CARL ORR - Somewhere Else
KR05
Carl Orr (electric & acoustic guitars, slide guitar); Bill Mudge (piano, Rhodes piano, organ); Neville Malcolm (bass guitar); Dave De Rose (drums & percussion, kalimba)
featuring Billy Cobham, Mark Fletcher (drums); Steve Pearce (bass guitar); Joao Caetano (percussion); Bex Burch (gyill); Jonathan Mayer (sitar); Mitel Purohit (tablas); Graham Blevins (bass clarinet, tenor saxophone); Bennie Maupin (soprano saxophone); Grant Windsor (piano, Rhodes piano); Greg Kofi Brown (vocals); Jasmine Nelson (background vocals); Graham Clark (violin); Giovanni Pallotti (acoustic bass); Freddie Gavita (trumpet), Nichol Thomson (trombone); Stuart Hall (oud & electric sitar); Steve Hamilton (synthesizers)
Recorded July 2013 - November 2017
This is the guitarist's ninth album and all the compositions are based on a feeling where we long to be somewhere else. Orr's CV covers a diverse and eclectic range of musics, and this is just how the Berklee educated musician likes it. In his own projects he is often to be heard mixing and matching musical sounds from around the world, and bringing them to bear on what is becoming, by now, a very distinctive writing style.
In a recent conversation, the guitarist told me that his intention was "... to create music that can either be listened to in a concentrated way or can just waft around the house", and this he has succeeded in doing so, although the pull of the music is such that concentrated listening very quickly becomes the order of the day.
Orr has a penchant for a good melody, and while undoubtedly jazz based, he often likes to keep the music simple, employing rock solid grooves and bass lines that allow his unique melodic sense to flow seamlessly across his attractive writing. This trait is well honed and served well by the core quartet of Orr, Bill Mudge, Neville Malcolm and Dave De Rose who demonstrate a strong group sound, and are able to fit neatly into any composition that the leader may throw at them. By his own admission, he likes to keep the tunes down to a reasonable length, and has managed to come up with a method of writing that is highly melodic, rhythmically interesting and packed with incident.
This knack for a beautiful melody can be sampled on 'Katie' which was written for his daughter and is not only superbly and sensitively played by the quartet, but it is also reprised with an arrangement for acoustic guitar and synthesizer by Steve Hamilton that again highlights the effectiveness and simplicity of the song. The title track, that features the legendary Bennie Maupin on soprano shows the depth of writing displayed by Orr, taking what may initially appear to be a straight forward melodic idea and develop into something really special.
What is impressive is how there are many of these moments that appear on the album, catching the ear and often taking the listener by surprise. The use of bass clarinet on 'A Tree In The Desert' really lifts the piece and sets things up nicely for a lovely solo for pianist, Mudge, for example or the use of the rhythms of the Indian subcontinent on 'Analyse' or the edgier towering groove laid down by Blly Cobham on 'Fayah'.
This is an album that exudes a feel good vibe and great melodies, and to coin a phrase should be wafting around every household.
Reviewed by Nick Lea
KR05
Carl Orr (electric & acoustic guitars, slide guitar); Bill Mudge (piano, Rhodes piano, organ); Neville Malcolm (bass guitar); Dave De Rose (drums & percussion, kalimba)
featuring Billy Cobham, Mark Fletcher (drums); Steve Pearce (bass guitar); Joao Caetano (percussion); Bex Burch (gyill); Jonathan Mayer (sitar); Mitel Purohit (tablas); Graham Blevins (bass clarinet, tenor saxophone); Bennie Maupin (soprano saxophone); Grant Windsor (piano, Rhodes piano); Greg Kofi Brown (vocals); Jasmine Nelson (background vocals); Graham Clark (violin); Giovanni Pallotti (acoustic bass); Freddie Gavita (trumpet), Nichol Thomson (trombone); Stuart Hall (oud & electric sitar); Steve Hamilton (synthesizers)
Recorded July 2013 - November 2017
This is the guitarist's ninth album and all the compositions are based on a feeling where we long to be somewhere else. Orr's CV covers a diverse and eclectic range of musics, and this is just how the Berklee educated musician likes it. In his own projects he is often to be heard mixing and matching musical sounds from around the world, and bringing them to bear on what is becoming, by now, a very distinctive writing style.
In a recent conversation, the guitarist told me that his intention was "... to create music that can either be listened to in a concentrated way or can just waft around the house", and this he has succeeded in doing so, although the pull of the music is such that concentrated listening very quickly becomes the order of the day.
Orr has a penchant for a good melody, and while undoubtedly jazz based, he often likes to keep the music simple, employing rock solid grooves and bass lines that allow his unique melodic sense to flow seamlessly across his attractive writing. This trait is well honed and served well by the core quartet of Orr, Bill Mudge, Neville Malcolm and Dave De Rose who demonstrate a strong group sound, and are able to fit neatly into any composition that the leader may throw at them. By his own admission, he likes to keep the tunes down to a reasonable length, and has managed to come up with a method of writing that is highly melodic, rhythmically interesting and packed with incident.
This knack for a beautiful melody can be sampled on 'Katie' which was written for his daughter and is not only superbly and sensitively played by the quartet, but it is also reprised with an arrangement for acoustic guitar and synthesizer by Steve Hamilton that again highlights the effectiveness and simplicity of the song. The title track, that features the legendary Bennie Maupin on soprano shows the depth of writing displayed by Orr, taking what may initially appear to be a straight forward melodic idea and develop into something really special.
What is impressive is how there are many of these moments that appear on the album, catching the ear and often taking the listener by surprise. The use of bass clarinet on 'A Tree In The Desert' really lifts the piece and sets things up nicely for a lovely solo for pianist, Mudge, for example or the use of the rhythms of the Indian subcontinent on 'Analyse' or the edgier towering groove laid down by Blly Cobham on 'Fayah'.
This is an album that exudes a feel good vibe and great melodies, and to coin a phrase should be wafting around every household.
Reviewed by Nick Lea
