Music

Rite of Spring 5 Star Review!

I was over the moon to find out that David Patrick’s week run of the Rite of Spring for jazz octet was given five stars in the Scotsman Festival review. This project has definitely been one of the most musically challenging and rewarding ones I’ve been apart of. Over the last two years the ensemble has really developed a way of making this beastly work musical and engaging so it’s really great that the work has paid off with this review! Here’s a link to it below:

https://www.wow247.co.uk/2015/08/27/music-review-the-jazz-rites-of-spring/

Since we recorded the album we’ve had some really good reviews as well as being featured as one of the albums of the year on the BBC Radio Scotland’s Jazzhouse program. If you don’t know the program it’s every Wednesday night for two hours and always has a good mixture of contemporary and traditional recordings being played by Stephen Duffy. Often features Richard Michael taking apart a solo and explaining it too so check it out! Here are some other reviews for David’s Rite of Spring CD:

https://www.heraldscotland.com/arts_ents/13792025.CD_Review__David_Patrick_Octet__The_Rite_of_Spring__davidpatrickmusic_com_/

https://lance-bebopspokenhere.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/cd-review-david-patrick-octet-igor.html

https://www.marlbank.net/reviews/3110-david-patrick-octet-the-rite-of-spring-davidpatrickmusic-com.html

 

Alan Benzie Launch Tour + Successful Reviews!

After a couple of week on the road in late April and early May, Alan Benzie’s debut album Travellers Tales was released to critical acclaim. We had a really successful tour including a successful trips to Poland and a live broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland’s program The Jazzhouse. The album was a featured on the program’s review of the year not only as one of the album’s of the year but as a live studio performance as well.

Below are some links to reviews of the album i’ve managed to put together, take a look and see what the press say and if you’d like to buy the album check Alan’s website here: https://www.alanbenzie.com/travellers-tales/

Reviews here:

https://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/culture/music/jazz-pianist-alan-benzie-on-the-virtue-of-patience-1-3859639

https://www.heraldscotland.com/arts_ents/13416116.Alan_Benzie_Trio__Traveller_s_Tales__own_label_/

https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/alan-benzie-trio-travellers-tales/

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/travellers-tales-alan-benzie-self-produced-review-by-bruce-lindsay.php

https://lance-bebopspokenhere.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/cd-review-alan-benzie-trio-travellers.html

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jul/30/alan-benzie-trio-travellers-tales-review-confident-scottish-jazz

https://www.marlbank.net/gigs/2881-the-alan-benzie-trio-debut.html

Article on Improvising - Musical Orbit

A month or so ago I was asked by Musical Orbit to write an article about how to get classical musicians interested in improvising. It was an interesting experience collating my own experiences against others and also assessing the musical benefits of improvising for classical musicians. I also got the opportunity to interview composer Sally Beamish for her views. I’m delighted to say that the article has been completed and is up on their website!

You can check it out here: https://www.musicalorbit.com/news/in-at-the-deep-end

Musical Orbit is a brilliant website created by Nicole Wilson, aimed at helping young professional musicians connecting with the best classical principal players in the country. It’s definitely worth checking out!

Interview With David Graves

Here is an interview I did a few months ago with an old friend and now journalist David Graves. Aside from talking about my beginnings into music I think he writes really well! Here is a link to the interview as well as David’s website and blog where you can check out the other articles that he has written as well.

https://davidjgraves.com/2014/02/16/jazz-andrew-robb-talks-bass-scottish-jazz-and-living-in-london/

Upstairs at the Ritzy

A few Sundays back, Christian Miller, Sophie Alloway and myself played a couple of sets Upstairs at the Ritzy in Brixton.

Here’s us playing Someday My Prince Will Come

Here’s us playing a Charlie Parker blues, Chi Chi… sorry about the abrupt ending! At least you get to hear my solo 🙂