music

Portico Quartet announce Terrain, a three-part suite drawing on American minimalism and ambient music alongside their own rich heritage as they explore new musical vistas.

On October 9th 2020 the multi-instrumentalist Jack Wyllie (Portico Quartet/Szun Waves) presents his new project Paradise Cinema. It was recorded in Dakar, Senegal in collaboration with mbalax percussionists Khadim Mbaye (saba drums) and Tons Sambe (tama drums). Atmospherically 'Paradise Cinema' is vaporous and enigmatic, but also percussive; existing in a paradoxical sound-space that's amorphous, yet still purposeful, serene, but propulsive and aesthetically sharp. Jack Wyllie is a musician, composer, electronic producer who draws on influences of jazz, ambient, and the trance-inducing repetition of minimalism. Wyllie performs and records in Portico Quartet, Szun Waves (with Luke Abbott and Laurence Pike) and Xoros. He has also collaborated with Charles Hayward, Adrian Corker and Chris Sharkey and released on Ninja Tune, Babel, Leaf, Real World and Gondwana.

Sunda Arc are brothers Nick Smart and Jordan Smart. Best known as key members of folk and jazz influenced minimalists Mammal Hands, their Sunda Arc project takes inspiration from the likes of Jon Hopkins, Rival Consoles, Moderat and Nils Frahm as well as their own music world. Their debut EP 'Flicker' was released in December 2018 and now the duo are set to release their debut LP, 'Tides' on 7th February 2020.

The Mancunian trumpeter, composer, DJ and label owner Matthew Halsall has long resided at the vanguard of the thriving UK modern jazz scene, issuing a slew of critically acclaimed releases as well as igniting the careers of numerous luminaries; Chip Wickham, Nat Birchall, Go Go Penguin and Mammal Hands to name just four.  Salute To The Sun is his latest offering and his first new missive since 2015. Recorded in his home studio over a sequence of weekly sessions with a hand-picked supporting cast comprising harpist Maddie Herbert, drummer Alan Taylor, percussionist Jack McCarthy, pianist Liviu Gheorghe, flautist and saxophonist Matt Cliffe and bassist and long-time collaborator Gavin Barras, the seven tracks assembled here echo the bandleader’s enduring fascination with the iconic spiritual jazz typified by Alice Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders and Yusef Lateef and the modal, rain-washed British style essayed on Gilles Peterson’s impeccable Impressed series of compilations (Michael Garrick, Stan Tracey et al), this time filtered through the prism of ecological matters. 

Into Forever expands the lineup of their last album (When The World Was One) with a string quartet and the gospel and R&B-infused sound of the powerful Manchester vocalist Josephine Oniyama. Halsall’s jazz sensibilities constantly lead him to energise the gentlest passages with contrastingly prodding bass hooks, tough drum patterns and rimshot snaps (as on The Land Of), McCoy Tyner-like piano lines edging through Rachael Gladwin’s harp swoops (Badder Weather), or his own unhurried trumpet reflections, as on Daan Park. The Gondwana Orchestra’s sound palette is frequently gorgeous, and Oniyama’s dramatic presence will undoubtedly broaden their appeal, even if the directness of lyrics may diminish some of their earlier ethereal attraction for some.

Manchester based DJ, bandleader and trumpeter, one of the UK's brightest talents. His albums have won him a legion of fans across the world and acclaim from the likes of Gilles Peterson, Jamie Cullum, Mr Scruff, Radio 3's Late Junction, MOJO, BBC Music Magazine and BBC 6 Music. 'On The Go' was winner of best jazz LP at Gilles Peterson's Worldwide Awards 2011.

“Floa” is the second album release by Mammal Hands, the young trio featuring brothers Jordan (saxophones) and Nick Smart (piano) plus drummer/percussionist Jesse Barrett. Originally from Norwich the Smarts were already working as an electronica duo before they encountered Barrett in 2012 with the music subsequently diverting in a more obvious jazz direction.

WINNER OF THE BEST JAZZ ALBUM OF THE YEAR - Gilles Peterson Worldwide Awards, 2012

Manchester based, composer, bassist and producer Phil France, was a key collaborator alongside Jason Swinscoe in The Cinematic Orchestra, co-writing, arranging and producing on the albums Everyday, Man With The Movie Camera, Ma Fleur and the triple award winning soundtrack for The Crimson Wing nature documentary.