The Neoteric Ensemble debut album brilliantly brings together jazz and classical music across a collection of superb intricate compositions.

Release date:  Available now

Label:  Ulysses Arts in collaboration with ECN Music

Format: CD / Digital

Neoteric Ensemble Volume 1 is the debut album by a new brass and woodwind sextet, founded by trumpeter Toby Street and tuba player Adrian Miotti. The other players in the ensemble are Rob Buckland on saxophone, Sarah Field on saxophone and trumpet, James Fountain on trumpet and Richard Watkin on trombone. The music to be found and explored on the album seamlessly brings together jazz, classical, and many other musical influences.  Reflecting that the members of the ensemble have musical backgrounds that embrace both the jazz and classical worlds. 

The opening track on the album is Soundscapes, written by Rob Buckland, which elegantly traverses three movements, Mojito, Fjord and Bosh. Mojito has an uplifting carnival vibe, with all the instrumental components weaving majestically in and out of the mix, underpinned by an irresistible dance rhythm. Fjord moves the composition into a quite beautiful lament, where the saxophones in particular play a sequence of quite exquisite melodies. Bosh has some strident ensemble playing where the themes are turned inside and out, allowing for a variety of musical tones and phrases to emerge, and tempos to rapidly change.  The intricacies of the composition, and the arrangements of the different movements, combine to create what is an immersive and mesmerising listening experience.

The Effra Parade, written by Misha Mullov- Abbado, clocking in at over eight minutes, never once loses the listener’s attention, and in fact commands emotional investment and close listening. Adrian Miotti’s tuba is well to the fore, providing flowing rhythmic accents, that expand the musical spaces in the piece, and over which the other brass and woodwind instruments have just the right creative environment to solo, call and response, and be playful with the compositions core musical motifs.

The ambitious Pandemic Suite, composed by Andy Panayi, and reflecting his impressions of the Covid-19 pandemic, has four sections, beginning with Huanan Market. A sense of foreboding is conveyed through all the instruments frenetically cutting across each other, leading into a film noir styled saxophone solo that is succeeded once again by the dissonance of the cross cutting fast-paced brass and woodwind exchanges. The Traveller is Named follows, and offers a more solemn meditative musical atmosphere, as trumpet, trombone and saxophone create a dreamy ascending musical signature, punctuated by the heartbeat tuba notes.  The Traveller Goes Forth has a classic big band drive, where the ensemble playing is just breathtaking, in its sense of combined melody and precision playing. The final movement, Lockdown Release, provides a joyous conclusion in its musical reflection of relief at lockdown being lifted. Featuring some quite wonderful trading of emotionally resonant and lyrical solos, it is a fitting conclusion to this beautifully flowing suite of music.  

These first three compositions, and the stunning delivery of compositional arrangements that combine jazz and classical elements, is testament to the musical vision of these incredible musicians, and the musical chemistry within the ensemble. The rest of the album continues this quality of writing, arrangements and playing. Neo, written by Charlotte Harding, magically highlights the full dynamic range of the ensemble, while Toby Street’s lovely Karatina Market, is played with a striking choral majesty. The Dan Jenkins piece, Bach in Barbados, has at its core an engaging funk driven workout, that has an immense rhythmic appeal, at one point featuring the woodblock. Arriba, by Mark Nightingale, is the closing track and combines, challenging to play instrumental parts with exuberant Latin American dance rhythms.

This is an album then, that offers a truly rewarding listening experience, full of gripping musical highlights. It does full justice to the musical range and skill of this excellent ensemble. It is also an album that captures a range of moods and musical styles and will thus warrant many enjoyable repeated listens. The CD version is accompanied by a fantastic booklet, featuring informative biographies for each of the musicians, and with each composer providing comments on the background to their composition.

You can view the official video for Arriba here:

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