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Matthew Halsall: Salute To The Sun
ByWith Salute To The Sun, Halsall's first album of newly recorded material since 2015's Into Forever, everything has changed and nothing has changed. His muscular young band is completely new aside from bassist Gavin Barras, who has both anchored and elevated the music since Sending My Love. The music itself, however, is as resplendently the same as ever, following the path first set out by Alice Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders. Its signatures are a celestial vibe, melodicism and well-tempered grooves (in its way, the Gondwana aesthetic resembles that of Creed Taylor's CTI label, with whom it shares its high production values). New harpist Maddie Herbert fits seamlessly into the slot left by Gladwin and the gutsy saxophonist and flautist Matt Cliff brings Sanders' broken-note strewn tenor and Rahsaan Roland Kirk's pizzicato flute to the party along with himself. The most significant tweak to the studio sound is the foregrounded use of tuned percussion such as the kalimba and marimba. The album is balm for the soul.
A final thought. Salute To The Sun comes from a similar place as another trumpet led, premier league, 2020 British album, Laura Jurd's band Dinosaur's To The Earth (Edition). Both are playful, essentially acoustic and were conceived with environmental concerns in mind. If you enjoy one of them, you will almost certainly enjoy the other one, too.
Track Listing
Harmony With Nature; Joyful Spirits Of The Universe; Canopy & Stars; Mindfulness Meditations; Tropical Landscapes; Salute To The Sun; The Energy Of Life.
Personnel
Matthew Halsall
trumpetMatthew Cliffe
fluteMaddie Herbert
harpGavin Barras
bass, acousticAlan Taylor
drumsJack McCarthy
percussionLiviu Gheorghe
pianoAdditional Instrumentation
Matthew Cliffe: flute, tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone; Liviu Gheorghe: piano, kalimba, marimba; Tom Harris: kalimba (3).
Album information
Title: Salute To The Sun | Year Released: 2020 | Record Label: Gondwana Records
Comments
About Matthew Halsall
Instrument: Trumpet
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