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Matthew Halsall: An Ever Changing View
ByBy 2015, Halsall had released six well-received albums as leader, but most of the musicians he worked with had by then moved to London or elsewhere. It was no longer possible to maintain the band as a working unit and, reluctantly, Halsall stopped recording and touring. He did not become idle: he continued developing his Gondwana label (which is now also the home of Portico Quartet, GoGo Penguin and Mammal Hands among others). He also produced and played on fellow traveller Dwight Trible's acclaimed 2017 album Inspirations (Gondwana), and in 2019 released Oneness (Gondwana, 2019), a three-disc set of previously unissued recordings. Halsall spoke about this period, and how he moved on from it, in an interview with AAJ which can be found here.
In 2020, however, Halsall returned as bandleader, releasing the lovely Salute To The Sun (Gondwana), his first new album since 2015. Aside from bassist Gavin Barras, his octet's lineup was a new one, made up of younger players based in and around Manchester. But the groove was as before, a gleaming continuation of the tradition birthed by Coltrane and Sanders.
2023's An Ever Changing View features the same band, augmented by a couple more percussionists, and has much the same vibe. But there is a twist. A starting point for the new album was Halsall's library of percussion instruments, from congas and kalimba (which he plays on five tracks) to various bells, chimes and clusters of seeds which he sampled and looped to use as a foundation for the songs. On the first single, "Water Street," for example, spirals of kalimba, glockenspiel and other percussion cushion the gentle four-on-the-floor beat (check the YouTube below). It is all just what the doctor ordered.
Track Listing
Tracing Nature; Water Street; An Ever Changing View; Calder Shapes; Mountains, Trees and Seas; Field of Vision; Jewels; Sunlight Reflection; Natural Movement; Triangles in the Sky.
Personnel
Matthew Halsall
trumpetMatthew Cliffe
fluteChip Wickham
woodwindsAlice Roberts
harpMaddie Herbert
harpLiviu Gheorghe
pianoJasper Green
keyboardsGavin Barras
bass, acousticAlan Taylor
drumsJack McCarthy
percussionSam Bell
percussionChris Davies
percussionCaitlin Lang
vocalsAdditional Instrumentation
Matthew Halsall: trumpet (2-5, 7, 9), piano (1, 6); kalimba (2-5, 7), glockenspiel (2), celeste (4), percussion (2-5, 7), looped piano (3, 7), Rhodes and piano effects (7), chimes (2-5, 10), gongs (8, 10), bells (10), log drum (9), field recordings (1, 5, 6); Matt Cliffe: alto sax (4), flute (2, 3, 5, 9); Chip Wickham: soprano sax (7), flute (10); Alice Roberts: harp (2-4, 7-10); Maddie Herbert: harp (5); Liviu Gheorghe: Rhodes (2, 3, 5); Jasper Green: Rhodes (4, 10), piano (7-9); Gavin Barras: bass (2-5, 7-10); Alan Taylor: drums (2-5, 7-10); Jack McCarthy: congas (2, 3, 5), percussion (4); Sam Bell: congas (9, 10), percussion (10); Chris Davies: xylophone (9); Caitlin Lang: vocals (10).
Album information
Title: An Ever Changing View | Year Released: 2023 | Record Label: Gondwana Records
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About Matthew Halsall
Instrument: Trumpet
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