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Matthew Halsall: Salute To The Sun

By Chris May
November 7, 2020
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Trumpeter and composer

Matthew Halsall

trumpet

" data-original-title="" title="">Matthew Halsall is an inspirational figure on the British scene, as a musician and as the founder of the successful Gondwana Records label. Based in the northern city of Manchester, two hundred miles and a lifestyle away from London, Halsall debuted in 2008 with Sending My Love, on which he unveiled his distinctive spiritual-jazz take on the less-is-more modalism and lustrous sound of

Miles Davis

trumpet
1926 - 1991

" data-original-title="" title="">Miles Davis circa Kind Of Blue (Columbia, 1959). Since then, Halsall's bands have accelerated the emergence of some of the north of England's most striking musicians, including reed players

Nat Birchall

saxophone, tenor
b.1957

" data-original-title="" title="">Nat Birchall and

Chip Wickham

woodwinds

" data-original-title="" title="">Chip Wickham, pianist

Adam Fairhall

piano
b.1976

" data-original-title="" title="">Adam Fairhall and harpist

Rachael Gladwin

" data-original-title="" title="">Rachael Gladwin.

With Salute To The Sun, Halsall's first album of newly recorded material since 2015's Into Forever, everything has changed and nothing has changed. His muscular young band is completely new aside from bassist

Gavin Barras

bass, acoustic
b.1981

" data-original-title="" title="">Gavin Barras, who has both anchored and elevated the music since Sending My Love. The music itself, however, is as resplendently the same as ever, following the path first set out by

Alice Coltrane

piano
1937 - 2007

" data-original-title="" title="">Alice Coltrane and

Pharoah Sanders

saxophone, tenor
1940 - 2022

" data-original-title="" title="">Pharoah Sanders. Its signatures are a celestial vibe, melodicism and well-tempered grooves (in its way, the Gondwana aesthetic resembles that of

Creed Taylor

producer
1929 - 2022

" data-original-title="" title="">Creed Taylor's CTI label, with whom it shares its high production values). New harpist

Maddie Herbert

harp

" data-original-title="" title="">Maddie Herbert fits seamlessly into the slot left by Gladwin and the gutsy saxophonist and flautist Matt Cliff brings Sanders' broken-note strewn tenor and

Rahsaan Roland Kirk

woodwinds
1935 - 1977

" data-original-title="" title="">Rahsaan Roland Kirk's pizzicato flute to the party along with himself. The most significant tweak to the studio sound is the foregrounded use of tuned percussion such as the kalimba and marimba. The album is balm for the soul.

A final thought. Salute To The Sun comes from a similar place as another trumpet led, premier league, 2020 British album,

Laura Jurd

trumpet

" data-original-title="" title="">Laura Jurd's band Dinosaur's To The Earth (Edition). Both are playful, essentially acoustic and were conceived with environmental concerns in mind. If you enjoy one of them, you will almost certainly enjoy the other one, too.

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Track Listing

Harmony With Nature; Joyful Spirits Of The Universe; Canopy & Stars; Mindfulness Meditations; Tropical Landscapes; Salute To The Sun; The Energy Of Life.

Personnel

Matthew Halsall

trumpet

Matthew Cliffe

flute

Maddie Herbert

harp

Gavin Barras

bass, acoustic

Alan Taylor

drums

Jack McCarthy

percussion

Liviu Gheorghe

piano

Additional Instrumentation

Matthew Cliffe: flute, tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone; Liviu Gheorghe: piano, kalimba, marimba; Tom Harris: kalimba (3).

Album information

Title: Salute To The Sun | Year Released: 2020 | Record Label: Gondwana Records

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