"The cross-generational lineup and captivating ideas of Riversphere, his first solo release in years, testify to exactly why he has stayed there for 40 years. The artwork for Riversphere Vol 1 In their 20s, Ballamy and pianist/composer Django Bates frequently joined forces as two mavericks, skilfully respectful of the classic jazz tradition while adventurously and often mischievously transforming it. They were key figures in a gifted UK generation that created some of the sparkiest European jazz of the 1980s and 90s,"
"Riversphere likens the interweaving of rivers to the flows of music-making between genres, individuals and across the blurred lines of composition and improv. Ballamy's beautifully paced and tonally evocative sax sound fronts an A-list quartet with the atmospherically Bill Frisell-ian guitarist Rob Luft, bassist Conor Chaplin and drummer Corrie Dick, while the ever-empathic Laura Jurd and Ballamy's very promising son Charlie share trumpet roles on three tracks notably the set's exquisitely harmonised finale, As Time Passes."
"The horns and guitar shift from folksy songlike lines to raw note-bending on the opening Harmonique, while wistful guitar and sax long tones delicately drift through softly shifting drum patterns on Unresolved. Frisell's dreamy Strange Meeting sets slow tenor exhalations floating amid treble-guitar peals, and two yearning Chico Buarque/Jobim songs warmly reflect both Ballamy's affection for Latin jazz and north-Euro ambient music, and Luft's versatility as a tone-poet"
Iain Ballamy leads Riversphere with a cross-generational ensemble that marries classic jazz roots and adventurous improvisation. The project draws on Loose Tubes-era experimentation while emphasizing interwoven musical flows across genres and compositional boundaries. Ballamy's tonally evocative sax is foregrounded alongside Rob Luft's atmospherically Bill Frisell-ian guitar, Conor Chaplin's bass and Corrie Dick's drums. Laura Jurd and Ballamy's son Charlie add trumpet on three pieces, including the harmonised finale As Time Passes. The set ranges from folksy, songlike lines and raw note-bending to wistful long tones, Latin-jazz warmth and north-European ambient textures.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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