COMPOSERS: Tim Garland
LABELS: Edition
ALBUM TITLE: Tim Garland
WORKS: One
PERFORMER: Tim Garland (soprano & tenor sax), Asaf Sirkis (drums & percussion), Jason Rebello (piano, Fender Rhodes), Ant Law (guitar)
CATALOGUE NO: EDN1072
Daring and catholic, the fast growing UK independent label Edition is becoming a match for its near namesake, Munich’s Edition of Contemporary Music (or ECM). It’s the perfect place for Tim Garland, whose playing and composition has covered the waterfront, from Celtic music to left-field electroacoustics, via classical crossover. For this scintillating new album he’s reached back to his early jazz rock influences and time as a Grammy winning collaborator with Chick Corea.
Always ready to take risks, Garland’s brought Eastern percussion and shimmering acoustic guitars into the mix and dispensed with a bass player. There’s no lack of oomph however, with Rebello’s keys and Sirkis’s drums providing buoyant drive. Meanwhile, the leader’s sax, with its trace English folk element, twists and turns through the devilishly complex arrangements. An anti-war protest song featuring Dionne Bennett adds yet another dimension to Garland’s unique take on jazz fusion.
Garry Booth