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"...infused with the kind of heady imagination that transforms their resonances into a series of vivacious musical adventures." BBC Music Magazine ★★★
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"...infused with the kind of heady imagination that transforms their resonances into a series of vivacious musical adventures." BBC Music Magazine ★★★★★
"A gorgeous album synthesising mood, melody and the interplay between musicians totally at home with each other." (READ FULL ARTICLE BELOW)
Jazzwise ★★★★
"Spirited, eloquent and graceful"
The Guardian ★★★ (READ FULL ARTICLE BELOW)
"This captivating recording…individuality and originality brings such freshness to the pieces…"
Jazzviews ALBUM OF THE WEEK- CLICK HERE FOR FULL REVIEW
"Purposeful, full-toned and melodic... a beautifully integrated band"
The Observer ★★★★
‘Highly intelligible music, characterized by individuality, spirit and a sense of freedom.’
Val Wilmer, author ‘As Serious As Your Life: the Story of the New Jazz’ Sept 2016 |
 Deirdre Cartwright, Steve Lodder, Alison Rayner, Buster Birch, Diane McLoughlin, photo © Jane C Reid |
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‘Is music stronger than magic, a young boy asked Alison Rayner? And here’s one answer: a gorgeous album synthesising mood, melody and the interplay between musicians totally at home with each other. Not that ‘A Magic Life’ is complacent or cosy; Lodder’s keys always challenge, Cartwright remains that most chameleon of players, able to summon the spirit of others while retaining her own voice, and McLoughlin can mix a keening tone with a melodic sweetness. It’s all there, even in the apparently throwaway fun of ‘The Trunk Call’ that sashays between a bluesy theme, a dub ska breakout and a South Indian theme like it’s the most obvious of musical conversations, which, obviously, it ain’t. Beneath it all Rayner is dark and sonorous, like a Haden or Weber, able to make a rounded single note underwrite the band’s soarings, never more so than on the blues of ‘Swanage Bay’, which mixes memory, loss and love into a heady serenade. Occasionally the Arts Council gets it right, and this project fully deserves such support.’ Andy Robson, Jazzwise November 2016 |
"It’s all there, even in the apparently throwaway fun of ‘The Trunk Call’ that sashays between a bluesy theme, a dub ska breakout and a South Indian theme like it’s the most obvious of musical conversations, which, obviously, it ain’t." |
 © Mike Porter photo |
‘British bassist and composer Alison Rayner’s 2014 debut album, August, was an expected reminder of her warmth and alertness as an ensemble player, but also the unexpected emergence of a vivid new compositional voice. A Magic Life retains the same fine band (Diane McLoughlin on saxophones, Deirdre Cartwright on guitar, Steve Lodder on keys and Buster Birch on drums), and a similarly open and accessible mix of jazz, folk and classical ingredients. Celtic, eastern European, jazz-funk and swing rhythms variously drive the music, with a spirited folk dance shared by soprano saxophone and guitar immediately spurring Lodder’s fluid eloquence and a snaking sax break on the opening title track, Cartwright bursting into rockish guitar distort on the funky, handclapping Mayday, McLoughlin smoky on tenor in the lilting ballad New Day, and exhibiting a gracefully languid old-school swing on the instrument in the emphatic, riffy OK Chorale. A Magic Life may be stylistically diverse, but Rayner’s themes are united by the inviting impression that many could have been written to be sung. ’John Fordham, The Guardian November 2016
CLICK LINKS BELOW TO LISTEN TO SAMPLE TRACKS FROM 'A MAGIC LIFE'
MUSICOPHILIA
A MAGIC LIFE
THE TRUNK CALL
MAY DAY |
 CLICK IMAGE ABOVE TO VIEW LIVE VIDEO OF 'TRUNK CALL' |
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A Magic Life Tour
2017
March 8 Sheffield Lescar
March 9 Nottingham Jazz Steps, Bonington Theatre
March 10 Lincoln Jazzpac, The Collection
March 11 Leeds Jazz at Heart
March 23 Poole, Sound Cellar
March 24 Exeter, Barnfield Theatre
March 31 Birmingham Jazzlines
April 2 Colchester Arts Centre
April 20 NC Jazz, Northants
April 26 Stratford Jazz, Stratford upon Avon
April 27 Cellar Bar, The Old Town Hall, Hemel Hempstead
June 13 Brecon Jazz Club
June 16 Swansea, Taliesen Arts Centre
November 20 Appledore, Beaver Inn
November 21 St Ives Jazz Club
November 22 St Austell, The Bosun’s
further dates tbc |
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