Migration is Oriole's second album, a sensory banquet of soaring melodies, colourful South American folklore, lively dances and emotional ballads of longing. Music that creates a rich, emotionally disquieting world that is at once familiar and dreamlike. A world of freedom, of movement, of dusty roads and traveling musicians in shaded market squares whose journey will never end. These are songs of magical realism mingling elements of fantasy, myth, desire and wanderlust in renderings that blur traditional distinctions between what is serious or trivial, melancholic or joyous.
"The magical realist does not try to copy the surrounding reality or to wound it but to seize the mystery that breathes behind things"
Luis Leal, Magical Realism in Spanish American Literature
Oriole's composer and guitarist Jonny Phillips was described by The Guardian as "A big new composing presence" and Time Out as "the brilliant F-IRE collective guitarist" on the release of the first Oriole album Song for the Sleeping in 2005. He has travelled widely blending the musical, folkloric and dance traditions of North Brazil, West Africa, Southern Europe and beyond. These influences have been as important as the folkloric music of his own region and the church music of his composer parents. Here both the migrations of the composer and the band members have resulted in the creation of new musical hybrids; the physical and artistic travels being inseparable.
Oriole received enthusiastic reviews last year for live performances at venues such as The Purcell Room, South Bank Centre in London. Migration's release will be accompanied by a 15 date nationwide tour that will include Cheltenham Jazz Festival as Jerwood rising stars.
The
album features an award winning international line-up
including drummer Sebastian Rochford, saxophonist
Ingrid Laubrock, cellist Ben Davis, bassist Anders
Christensen, vocalist Julia Biel, percussionist
Adriano Adewale Itaúna and clarinettist Idris Rahman.
All top instrumentalists in their respective fields.
The Musicians
Jonny Phillips - Acoustic Guitar
Jonny was born in 1971 at the end of deserted moorland in the north of England. His first instrument was violin;
when he was 15 he took up the guitar. Critics have hailed his beguiling, cinematic songs as "gentle beautiful
music that is surprisingly affecting". Jonny is also a guitarist and co-composer for Julia Biel and is guitarist for
The Soothsayers.
He is a member of the F-IRE Collective.
Ingrid Laubrock - Tenor saxophone
Ingrid has her own quintet and co-founded Monica Vasconcelos' Nois. In 2005 she was nominated for the
rising star category of the BBC Jazz Awards. She received the Fellowship in Jazz Composition from The Arts
Foundation in 2006.
Ben Davis - Cello
Ben is Britain's top improvising cellist. He played on the recent CMN funded F-IRE tour. He also plays for Julia Biel,
Django Bates and Norma Winston.
Ruth Goller - Electric Bass
From northern Italy, Ruth plays for Giorgio Serci, Sherpa Boy and Beat Tree.
Sebastian Rochford - Drums
Winner of the best band at the BBC Jazz Awards, Nominated for the 2005 Mercury Award and plays drums for
Acoustic Ladyland, Yoko Ono and has his own band Polar Bear.
Adriano Adewale Itaúna - Percussion/ Vibrophone/Vocals.
From Sao Paolo Brazil, Adriano plays for Antonio Forcione, Monica Vasconcelos and Modest.
Fernando De Marco - Electric Bass, Cavaquinho.
Born in Brazil, Fernando has been touring Brazil and Denmark with Joyces' sax player Teco Cardoso and
Danish pianist Thomas Clausen who played with Miles Davis and Dexter Gordon.
Anders Christensen - Electric Bass.
Born in Denmark, Anders played in Paul Motions electric bebop band for the last ten years and is now touring
the world with The Ravonettes.
Julia Biel - Vocals
Julia won the Perrier Jazz Award; she is a member of the F-IRE collective and last year released her own album
"Not Alone" featuring collaborations with Jonny Phillips.
Idris Rahman - Tenor Saxophone/Clarinet
Idris is co-bandleader for The Soothsayers, he also plays for The Mad Professor, Julia Biel, Ayub Ogada and
Zoe Rahman.
Okou - Vocals
From the Ivory Coast, sings backing vocals for Mick Jagger, Keziah Jones and is featured vocalist with the
Four Corners Quintet alongside Mark Murphy.
Guillermo Rozenthuler - Vocals
Guillermo now performs in the UK with his own tango quintet after a more than a decade
performing
the length and breadth of South America. He
also performs in Gilad Atzmons' group.
Track notes.
1)
FORMS IN DUST 7:54
This is a minor tonality theme with a major coda. The rhythm is a waltz style derived from Venezuelan music often having emphasis on the 3rd and 1st beats of the bar. The waltz migrated from Europe in colonial times and was integrated with African rhythms. It features very moving and dark soloing from Ingrid; spot the laughing.
2) FIRST FLIGHT 7:09
When I was growing up watching young birds making their first attempts at flight fascinated me. This is an ode to the joy all things new and to how the heart approaches what it yearns.
A
6:8 meter theme that develops slowly featuring the massive
sound of Adriano's Calabash (bought from Brixton market),
Sebastian and Adriano had an immediate and intuitive connection that brought the music to life. Sebastian took risks hitting the wall with his sticks to get some sharp sounds.
3)
BATE CALADO intro 1:45
This
was entirely improvised in the studio; a cello pedal
tone and Adriano's atmospheric percussion underpin the
gentle acoustic guitar playing
4) BATE CALADO 4:13
Meaning "slowly beating drum" or "heartbeat" in Brazilian Portuguese. The style of this tune is Baiao, an African influenced
style from Bahia in the north of Brazil. The vocals of Julia, Okou, Guillermo and Adriano were the idea of Brazilian bass player
Fernando De Marco.
5) MIGRATION TO THE ORANGE TREES 5:39
The title derives from the composers' periodic desires to migrate to Andalucia in southern Spain; A desire for new experience, warm evenings, good food and the area's folkloric traditions. Local traditions brought by the Gypsies and the North African Moors (themselves searching for better lands) are still very much alive. Adriano's castanet pattern derives from the Flamenco style Bularias. The origins of this 12 beat style of dance and music come from Jerez De Frontera, which is also famous for its sherry and orange trees. Anders can be heard singing along with his bass solo.
6) WE'RE ALL ANGELS 4:50
The title is a statement of the belief that everyone has the potential to be a saint, an angel or a revolutionary.
The style is Samba-Choro. It features "the bliss lovely clarinet of Idris Rahman" (BBC Music) and Fernando De Marco on Cavaqinho. Orchestra Mahatma are now also performing this tune.
7) SUNSHINE CONTINUOUS 5:41
This is catchy tune in a Mozambique (Cuban dance) style.
8) TWO SMILES 2:36
This
is simple, happy gospel music about immediate connection.
Influences are pianist Abdullah Ibrahim and South African
songs.
9) HYMN 5:26
The
African-gospel style melody is stated over an Afoxe (north
Brazilian style derived from West African music) and
then over a 12:8 meter African groove. The two saxophonists
Ingrid and Idris interact with power.
10) LAST FLIGHT 4:23
This is perhaps the saddest song on the CD written on the theme of death and loss. There is always a last journey, a last day,
a last word and a last flight.
11) AMEN 2:03
Amen literally means, "so be it" and has connotations of truth and acceptance. The American Indians were so good at accepting their reality that even when captured and tortured by the Americans they frequently never uttered a sound.
This was written as a duet for Ben and Ingrid. It is close in style to a Bach prelude. The harmony is more contemporary however.
Migration Tour
7th April - London, Croydon Clock Tower 0208
2531030, www.croydon.gov.uk/clocktower
23thApril - Norwich Arts Centre 01603
660352, www.norwichartscentre.co.uk
30thApril - Cheltenham
Jazz Festival 01242
227979, www.cheltenhamfestivals.co.uk
11th May - London, The Vortex Jazz Club Migration - Album Launch 020 7254 4097, www.vortexjazz.co.uk
11th June - Birmingham, The Glee Club 0870 241 5093, www.glee.co.uk
17th June - London, The Albany Theatre 0208 692 4446, www.thealbany.org.uk
18th June - Colchester Arts Centre 01206 500 900, www.colchesterartscentre.com
2nd September - London, The Vortex Jazz Club 020
7254 4097, www.vortexjazz.co.uk
6th October - Devon, Broomhill Arts Hotel www.broomhillart.co.uk/jazz/index
10th November - London,
The Spitz 020
7392 9032, www.spitz.co.uk
17th November -
York, National Centre for Early Music 01904
658338, www.ncem.co.uk
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How
to attract an Oriole
Orioles
love citrus fruit. Cut an orange or grapefruit in half
and hang it from a tree branch with a piece of string.
Previous quotes
"Jonny's band Oriole is part of the F-IRE Collective. What impressed me was the mixture of Jazz with Latin
rhythms, especially the Brazilian material which captures the gentle sensuality of that music very effectively."
Tony Dudley Evans
"Song for the Sleeping a gorgeous lullaby performed by Jonny Phillips Oriole"
Straight No Chaser
"More downtown New York than south east London"
Jazzwise
"An off kilt lullaby from the stars, refracted through 'Somewhere over the rainbow' and 'Come Sunday'. "
Straight No Chaser
"Oriole features guitarist Jonny Phillips and singer Julia Biel, with their Song for the Sleeping - a
remarkable showcase"
BBC Online
"a big new composing presence if this calmly eloquent music is anything to go by."
The Guardian
"Songs count more than solos, yet the musical contributions of Seb Rochford and cellist Ben Davis are
hard to ignore. Likewise the plaintive singing of Julia Biel, that fits perfectly into Phillips' beguiling world. "
Jazzwise
"Oriole are one of
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