Felix Ambach

Joe Downard: Seven Japanese Tales

by Chris May
May 29, 2020

Up-and-coming London bassist Joe Downard's debut album is an ambitious affair which winningly blends intricate soundscapes created by retro-modern analog synthesisers with the two-horns-and-a-rhythm-section acoustic jazz tradition. Downard's sextet includes five other rising stars of the London scene, prominent among them trumpeter James Copus, tenor saxophonist Alex Hitchcock (whose self-titled album debut with his band AuB is on Edition) and drummer Felix Ambach. The seven-piece suite which is Seven Japanese Tales was, apparently, inspired by Japanese culture and, ...