Results for "Graham Costello's Strata"

Graham Costello's Strata: Second Lives

by Gareth Thompson
May 22, 2021

A top German physiologist once compared the brain's nerve fibres to a piano's keys, on which our thoughts play or strike. Scottish drummer and composer Graham Costello might relate to this, given how well he writes for the piano, as he explores themes of mental challenges on this second album with his excellent band Strata.

Graham Costello

Scottish drummer and composer Graham Costello creates minimalist music that ranges from ambient and post- rock, to jazz improvisation. Primarily with his band STRATA, he has been nominated for Scottish Album of the Year, as well as seven Scottish Jazz Awards. Costello formed STRATA in 2016 to blend stylistic elements of minimalism, jazz and noise bands together with a strong DIY ethic. This ethic came from Costello’s involvement in the DIY/indie scene, growing up touring all over Europe with noise rock and electro-psych bands. It was his formal studies in jazz that then led to the formation of STRATA - a band that would bring the two worlds together and become a crucial band at the forefront of new Scottish jazz artists surging into the UK scene. This energy of noise rock, the organic improvisation of jazz, and the hypnotising patterns and feel of minimalism has been described as “a meteorite on the scene in Scotland and beyond.” ( The National) After his widely-praised debut album “OBELISK” in 2019, Costello signed to Gearbox Records (Binker and Moses, Abduallah Ibrahim, Theon Cross, Sarathy Korwar) and began work on his follow-up album with STRATA

Graham Costello's Strata: Cygnus

by Chris May
February 14, 2020

Metal-head jazz! It could only have been made by a Glasgow band. Without wishing to perpetuate stereotypes, the vibe suggests musicians who have spent more time in whisky bars than Tom Waits, Rabbie Burns, Ava Gardner, Mark Twain and Raymond Chandler put together. The focus and precision of their playing, however, suggests sobriety was maintained in ...