concert pianist in Oxford. In 2022 the concert pianist decided to upgrade so we were able to secure its purchase from Roberts Pianos, Oxford at the end of the summer. Roberts Pianos arranged to store the piano for us while we started to build a new space at the end of the Playroom’s live room to house it.

By the middle of September the booth was complete with all its bespoke cabling (including microphone lines, headphone mixer feeds and talk-back) and controlled heating in place. We took delivery of the piano late in September 2022.

Whilst we finished off the building externally and tidied up, the piano was able to aclimatise and was still beautifully in tune when Marcus from Roberts Pianos came to visit and give the piano a post-delivery once-over, and it was ready for action.

The piano plays beautifully and is in pretty much mint condition. A number of respected pianists from the South of England have been to play and record the C7 all ready and are extremely happy with the results.

We are using three microphones to record the Yamaha. Two AKG-214s just behind the music rest for a standard stereo image left/right and a third (an AKG-414) at the very bottom end of the bass strings to enhance the low end.

The Piano booth itself has an acoustically treated ceiling but we have left the walls and floor with only gentle treatment to allow the piano to sound alive and acoustic, not dampened to the point of losing its personality. So far we are very pleased with all the recordings we have made.

Here is an example of the piano in an excerpt from a new album to be released during 2023 of music by Terry Pack and The Full Circle Quartet provisionally called ‘The South Downs Suite’.

‘River Runs’ piano-only excerpt. Played by Joss Peach

Drop us a note or give us a call if you would like to arrange to come and record with the Yamaha C7.
Rates dependent on amount of time booked and other studio usage requirements.
All contracts discussed on and individual basis.

Guitar, Jazz, Music, Soundtrack

Another great review! Thanks SimplyJazzTalk.blog

November 10, 2022November 10, 2022 PlayroomArundel

‘Palm Thievery’ from Lewis Harding

SimplyJazzTalk.blog: “With a career spanning twenty years so far, Lewis Harding is a professional musician performing and writing in a wide array of styles, from jazz to EDM (Electronic Dance Music), rock to reggae. Palm Thievery is the debut jazz album release from Lewis and was recorded and mixed at The Playroom in Arundel, West Sussex.

Art direction and design by Darrell Krum.

The opening track, ‘George’s Salamander’, has a great big band sound about it with horns and vibraphone introducing the number before the sax takes over which, in turn, hands over to the guitar of Lewis Harding. There is a softer toned middle section that is a nice contrast to the opening. Martijin Van Galen gets to play a short solo before the band start subtly winding up the energy to bring the track to a close. ‘Above’ is a simple sounding ballad with Kate Hogg leading on tenor sax. Lewis Harding plays a beautiful sounding solo on guitar with nicely pitched accompaniment from Tom Phelan at the piano before taking his own solo. This is a delightfully lyrical piece of writing and the musicians involved play with finesse and elegance.

‘Octopods’ is a horn led mid-tempo number with more great sounding trumpet from Martijin Van Galen. Lewis Harding again adds some fine guitar work before the horn section gives a brief interlude leading to a wonderful sonorous baritone sax solo from Julian Nicholas. The horn section returns with more great lines to finish out the tune: a fabulous horn section number. ‘Hue 6’ is another stylish ballad with a delightful melody played out on the piano, there is a beautifully played sax into guitar section with piano accompaniment that is so well balanced that it would be churlish not to be impressed.

The title track, ‘Palm Thievery’ begins with an introduction that draws the listener into a false idea as to how the tune is going to shape up. Once the main theme kicks in the feel of the number changes to something with a party vibe, great guitar lines, a strong pulsing rhythm from drummer Dave Cottrell with horns moving in and out of the tune between well delivered solo spots. ‘Clues in Bhutan’ takes the tempo down again and presents a meandering sort of tune with subtle changes in tonal colour and texture. There is more to this number than first meets the ears: it is as emotive as it is relaxing. It has a wonderful melody that is unhurried, with a soft arch contour that emphasises the quality of the writing.

The final track on Palm Thievery is also the longest on the album – coming in at a little over nine minutes. The opening has a reflective quality about it that builds slowly with the delicate muted trumpet of Van Galen catching the attention of the listener as it fades in and then out again to allow for Harding’s guitar to take the lead. There is a delightful extended sax solo but what makes it so interesting is what is happening beneath the solo: the piano, vibes, drumming all adding their own layer of sound on which the sax can weave its melodic line before everything fades out to nothing.

Lewis Harding does not describe himself as a jazz musician but with the release of Palm Thievery I think he may have to reconsider his musical label. This is a well-balanced album in terms of structure, with some quite remarkable writing and a group of musicians who evidently understand how to put across Lewis’ compositions. This is a very good nine-piece outfit who know how to play refined, stylish contemporary jazz written by someone with a real feel for the art form.

Palm Thievery is available from Bandcamp.

Musicians: Lewis Harding – rhythm & lead guitar; Dave Cottrell – drums; Terry Pack – double bass; Tom Phelan – Piano; Richard Horne – vibraphone & percussion; Martijn Van Galen – trumpet & flugelhorn; Charlotte Glasson – soprano & alto saxophone; Kate Hogg – alto & tenor saxophone; Julian Nicholas – tenor & baritone saxophone.

Horn arrangements by Mike Saunders.

Track list:
1. George’s Salamander
2. Above
3. Octopods
4. Hue 6
5. Palm Thievery
6. Clues In Bhutan
7. Nine Steps Between

All music written by Lewis Harding with additional material on ‘George’s Salamander’ written by Tom Phelan.”

More info at:-
Lewis Harding – www.lewishardingmusic.co.uk
The Playroom, Arundel – www.playroomarudel.co.uk
Buy the album, stream and download: https://lewisharding.bandcamp.com/releases
Simply Jazz Talk Blog: https://simplyjazztalk.blog

Guitar, Jazz, Music

Extra! Extra! Reviews keep coming

July 8, 2022July 8, 2022 PlayroomArundel

LEWIS HARDING – Palm Thievery. Another fabulous review for Lewis Harding’s debut jazz album from Jazzviews.net.

“Lewis Harding (guitar); Dave Cottrell (drums); Terry Pack (double bass); Tom Phelan (piano); Richard Horne (vibraphone & percussion); Martijn Van Galen (trumpet & flugelhorn); Charlotte Glasson (soprano & alto saxophone); Kate Hogg (alto & tenor saxophone); Julian Nicholas (tenor & baritone saxophone)

While no recording dates are specified on the album cover, this is a lockdown album, and a very fine one at that. One would think that the idea of the musicians recording their parts separately or in pairs, and the recording being put together in post-production is not conducive to making a jazz album. Sure this is a time honoured tradition since the late fifties to use studio overdubs to clean up mistakes or re-record another take for a solo, but by and large much of the material would often be recorded ‘live’ in the studio and overdubs added at a later date. Covid and the enforced lockdown and restrictions that came with it made creative musicians have rethink on how to get things done, and adapting their working methods accordingly. This has produced some excitingly different albums, and Palm Thievery is one of them.

As a studio regular at The Playroom, Arundel, guitarist and composer Lewis Harding was recording some tracks with saxophonist Kate Hogg. The songs by Harding were meant for an ambient-guitar based project but with the addition of saxophone the music was leaning to more of a jazz feel with Kate Hogg’s improvisations. With two tracks, ‘Above‘ and ‘Hue 6‘ suggesting the path to follow Harding set about developing the material he already had with horn parts and arrangements, with the assistance of pianist Tom Phelan and resident engineer and orchestrator Mike Saunders, for the nine piece band heard here.

Finding a way to navigate the frustrations of the restrictions imposed by the pandemic the guitarist set about building the album that was beginning to emerge, with the opportunity to get some of the South East’s premiere musicians into the studio. With the luxury of time on his hands Harding has melded what appeared to be disparate parts in to a cohesive whole with a series of strong compositions that feature some no-nonsense improvising. From the original two tracks laid down, ‘Above‘ is a lovely ballad that simply and effectively features Kate Hogg on tenor saxophone, with fine solos from both Harding and Tom Phelon on piano, while ‘Hue 6‘ with Kate on alto this time is another lyrical piece that allows the melody and subsequent solos over a gentle pulse from the rhythm section.

Upping the ante is the marvellous ‘Octopads‘ a tricky theme that appears to handled with little difficulty by the horns, and vibraphone of Richard Horne with a lovely trumpet solo from Martijn Van Galen and understated interlude from Harding before being ripped up by Julian Nicholas’ baritone solo. Equally fine is the swinging opening number with a barnstorming opening tenor solo from Nicholas, and a belting solo from the guitarist too. The tension is released with a tender yet tough alto outing from Charlotte Glasson, before the piece is knocked up a gear with Van Galen on flugel and drummer, Dave Cottrell.

A strong opening number, but it appears that Harding wished to keep the best until last with ‘Nine Steps‘. At nine minutes the longest piece on the album, but one which does not lose momentum or interest. From the pensive opening the composition builds slowly with Van Galen’s muted trumpet solo of particular interest supported by the saxophone section. Harding’s guitar solo is also a model of restraint, each note carefully placed. The tension is allowed to build as the music is held in check, and it is only with Nicholas’ tenor solo that there is resistance with his plaintive cries looking to disturb the tranquillity, yet ultimately subsiding to a whisper.

By his own admission, Lewis Harding is not a jazz musician by nature but has the intuition and good taste of knowing what should be played and when. His solos are often brief, and it is the architecture of these compact and neat musical statements that are a compelling component of his playing. With the quality of compositions and playing throughout, this is indeed a very fine album.

Reviewed by Nick Lea”
Jazz Views July 2022
Lewis Harding Music LHM 001

More details on this fabulous album. Listen, download, purchase:-
https://lewisharding.bandcamp.com/releases

Music, Uncategorized

DW 7-Piece / Paiste Cymbals

July 29, 2018 PlayroomArundel

This video is a collection of stills accompanying a recording of a 7-piece DW Drums kit (Ludwig 400 snare) and Paiste Masters Series cymbals. A bit of fun in-between sessions. No processing on the recording apart from preamps and mastering. Sounds fantastic. More tech details within the video.

Dave Cottrell

DW Drums/Paiste Cymbals

Dave Cottrell/DW