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Dinosaur: To The Earth

By Chris May
May 1, 2020
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Britain's Edition label has remained independent of London's post-2015 alternative jazz scene, whose aesthetic is formed in part by the emphases of identity politics and which now, in 2020, has gone overground with the signing of three bands led by movement auteur

Shabaka Hutchings

woodwinds

" data-original-title="" title="">Shabaka Hutchings to Impulse! in the US. Edition, which was founded in 2008 by pianist

Dave Stapleton

piano

" data-original-title="" title="">Dave Stapleton and photographer Tim Dickeson, has preferred to pursue its own path. It has done so with magnificent style. (The label made one important connection with the alt scene in 2017 when it released The Late Trane, the chef d'oeuvre to date of scene godfather

Denys Baptiste

saxophone
b.1969

" data-original-title="" title="">Denys Baptiste, leading a band which included the godfather of godfathers,

Gary Crosby

bass, acoustic
b.1955

" data-original-title="" title="">Gary Crosby).

In spring 2020 Edition has released two albums of surpassing quality. The first, in April, was guitarist

Rob Luft

guitar
b.1993

" data-original-title="" title="">Rob Luft's second album, Life Is The Dancer. The second, in May, is To The Earth, Dinosaur's third album. Like Luft's album, To The Earth is practically perfect in every respect, from the material (six originals, one cover), through the performances and on to the production and mix.

Dinosaur is led by trumpeter and composer

Laura Jurd

trumpet

" data-original-title="" title="">Laura Jurd, who formed it with three fellow Trinity Laban conservatoire students as the Laura Jurd Quartet in 2010. Since then the name has changed but the lineup has stayed constant: keyboard player

Elliot Galvin

piano

" data-original-title="" title="">Elliot Galvin, bassist

Conor Chaplin

bass, acoustic

" data-original-title="" title="">Conor Chaplin and drummer

Corrie Dick

drums
b.1990

" data-original-title="" title="">Corrie Dick. While the band's earlier albums were plugged-in affairs using plenty of through-composition, To The Earth has a deep acoustic vibe and is simpler in structure, its seven beautifully-crafted melodies conceived as vehicles for improvisation. Five of the tunes are Jurd originals, a sixth was written collectively, and the seventh is a cover of

Billy Strayhorn

piano
1915 - 1967

" data-original-title="" title="">Billy Strayhorn's "Absinthe."

The clearest influence on Jurd's playing is

Miles Davis

trumpet
1926 - 1991

" data-original-title="" title="">Miles Davis. But she is in no sense derivative, blending the best of Davis—heightened lyricism, embracing tone— with her own signatures, notably including a delight in low-register smears and growls which hark back to musicians such as

Bubber Miley

trumpet
1903 - 1932

" data-original-title="" title="">Bubber Miley and

Cootie Williams

trumpet
1911 - 1985

" data-original-title="" title="">Cootie Williams. The essence of these

Duke Ellington

piano
1899 - 1974

" data-original-title="" title="">Duke Ellingtonians is winningly channelled on "Absinthe," which was recorded by Ellington on Afro-Bossa (Reprise, 1963). Another trace from history is that of

Thelonious Monk

piano
1917 - 1982

" data-original-title="" title="">Thelonious Monk, whose harmolodic touch is evident in Jurd's "Slow Loris" theme.

Simultaneously intimate and expansive, sometimes edgy but mostly playful, To The Earth is a lovely and absorbing album which, like most of the best jazz, combines knowledge of the tradition with the breaking of new ground.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

To The Earth; Slow Loris; Mosking; Held By Water; Absinthe; Banning Street Blues; For One.

Personnel

Laura Jurd

trumpet

Elliot Galvin

piano

Conor Chaplin

bass, acoustic

Corrie Dick

drums

Album information

Title: To The Earth | Year Released: 2020 | Record Label: Edition Records

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