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Fateful Birds & Fledgling Stories
Olivia Murphy
Label: obledob
Released: 2026
Views: 302
Tracks
Calliope And The Magpies; Indifferent Stars; Honey Thieves (Part One); Honey Thieves (Part Two); Where Am I?; The Lark She Writes About (Sister Suite Mov. One); Turtle Dove (Sister Suite Mov. Two); The Gull (Sister Suite Mov. Three); A Grey Coated Sand Bird (Sister Suite Mov. Four); You Are There.
Personnel
Olivia Murphy
composer / conductorBecca Wilkins
vocalsLewis Sallows
saxophone, alto
George Garford
saxophone, altoJonathan Chung
saxophoneAlicia Gardener-Trejo
saxophone, baritoneTom Syson
trumpetAlex Astbury
trumpet
Charlotte Keeffe
trumpetDave Sear
tromboneJoel Knee
tromboneOlivia Hughes
tromboneHanna Mbuya
tubaDaniel Kemshell
guitarOlly Chalk
pianoAram Bahmaie
bassKai Chareunsy
drums
Rebecka Edlund
vocalsRūta Sīpola
fluteAlbum Description
{{Olivia Murphy}} is a young composer and bandleader who has been establishing herself as a distinctive voice on the British jazz scene, leading a large ensemble that largely performs her own compositions. She makes her orchestral recording debut on this album which applies her musical ideas to themes of transformation and community derived from mythical portraits of birds.
One of the most notable features of Murphy's writing is that often she does not separate her orchestra into individual instrumental sections like reeds and brass. Instead she combines the instruments into a more nebulous but imposing force with soloists stepping out to make their mark. Intertwined vocalists and saxophone do this on "Honey Thieves (Part One)". Murphy's blending of instrumental colors puts her in the lineage of composers like {{Maria Schneider}}, {{Bob Brookmeyer}}, and especially {{Kenny Wheeler}}. LIke Wheeler she often makes voice part of overall ensemble passages in her work, like the sparkling tangle of "The Lark She Writes About".
"Indifferent Stars" has a haunting formal beauty where voice is woven into the deliberate orchestra surges that slowly lead to a delirious piano solo by {{Olly Chalk}} roiling against chanted voices. On "Honey Thieves (Part Two)", a steadily rocking rhythm underlines a blanket of voices and saxophones that eventually leads to heavy solos on electric guitar and flute. "A Grey-Coated Sand Bird" starts with a yearning melody first expressed slowly by voice and saxophone before it spreads to the entire band with the tempo increasing to a gallop. The album ends with the only non-original piece here, a hushed and intimate rendition of a {{Dave Frishberg}} song, "You Are There", with warm piano and horns supporting a poignant vocal.
Olivia Murphy uses her orchestra to create powerful music not quite like anything else on the current jazz scene. Her haunting melodies and majestic arrangements make her a unique voice on the current jazz scene.
Review(s)
- Fateful Birds & Fledgling Stories by Jerome Wilson
- Fateful Birds & Fledgling Stories by John Eyles
