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Product Description
Review
Both the title and subtitle ( Music for an Imaginary Film ) convey an impressionism confirmed by pianist-composer Dave Stapleton s writing, which is so well conceived that it s sometimes difficult to separate the written from the improvised. Often working from little motifs shifted through the changes, or from piano vamps, Stapleton builds a surprising variety of moods and sound pictures, using himself, Neil Yates (trumpet), Paula Gardiner (bass) and Elliot Bennett (drums), and the Lunar Saxophone Quartet, for whom he writes superbly. The voicings, so delicately seasoned with disquieting dissonance, and his use of counterpoint are beautifully crafted. And, despite the skill and imagination evident in the deft use of contrast and tempo changes, the music has a consistency of vision and execution to go with the compatibility of all the musicians involved. --RAY COMISKEY, Irish Times, 1 May 2009
Album Description
'Catching Sunlight' was commissioned from pianist/composer Dave Stapleton by the Lunar Saxophone Quartet, commissioned Stapleton. Originally intended to be a work for four saxophones and piano, it rapidly expanded to include a full Jazz rhythm section (Stapleton's regular musical partners bassist Paula Gardiner and drummer Elliot Bennett) plus trumpeter Neil Yates.
Yates is a formidable and gifted improviser, and also a master of texture with one of the purest, most beautiful brass sounds in British Jazz. Stapleton uses him both as principle voice but also as a contrast to the softer, reedier sounds of the saxophones, just as the improvisation contrasts with the strong written material that underpins it. Each of these eleven tracks unfolds like the next movement in a symphony, as Stapleton draws on a staggering breadth of compositional ideas and influences. Most remarkable of all, is the way that this young composer shows how extended composition in Jazz can be both cerebral but still 'retain the Funk'.
'Catching Sunlight' is filled with gorgeous melodies, drenched in sensual harmonies and driven by subtle, shifting rhythms and strange, exotic time signatures. The Lunar Saxophone Quartet weave and intertwine these delightful dancing melodies over the rhythm section's steady, supple pulse and Neil Yates' trumpet floats above the ensemble.
Personnel:
Dave Stapleton - (piano, composer), Neil Yates - (trumpet), Paula Gardiner - (bass), Elliot Bennett - (drums) with the Lunar Saxophone Quartet: Joel Garthwaite - (soprano), Hannah Riches - (alto), Lewis Evans - (tenor), Lauren Hamer - (baritone)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Audio CD
I remember seeing the premier of this work live and was excited at the thought of having it on CD, which I play quite frequently, especially when I want something meaningful, reflective and thought provoking. Dave is a superb composer alongside his other skills, and has an enviable economy of expression which many musicians in the field seem to have lacked over the years.
Neil Yates on trumpet is quite superb, and joins forces with the excellent Lunar sax quartet and the Dave Stapleton Quintet rhythm section, which is superb as always. The work possesses a variety of tonal colours and does have shades of some of Sibelius's work, including the very special 4th symphony. So at times quite a dark piece with ebbs and flows. Classically a North European piece of some consequence which demonstrates such art and maturity, and deserves to be more widely known. A very special piece indeed!
Neil Yates on trumpet is quite superb, and joins forces with the excellent Lunar sax quartet and the Dave Stapleton Quintet rhythm section, which is superb as always. The work possesses a variety of tonal colours and does have shades of some of Sibelius's work, including the very special 4th symphony. So at times quite a dark piece with ebbs and flows. Classically a North European piece of some consequence which demonstrates such art and maturity, and deserves to be more widely known. A very special piece indeed!
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
"Pieces rank among the best performances I've heard all year". INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY
"Dave Stapleton's writing is so well conceived that it's sometimes difficult to separate the written from the improvised". IRISH TIMES ****
"...with a sound halfway between Miles and Arve Henriksen. An excellent recording with standout contributions from both composer and trumpeter". JAZZWISE ****
"His compositional building blocks, repeated ostinati, short motifs that shift through registers and keys, and choppy phrasing alternated with smoother melodic or freely improvised sections, remain the basis of his technique, but the structures are tighter and his playing more deftly controlled than on his earlier recordings". ALYN SHIPTON - PIANO MAGAZINE
"Rich and colourful music from one of the UK's most talented and ambitious young jazz composers". THE JAZZ MANN ****
"Stapleton's writing mostly revolves around propulsive piano vamps with nods to Gil/Miles circa Sketches of Spain". JAZZWISE ****
"Here is some of the best new jazz around, both in conception and writing and its performance is exquisite. It really is brilliant". CARDIFF JAZZ SOCIETY CD REVIEWS
"...rich and colourful, the LSQ provide harmonic 'thickening' to the ensemble sound as well as the odd sonorous, graceful solo (Joel Garthwaite's soprano particularly ear-catching, with its almost oboe-like purity and elegance), and Yates [is] compelling, vibrant and agile throughout. It is Stapleton's compositional skill, however, that immediately impresses, not only for its emotional range, but also for the variety of subtle and vigorous rhythms he utilises in the creation of this thoroughly enjoyable, intelligent but lively suite of pieces". VORTEX CD REVIEW
"Dave Stapleton's writing is so well conceived that it's sometimes difficult to separate the written from the improvised". IRISH TIMES ****
"...with a sound halfway between Miles and Arve Henriksen. An excellent recording with standout contributions from both composer and trumpeter". JAZZWISE ****
"His compositional building blocks, repeated ostinati, short motifs that shift through registers and keys, and choppy phrasing alternated with smoother melodic or freely improvised sections, remain the basis of his technique, but the structures are tighter and his playing more deftly controlled than on his earlier recordings". ALYN SHIPTON - PIANO MAGAZINE
"Rich and colourful music from one of the UK's most talented and ambitious young jazz composers". THE JAZZ MANN ****
"Stapleton's writing mostly revolves around propulsive piano vamps with nods to Gil/Miles circa Sketches of Spain". JAZZWISE ****
"Here is some of the best new jazz around, both in conception and writing and its performance is exquisite. It really is brilliant". CARDIFF JAZZ SOCIETY CD REVIEWS
"...rich and colourful, the LSQ provide harmonic 'thickening' to the ensemble sound as well as the odd sonorous, graceful solo (Joel Garthwaite's soprano particularly ear-catching, with its almost oboe-like purity and elegance), and Yates [is] compelling, vibrant and agile throughout. It is Stapleton's compositional skill, however, that immediately impresses, not only for its emotional range, but also for the variety of subtle and vigorous rhythms he utilises in the creation of this thoroughly enjoyable, intelligent but lively suite of pieces". VORTEX CD REVIEW
0 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
There's lots that is strongly atmospheric and appealing about this album, but, a bit like the weather, it's variable.
To me there's something slightly off-putting about writing "for an imaginary film". It either invites you to listen for the portrayal of willows or water in the playing, which is distracting, or the implied freedom suggests both technical and imaginative assurance and discipline that's very hard to acquire, and I don't think is always there in this album. I was reminded of passages in Miles, and of the Third Ear Band's music from Macbeth, (hardly an imaginary film, however). But being reminded of things isn't really what one is after, either in terms of someone else's playing or of suggesting more concrete images.
There are passages here that are warm, smooth and appealing, especially in A Shady Mantle and Encircling the Ocean, and lots of good stuff where the spiky, insistent trumpet challenges the blander sax harmonies nicely (Willow Fringe). I liked the bass intro to Stepping Out and the trumpet's more mid-register playing. It was technically more assured and less forced. Nice mix of hard and soft tones and dynamics in A Shady Mantle too gives a cool sense of space. But elsewhere some of the writing, or playing seems less original or authoritative than the form demands. For example, I found the cymbals in Catching Sunlight over-insistent and much less effective, in terms of percussive underlay, than the sharp edges in Under the Canopy. The colour and subtlety is there again from the piano in Beyond the Horizon, while I found the sax background repetitive and unexciting, a bit clunky and lacking conviction.
Still, in all the disc has ample passages with attack and satisfyingly complex development, shared understanding of what the band is doing and where they are taking the music. Definitely what we need. I look forward to more assured and subtle stuff in the next album.
To me there's something slightly off-putting about writing "for an imaginary film". It either invites you to listen for the portrayal of willows or water in the playing, which is distracting, or the implied freedom suggests both technical and imaginative assurance and discipline that's very hard to acquire, and I don't think is always there in this album. I was reminded of passages in Miles, and of the Third Ear Band's music from Macbeth, (hardly an imaginary film, however). But being reminded of things isn't really what one is after, either in terms of someone else's playing or of suggesting more concrete images.
There are passages here that are warm, smooth and appealing, especially in A Shady Mantle and Encircling the Ocean, and lots of good stuff where the spiky, insistent trumpet challenges the blander sax harmonies nicely (Willow Fringe). I liked the bass intro to Stepping Out and the trumpet's more mid-register playing. It was technically more assured and less forced. Nice mix of hard and soft tones and dynamics in A Shady Mantle too gives a cool sense of space. But elsewhere some of the writing, or playing seems less original or authoritative than the form demands. For example, I found the cymbals in Catching Sunlight over-insistent and much less effective, in terms of percussive underlay, than the sharp edges in Under the Canopy. The colour and subtlety is there again from the piano in Beyond the Horizon, while I found the sax background repetitive and unexciting, a bit clunky and lacking conviction.
Still, in all the disc has ample passages with attack and satisfyingly complex development, shared understanding of what the band is doing and where they are taking the music. Definitely what we need. I look forward to more assured and subtle stuff in the next album.
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