Near And Now by Gwilym Simcock

Gwilym Simcock

Near And Now

Format: CD
Label: ACT music
UPC: 0614427988324
Catnr: ACT 98832
Release date: 29 March 2019
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Label
ACT music

UPC
0614427988324

Catalogue number
ACT 98832

Release date
29 March 2019

"This is brilliant piano playing which combines intimacy and expressiveness."

Jazzism, 14-6-2019

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Artist(s)

Composer(s)

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About the album

Many albums are written at home and then recorded out ‘on the road’, but I decided to do it the other way round. I’ve spent a lot of time these past few years touring around the world, and in the last six months or so, whilst away from home, I spent my spare time writing new music for a second solo album. I actually wrote much more, but quite a few of the pieces expanded (I’m always a fan of longer form compositions), so I ended up choosing five to form this record.

It has always been an ambition of mine to be able to record at home, and my wife and I recently took the decision to invest in buying a beautiful piano for our place in Berlin, so that this dream could become reality. The music was composed specifically for this setting, and the intimate sound of this album is very much deliberate (and I have to say that Keith Jarrett’s great home-recorded album “The Melody At Night, With You”, with its honest and personal sound, was a big influence in that respect - even if the energy of the music is sometimes different).

Having produced of some of my own albums before, I decided it was a good time to expand into taking ownership of the recording process too. As with many musical undertakings, this new journey is a work in progress, but I’m proud to have created this record myself, and look forward to learning and growing my expertise in this area in the future.

Musically, I’m always very aware of how the music I love filters through into my own playing and writing. I’ve mentioned many times before the musical debt I owe to Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea and John Taylor as pianist heroes of mine, but of course we all have so many musical influences – a myriad of flavours that go into our own musical ‘stews’. I decided to shape these pieces with a view to dedicating them to five pianists who have also had – and continue to have – a huge impact on my musical life.

If you enjoy my music and this album even a tiny bit as much as I’ve enjoyed their music over the years, then I’ll be happy!

Artist(s)

Gwilym Simcock

Chick Corea simply calls him an 'original. A creative genius', while Jamie Cullum raves about his playing: 'I'll be watching our finest young piano-player Gwilym Simcock.' Born 1981 in Wales, Simcock – now living in London –is undoubtedly right at the top of European jazz and considered one of the most gifted pianists and imaginative composers on the British scene. He took classical piano lessons at one of England's most renowned music schools from the age of three, building up a musical background that defines his playing to this day. He certainly could have become a successful classical pianist if he had not discovered Keith Jarrett's and Pat Metheny's music by the age of 15, finally drawing him into jazz. Having...

Chick Corea simply calls him an "original. A creative genius", while Jamie Cullum raves about his playing: "I'll be watching our finest young piano-player Gwilym Simcock." Born 1981 in Wales, Simcock – now living in London –is undoubtedly right at the top of European jazz and considered one of the most gifted pianists and imaginative composers on the British scene. He took classical piano lessons at one of England's most renowned music schools from the age of three, building up a musical background that defines his playing to this day. He certainly could have become a successful classical pianist if he had not discovered Keith Jarrett's and Pat Metheny's music by the age of 15, finally drawing him into jazz. Having completed his studies at the Royal Academy of Music he is able to move effortlessly between jazz and classical.
Simcock was acknowledged as a great talent very early on and soon got to play with stars like Dave Holland, Lee Konitz, Bob Mintzer and on Bill Bruford's "Earthworks". Winner of the Perrier Award, BBC Jazz Awards and British Jazz Awards in 2005, Simcock was the first BBC Radio 3 "New Generation Jazz Artist". He also was voted "Jazz Musician of the Year" at the 2007 Parliamentary Jazz Awards.
The release of his ACT debut "Good Days at Schloss Elmau" (ACT 9501-2) early in 2011 marks his final breakthrough. Along with recordings by Adele, Katy B and James Blake, the solo piano album was nominated for the prestigious Mercury Prize as one of Great Britain's 12 best albums of the year. His music has been widely acclaimed as 'engaging, exciting, often unexpected, melodically enthralling, complex and wonderfully optimistic' – and it is exactly his harmonic sophistication and ability to creatively combine a vast array of musical traditions to a very unique and highly energetic narrative that fascinates people.
Like a weaver combining all sorts of different threads to one beautiful drapery; Simcock fashions his musical identity out of reminiscences from Mozart, Bach, Chopin, Ravel, Gershwin or Ligeti, Shearing, Monk, Evans, Peterson – and of course Jarrett. In collaboration with saxophone player Tim Garland and percussionist Asaf Sirkis, Simcock goes even further in combining different musical traditions on his most recent ACT album "Lighthouse" (ACT 9525-2).
Together they sound out all imaginable possibilities of this unusual instrumentation and form a unique miniature orchestra in skilfully interweaving strong distinctive melodies, complex harmonies and bounding folk-tinged rhythms along with many other influences from around the world. German radio station BR Klassik praised the album as "a virtuous and energetic variety of styles all of a piece." - A judgement easily to be applied to Simcock's playing in general.

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