COMPOSERS: Denys Baptiste,Stevie Wonder
LABELS: Dune
ALBUM TITLE: Denys Baptiste
PERFORMER: Denys Baptiste (ts), Andrew McCormack (p), Larry Bartley (db), Daniel Crosby or Tom Skinner (d), Juliet Roberts (v)
CATALOGUE NO: CD 03
Saxophonist Denys Baptiste has been working with Nu Troop since 1992, and was awarded third prize in the best soloist category at Vienne. Recently he also began leading his own quartet and Be Where You Are, his recording debut as leader, is quite magnificent. He is one of the most dynamic talents on the London scene, with a beautiful singing tenor sound, great swing and drive, plus the most subtle artistry and emotional nuance.
He wrote seven of the ten compositions on his album and they cover a wide range of music and feeling, from the quiet, distilled poetry of the title track, to the headlong passion of ‘State of Flux’. Baptiste and his young rhythm section handle the material with terrific panache, and gospel singer Juliet Roberts is added for Baptiste’s raunchy and funky arrangement of Stevie Wonder’s ‘Have a Talk with God’.