Trombonist James Greening has always been one of our most joyful and joyous players. His very choice of instrument is joyful – the whinnying, hallelujah-ing of the trombone and the jovial flatulence of the sousaphone just bring a grin to your soul.
‘…cued by Komunyakaa’s use of multiple voices, Evans assembled discrete bands for each piece, including no less than 11 different lead singers, plus Michael Edwards-Stevens reading some poems as spoken word with musical accompaniment.’
‘ …stunning debut from a vocalist-composer who I’m sure we’re going to hear a lot more from in the future. A wonderfully realized, collaborative effort by an outstanding ensemble headed by a gifted vocalist.’
The compositions, all originals by Zwartz, develop organically and effortlessly, belying the extensive work that has gone into their creation. The soloists tailor their contributions to the mood of each piece, adding to the feeling that the album is a suite of connected pieces. Meanwhile, Zwartz, Stuart, Hevia and McCall lay down a rock solid basis for proceedings.
‘This is what I’d consider a near-perfect jazz album… so clever yet simple…you really just want Yonder to go on and on, like the baked country roads in their cover shot’, Sydney Morning Herald
The new release by Jonathan Zwartz The Remembering & the Forgetting of the Air From the Birdland Records site (where you can purchase the CD) If The Sea looked in the direction of Kind Of Blue by Miles Davis, then musical colours from the palette of Charles Mingus and his album Ah Um whisper quietly …
‘a strange and beautiful world conjured among the bricks and grime, the litter and the 7-11 stores’
It can all shimmer and ripple like an ambient cloud, underpinned by a deep oscillation from Zwartz’s bowed bass under trills and pings from Dewhurst’s guitar, before bursting forward with irresistible momentum.
Throughout the entire evening the trio communicated in a common language, no matter what ‘genre’ or ‘style’ they were traversing.