London Jazz News’ Graham Spry gives a big thumbs up to the partners’ second release on Ubuntu Music.
Ubuntu Music Announces The Release of Dave O’Higgins & Rob Luft’s Second Album
O’Higgins & Luft / Pluto
Release date: 4th November 2022
CD & Digital Formats / UBU0126
Ubuntu Music is delighted to announce the upcoming release of Pluto, from the exceptionally talented pairing of O’Higgins & Luft, on 4th November 2022.
Saxophonist Dave O’Higgins and guitarist Rob Luft present their second co-led recording, three years after “O’Higgins & Luft Play Monk & Trane”. Where the first album clearly did what it says on the tin, Pluto, as the title suggests, comes from another place. Seven of the nine songs are original compositions by each band leader, and the remaining two pieces are Monk and Coltrane hits that evolved naturally on the road during a 50 date European tour in 2019.
Dave O’Higgins and Rob Luft (Photographer: Judith O’Higgins)
The sonority has changed a little, too, as the Hammond organ of the first album is replaced with acoustic piano and double bass. This is straight-ahead modern jazz in the African-American tradition, clearly coming from the Monk and Trane lineage, but not bound to emulating it. You will hear Luft easily morphing Wes Montgomery with Bill Frisell, his own trademark soundscapes and worldly influences, while O’Higgins’ emotive melodies evoke Dexter, Trane, Joe Henderson and Brecker, with a melodic logic of his own.
In addition to these extremely talented co-leaders, the band includes an all-star line-up consisting of:
Ross Stanley / piano
Misha Mullov-Abbado / bass
Rod Youngs / drums
Rob and Dave describe the latest project in their own words. Rob begins: "I'm so happy to be working with the great Dave O'Higgins on this second collaborative effort. Whilst the banner of O'Higgins & Luft might somewhat resemble the name of a lawyer's firm, it actually represents an incredibly fruitful artistic collaboration over the past five years! Working with Dave has helped me remain firmly grounded to the swinging roots of jazz, with our frontline blend of tenor sax and guitar clearly coming out of the hard-bop tradition, echoing the sound-world of Kenny Burrell & John Coltrane, Grant Green & Joe Henderson, or George Benson & Stanley Turrentine."
And Dave continues: "The second collaboration with Rob was a very natural progression from the ‘Plays Monk & Trane’ album. We wanted to make our own compositional mark, whilst maintaining the straight-ahead orientation, and drawing from our extensive 2019 touring experience together with 50 shows. The process was incredibly quick, easy and natural once we’d got our dates aligned!"
Left to right: Rob Luft, Rod Youngs, Dave O’Higgins (Photographer: Monika S Jakubowska)
Concerning their continued relationship with Ubuntu Music, Rob shares his perspective: "Working with the team at Ubuntu Music is always a joy and a total privilege for me. I've been involved both as a sideman and a leader over the past few years with this label, and it now feels like a kind of extended family to me! I can only offer my gratitude to Martin for believing so resolutely in our music."
And Dave picks up where Rob left off: "It’s always a pleasure to do a project with Martin for Ubuntu. When I call him up he always says, “yes, that sounds great, let’s do it!”, so I hope to repay the faith! The Ubuntu roster is a nice eclectic place to be. I’m very proud to be on the label."
Martin Hummel, Director of Ubuntu Music, concludes: “What can I possibly say about these two guys that hasn’t been said before? Each is at the pinnacle of his respective professional career. The rhythm section is as good as it gets. You put this all together and you have an unbeatable collection of musicians who have deep respect for the jazz masters, but which is expressed in their own distinctive voices. ‘Pluto’ an irresistible audio cocktail for the senses. We are absolutely honoured to have Dave and Rob continue within our Ubuntu Music Family.”
For further information, please contact:
Dave O’Higgins (Artist) ohig@mac.com
Rob Luft (Artist) rob.jazz@live.com
Emma Perry (UK Publicity) emmasarahperry@gmail.com
Martin Hummel/Ubuntu Music (Worldwide): martin@ubuntumanagementgroup.com
BIOGRAPHIES
Dave O’Higgins
Saxophonist Dave O’Higgins 24th album as leader Pluto (Ubuntu 2022) is just about to be released. The last Ubuntu release That’s the Way to Live (2021) has had great reviews in the Observer, Jazzwise, BBC Magazine and many online jazz sites. In 2017 It’s Always 9:30 in Zog was nominated for best CD (British Jazz Awards) and Dave for best tenor saxophonist. O’Higgins & Luft were nominated for best band in 2020 Parliamentary Jazz Awards.
Dave serves on the faculty at the London College of Contemporary Media. He currently performs with the Harvey / O’Higgins Project, O’Higgins & Luft, Darius Brubeck Quartet, and the Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Orchestra. In addition, Dave worked with Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, Joey Calderazzo, Joe Locke, Dave Kikowski, Eric Alexander, Max Ionata, Joe Lovano, Phil Woods, Jimmy Smith, Nancy Wilson, Wayne Shorter, Eddie Gomez, Billy Childs, Abdullah Ibrahim, Jim Mullen, Martin Taylor and Stephane Grappelli. Dave also wrote and produced the 2017 Matt Bianco album, Gravity, and tours with the band as saxophonist and musical director.
Dave’s saxophone sound and language draw from deep respect for Dexter, Stitt, Coltrane, Mobley, Turrentine and Brecker amongst a host of other inspirations from early on to the present day.
“A stunning player in the neo-bop vein, with an apparently effortless flow of coherent ideas, beautiful time and a highly developed harmonic sense.”
--JAZZ GUIDE (UK)
“His professional presentation was an object lesson to the amateurishness of local players. His musicianship seemed boundless. Like his friend Martin Taylor did last year to our guitarists, Dave O’Higgins did to our sax players – gave them new and exciting challenges. And gave us mere listeners an exceptional night.”
--ADELAIDE ADVERTISER, AUSTRALIA
“O’Higgins plays with quite exceptional fluency and his fund of ideas never runs out.”
--THE OBSERVER (UK)
Rob Luft
Rob is an award-winning 28-year-old jazz guitarist from London whose virtuosity has been compared to that of six-string legends John McLaughlin, Al Di Meola & Paco De Lucia.
He was the recipient of the 2016 Kenny Wheeler Prize from the Royal Academy of Music, and he also received the 2nd Prize in the 2016 Montreux Jazz Guitar Competition at Montreux Jazz Festival, adjudicated by John McLaughlin himself. His debut album was released to widespread acclaim from the European jazz media, with The Guardian describing it as a “very sophisticated debut, but given Luft’s old-soul achievements since his early teens, we should have heard it coming”. Subsequently, on the back of the success of his first album, Rob was nominated for a string of awards – Breakthrough Act in the 2018 Jazz FM Awards, Instrumentalist of the Year in the 2020 Parliamentary Jazz Awards and Instrumentalist of the Year in the 2019 Jazz FM Awards. In May 2019, Rob was selected as a BBC New Generation Jazz Artist 2019-2022. Amongst the intermittent global lockdowns of 2020, Rob made his debut appearance on the famed German jazz label ECM Records with the album “Lost Ships, a collaborative effort with Swiss-Albanian singer Elina Duni, and this was nominated in the ‘International Album of the Year’ category in the 2021 German Jazz Prize.
Despite his relative youth, Rob has worked with many greats of the jazz world, such as Manu Katché, The Cinematic Orchestra, Django Bates & Arve Henriksen, and he is a regular member of some of the UK's finest modern jazz groups, such as the John Surman Quartet, the Iain Ballamy Quintet and Byron Wallen’s “Four Corners”, Additionally, his playing has been documented on a wide variety of albums over the past five years on important jazz labels such as ECM Records, Edition Records, Ropeadope, and many more.
"...a singular talent, a fluent improviser and a composer of catchy, earthy, infectiously upbeat tunes. There are echoes of west African high-life, English folk, indie rock and various strands of contemporary jazz, but Luft’s sound is joyously original, robust and in-your-face..." THE ---IRISH TIMES (IRE)
“So young and so talented!”
--JAMIE CULLUM, BBC RADIO 2 (UK)
"Luft's style is a garden of heavenly delights, but it is also his own: once heard, you won't confuse him with any other player."
--ALL ABOUT JAZZ (USA)
https://robluft.co.uk/
Ubuntu Music Announces The Release of Pianist Andrew McCormack’s Next Trio Project
Andrew McCormack / Terra Firma
Release Date: 28th October 2022
CD & Digital Formats / UBU0123
Ubuntu Music is delighted to announce the upcoming release of pianist/composer Andrew McCormack’s album, Terra Firma, which celebrates his return to his heartland jazz trio format.
Andrew has built a diverse international career with many appearances at major festivals and concert halls all over the globe.
On 28th October 2022, Andrew will release Terra Firma on Ubuntu Music, which features his new trio consisting of rising star Joe Downard on bass (also on Ubuntu Music) and veteran Rod Youngs on drums (a regular musician on the Label).
Left to right: Joe Downward, Andrew McCormack, Rod Youngs (Photographer: Pauline Le Divenach)
Andrew gives us a sense of his recent work, prior to Terra Firma: "For the past few years I’ve been focussing on my Prog-jazz outfit, Graviton. Although I find this genre of music stimulating and a lot of fun, when the lockdowns came upon us, I found myself working on ideas and skills based around the acoustic jazz piano genre again. Musically, it’s my home; it’s where I started. Perhaps there was even some comfort in doing that. My instincts tell me that audiences may need the same."
Andrew explains how Terra Firma came about: “Most of the music was developed at my London home during the COVID pandemic lockdowns of 2020/21. Tours and concerts were cancelled and I, like all of us, suddenly found myself at home 24/7. Knowing I wouldn’t have this opportunity again, I tried to make the most of the situation that I could. Some of the titles on this record allude to particular events of the last few years. ‘Prayer for Atonement’ was written as a response to the killing of George Floyd and the chaos that followed it. With the current situation in Ukraine, that prayer continues. ‘Fake News’ is truly the scourge of our times as we all seem susceptible given the algorithms of the internet. But the hopeful ‘Cherry Blossom’ was written in the spring of 2021, where things were starting to look up after a terrible winter and there were finally glimpses of normality on the horizon.”
Andrew McCormack (Photographer: Emmanuelle Nemoz)
McCormack continues: “This album also marks my return to the trio format, where I began with my debut album, Telescope, over almost two decades earlier. I’ve been playing with Rod Youngs since the early 2000s in Gary Crosby’s Nu Troop and extensively with Denys Baptiste’s epic Let Freedom Ring project. We go way back! I’m happy to have become acquainted with Joe Downard more recently. He’s part of a new generation of skilled but forward-looking musicians who also happens to live just round the corner from me in Camberwell. It reminds me of my Prospect Park days in Brooklyn, where all my neighbours were musicians.”
Left to right: Rod Youngs, Andrew McCormack, Joe Downard (Photographer: Pauline Le Divenach)
Andrew describes his long-standing relationship with Ubuntu Music: “I'm continually amazed at the development of Ubuntu Music and how it's fast becoming one of the most important indie labels in the jazz world. Martin Hummel is an exceptional talent and I'm honoured to be a part of this growing family.”
Martin Hummel, Director of Ubuntu Music, concludes: “Andrew is an essential part of our Ubuntu Family. He was the first artist to join us. The Label represents nearly his entire catalogue of exceptional and musically diverse releases. Andrew continues to reinvent himself as an artist with a return to his most popular trio format, while delivering melodic, highly seductive compositions that are flawlessly performed, with hints of Jarrett, Mehldau and others subconsciously whispering in the background. We continue to be over the moon with representing such a considerable talent.”
For further information, please contact:
Andrew McCormack (Artist) mccormackmusic@gmail.com
Inge De Pauw/Stilletto (Europe) inge@stilletto.be
Emma Perry (UK Publicity) emmasarahperry@gmail.com
Martin Hummel/Ubuntu Music (Worldwide): martin@ubuntumanagementgroup.com
Andrew McCormack Biography
Andrew has built a diverse international career in a short period of time.
As a leader, his debut album Telescope in 2005 was universally applauded and earned him a BBC jazz award for rising star. The following year the pianist returned again to the trio format with a series of other critically acclaimed albums that include Live in London in 2012 and First Light in 2014. The latter featured a New York rhythm section as a document to his having lived in the city for three years. In October 2022, Andrew will release Terra Firma, again on Ubuntu Music, which features his new trio of Joe Downard on bass and Rod Youngs on drums.
Historically, the pianist teamed up with composer/saxophonist Jason Yarde to form the McCormack & Yarde Duo with their first album release together, MY DUO in 2009. The duo has since gone on to firmly establish itself with international tours and further album releases that have garnering widespread critical recognition for their developments in the genre. Places And Other Spaces was released in 2011 and they followed up in 2013 to feature the Elysian String Quartet on the eclectic, Juntos.
McCormack also has a keen interest in classical composition. Having studied with British composer, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Andrew has gone on to receive commissions from various ensembles including the London Symphony Orchestra. Andrew’s eight-minute overture, Incentive, was premiered by the orchestra at the Barbican in London and included on their Panufnik Legacies CD in 2013.
In 2017, Andrew launched a new band project, Graviton, which saw him in a more groove-based setting including vocals and a wider sound world closer to what might be described as Prog-Jazz. The latest album in 2019, Graviton: The Calling, is a fully conceived work that follows the classic hero’s journey.
The pianist has also been an invaluable sideman to many major international artists but is perhaps best known for his continued collaborations with the Kyle Eastwood Band for well over a decade.
McCormack has also toured as a solo pianist giving concerts at various venues across the UK, including a sold-out Hall One Kings Place in London opening for Michael Wollny in 2017.
In 2020, McCormack released SOLO which earned across-the-board 4-5 Star reviews, adding yet another strength to his already diverse portfolio. Using a mixture of originals, standard and not so standard repertoire, the pianist demonstrates his compelling ideas, composing and thrilling performances in the stripped-down intimate setting of solo piano.
Whatever the genre, throughout his body of work, Andrew McCormack has managed to consistently demonstrate a compelling setting for his musical ideas, a platform for virtuosic improvisation and a constant revivifying and adaptive embodiment of the jazz tradition.
REVIEW: O'Higgins & Luft Play Monk & Trane
“Despite the familiarity of much of the material Luft and O’Higgins deliver on their promise and very much make their own mark on it. The arrangements are fresh and imaginative and the playing superb.”
For th full review, please click on the image, above.
REVIEW: O’Higgins and Luft: Play Monk & Trane – a bold take on two greats ★★★★ (Ubuntu Music)
The Guardian’s Dave Gelly writes, “The playing throughout is quite superb.”
For the full review, please click on the image, above.
REVIEW: O'Higgins & Luft Play Monk & Trane
SJM’s Eddie Myer writes, “a tour of epic proportions is underway and should not be missed. “
O'Higgins & Luft Feature
SJM interviews the dynamic duo.
Yet Another 4 Stars for O'Higgins & Luft!
Jazz Journal’s Ronald Atkins writes, “All told, an enjoyable and well-conceived programme.”
For the full review, please click on the image, above.
REVIEW: Dave O’Higgins & Rob Luft – Play Monk & Trane
LJN’s Peter Jones writes, “While the chops of neither O’Higgins nor Luft are in doubt, if you’re still not acquainted with Luft and need convincing, I recommend you check out his dazzling solo on Coltrane’s Like Sonny, which bears comparison with any jazz guitar solo you’ve heard.”
For the full review, please click on the image, above.
The BBC Digs O'Higgins & Luft
A Big Four Star Review in the BBC Music Magazine.
