Ambient Jazz Ensemble - London Fields (2022)

London Fields describes London energy, vibe, anticipation; ‘fields' of electricity.

The phrase conjours something of my own relationship with London. Having moved away after living & working there for 20 years I’ve recently fallen in love with the city again. I've been walking the streets, rediscovering it’s parks, canals, the architecture, the river; … & experiencing new music in London is always a joy. The 'London Fields’ have recaptured my imagination.

There are other pieces in the jigsaw conspiring to influence the concept too. The piano & Rhodes session for the last album, Aura, was at Sam Crowe’s studio in the Hackney area called London Fields, & I used the overground alighting at London Fields station. The novel 'London Fields’ by Martin Amis is my favourite fiction novel.

Partly to evolve the sound palette & partly as a result of the overall concept there is less use of the ethnic tuned percussion that featured on ‘Aura’, those sounds that have survived are mixed into the ambient soundscapes or are more orchestral in nature. The exotic nature of these textures has been covered by some incredible evocative vocals by singer Lynsey Ward.

It was great to work with Ollie Weston (Saxes) & Sam Crowe (piano & Rhodes) again & even more of a joy to work with my son, Sam (drums), where we had the luxury of time to experiment with a variety of miking techniques on 2 vintage drum kits. On this album Ollie & I have adopted a method of recording super soft saxes, usually tenor & alto panned hard left & hard right with bass clarinet down the middle. It’s a technique that has spilled over from our experiments on ‘Aura’. The timbre is super breathy & very quiet; it’s a texture you can hear on ‘Break The Night With Silence’ & ‘Aura’. On this album, although used sparingly, this seductive sound is quite a feature & even doubles the horn section in the verse of ‘When The Dust Settles’.