Theo Travis Quartet 'Double Talk'14 October 2008 8:00pm |
|
|
Theo Travis – saxes, flutes Mike Outram – guitar Pete Whittaker – Hammond organ Roy Dodds – drums, percussion |
|
'Equally acclaimed in straight-ahead jazz settings, progressive rock bands and experimental ambient music, Theo Travis has an international reputation as one of the brightest stars on the contemporary jazz scene' Amazon. His many musical interests come together in this distinctive new project. Described on BBC Radio 2 as "One of the very best young tenor saxophonists of this or any other jazz generation in Britain”, he has appeared on over 80 albums and played at Ronnie Scott’s in London over 70 times. He has worked with Soft Machine Legacy, Robert Fripp, David Sylvian, Anja Garbarek, Steven Wilson, John Etheridge, Gong and Michael Garrick. His brand new album, Double Talk (33 Records) features Theo on tenor and soprano saxes and flute with his new touring group, including the soulful hammond organ of Pete Whittaker, the soaring guitar of Mike Outram and the subtle drums and percussion of Roy Dodds. The music is very melodic, but is also bluesy and atmospheric, incorporating multi-layers of saxes and flutes improvised live. 'As a saxophonist, Travis can bridge swing-sax romanticism, Ronnie Laws funkiness, or a little of Andy Sheppard’s quirky, asymmetrical phrasing. As a flautist who sparingly deploys hypnotic electronic assistance, he can be as poetically minimalist as any ECM Records star. But he can be a headlong groover too, and there’s plenty of that on the Double Talk project, with its fierce organ-blasting, driving guitar soloing from the gifted Mike Outram, and no-prisoners drumming from the excellent Roy Dodds' - Jazz UK 'Travis' tenor is a warm, mellifluous instrument and together with the luscious, bluesy Hammond organ they create something rather unexpected...a prog-rock/jazz/blues hybrid album of genuine power and excitement' - BBC Website 'Theo’s powerful bluesy sax playing should be enough to convince that he’s certainly one of the most intelligently accessible players around' - Venue 'For those whose tastes run the gamut from pop and rock to prog, ambient and, of course, jazz, Double Talk is an album that pays big dividends for an artist (and group) that deserves to emerge from hidden treasure status' - All About Jazz (USA) 'Travis’ tenor sax solo bordered on the superhuman in its barely contained passion, its virtuosity and its flow of ideas' - BBC Music Magazine 'A young melodic saxist, who while mainstream, is unafraid of experimentation' - The Independent 'Masterful new self-titled album' - The Jazz (radio) 'A musical innovator with an unmatched determination to expand the jazz vocabulary – redefining, reshaping and exploring it – Travis is the Miles Davis of the saxophone.' - www.musesmuse.com 'I honestly don't think I could come up with anything bad to say about this disc if I tried. There isn't a single bad moment here at all. Theo has put together a solid band and written some very captivating music on Double Talk. Each time I've listened to it, the disc seems to just grow and grow on me. A true classic, and I'm not just saying that.' - Progressive ears 'Travis’ Getzian tone and lyricism are much in evidence…his tenor sound is ineffably tender and expressive' - The Rough Guide to Jazz 'Travis’ ambient and jazz leanings unite on this wonderfully trippy record featuring the leader’s saxes and flutes, Mike Outram on space –rock guitar and Pete Whittaker’s haunting Hammond. With Robert Fripp guesting, a groovy track called Portobello 67 and a rather beautiful cover of See Emily Play, this is a rare, fine English psychadelic jazz.' - Mojo 'Saxophonist Theo Travis's love of prog rock is well-known, and continues to exert a clear influence on his music. His core quartet featuring guitarist Mike Outram, Hammond organist Peter Whittaker and drummer Roy Dodds is augmented on three cuts by Robert Fripp's distinctive spacey guitarscapes, and the album's one cover version is not a jazz standard, but Syd Barrett's See Emily Play. He's a gifted improviser in a variety of settings, from the beguilingly melodic approach he adopts here through to free-jazz blowing. His compositions have a spacious openness that allows his collaborators to make their own telling contributions.' - The Scotsman
For more information, go to:
|
|