Record Reviews

IAN EAST ~ INNER PATHS PATHWAY 0114 (Barcode: 634158648151) ~ UK ~ Jazz Recorded: 2015 - 2016 Released: 2016 This is a solo album by British Jazz saxophonist / clarinetist / composer Ian EastFind albums by this artist, on which he plays a plethora of instruments (saxophones, clarinets, percussion) and multi-tracks them to achieve a one-man-band result. The album presents nine original compositions by East. I have recently had the opportunity to hear East perform live with the legendary GongFind albums by this artist, and he gave me a copy of this album, which I never heard about earlier on. It turned out to be quite a surprise, as the music is highly unusual, not only due to the fact that it was recorded my one person, but mostly due to the fact that it offers a collection of excellent compositions and fascinating arrangements for an “imaginary” brass band, which sounds like a cross-over between a circus orchestra / vaudeville band and a Jazz combo. It is obvious that East feels perfectly at ease with all those instruments he plays on this album, and had a pretty good idea of what he wanted to achieve as a final result, which luckily worked out perfectly. The resulting music is a charming carpet ride, which moves between different Jazz and Folklore idioms. He manages to create completely different climates and stylistics, all based on solid, coherent melodic themes. The result is honestly quite staggering, considering the richness of its melodic content and the beauty of the “band” arrangements, as performed by one person. Overall, this is a very exciting, unique and beautifully weaved album, which offers an unusual approach to making music, especially so within the Jazz idiom, and should come as a nice surprise to many Jazz listeners around the world, who most probably are not familiar with this album. Wholeheartedly recommended and remember you heard about it here ;) Hats off!

Updated: 17/08/2023Posted: 17/08/2023

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