DEAN STOCKDALE TRIO - Promise The Moon
Self Produced
Dean Stockdale (piano), Mick Shoulder (bass), Abbie Finn (drums).
Influenced by the likes of Oscar Peterson, Bill Evans and Mulgrew Miller, Dean Stockdale is a young pianist with a very promising career ahead of him, both as a musician and composer. Born in Darlington and playing piano from the age of six, the latest edition of his trio is in demand throughout the northern jazz scene. Along with appearances at the Manchester and Gateshead festivals, the group have also gained air time on BBB Radio 3 and issued their first recording "Origin", with the original lie up including Gavin Barris on bass and drummer Adam Dawson back in 2017 to wide ranging critical acclaim. Originally centered in the Reinhart-Grappelli gypsy jazz of the thirties, bass player Mick Shoulder is now a fine all round performer with both big band and contemporary jazz experience to set alongside is talents as a composer and arranger, who fits perfectly into the trio setting. Rising drum star Abbie Finn came up via Leeds College of Music and the famous Trinity Laban. Another musician with a very wide repertoire of genres, she is on the fast track to national prominence, both with her performance on this album, and her own recent trio release "Northern Perspective".
Throughout this enjoyable album of four original compositions and five standards, pianist Dean Stockdale proves himself to be both a fine composer and imaginative interpreter of the Great American Song Book. There is both a warmth and agility to his playing that immediately comes over on the opener, Henry Mancini's Moon River, not a song that transposes itself easily to jazz, but sets a high expectation on the listener as to what may follow. Most people love the music of Duke Ellington and here we find the trio's lengthy take on the evergreen In a Sentimental Mood taken at a low tempo and drawing out the emotion of the piece in a way in which the great man would surely have approved. Of the four original compositions by the leader, the outstanding track is the ballad Mia's Lullaby, it's an intense and beautiful composition with the pianist making good use of both time and space over some fine arco bass work from Mick Shoulder. There is a very fine and easy paced performance of George Gershwin's They Can't Take That Away From Me, with some unique embellishments to the theme and tasteful drumming from the excellent Abbie Finn. The album closes with a somewhat sideways look at Cy Coleman's Witchcraft with the band members taking a number of risks with the melody and making it firmly their own. All in all this is a very worthwhile recording in all ways and can be purchased on-line at www.deanstockdalemusic.com.
Reviewed by Jim Burlong
Self Produced
Dean Stockdale (piano), Mick Shoulder (bass), Abbie Finn (drums).
Influenced by the likes of Oscar Peterson, Bill Evans and Mulgrew Miller, Dean Stockdale is a young pianist with a very promising career ahead of him, both as a musician and composer. Born in Darlington and playing piano from the age of six, the latest edition of his trio is in demand throughout the northern jazz scene. Along with appearances at the Manchester and Gateshead festivals, the group have also gained air time on BBB Radio 3 and issued their first recording "Origin", with the original lie up including Gavin Barris on bass and drummer Adam Dawson back in 2017 to wide ranging critical acclaim. Originally centered in the Reinhart-Grappelli gypsy jazz of the thirties, bass player Mick Shoulder is now a fine all round performer with both big band and contemporary jazz experience to set alongside is talents as a composer and arranger, who fits perfectly into the trio setting. Rising drum star Abbie Finn came up via Leeds College of Music and the famous Trinity Laban. Another musician with a very wide repertoire of genres, she is on the fast track to national prominence, both with her performance on this album, and her own recent trio release "Northern Perspective".
Throughout this enjoyable album of four original compositions and five standards, pianist Dean Stockdale proves himself to be both a fine composer and imaginative interpreter of the Great American Song Book. There is both a warmth and agility to his playing that immediately comes over on the opener, Henry Mancini's Moon River, not a song that transposes itself easily to jazz, but sets a high expectation on the listener as to what may follow. Most people love the music of Duke Ellington and here we find the trio's lengthy take on the evergreen In a Sentimental Mood taken at a low tempo and drawing out the emotion of the piece in a way in which the great man would surely have approved. Of the four original compositions by the leader, the outstanding track is the ballad Mia's Lullaby, it's an intense and beautiful composition with the pianist making good use of both time and space over some fine arco bass work from Mick Shoulder. There is a very fine and easy paced performance of George Gershwin's They Can't Take That Away From Me, with some unique embellishments to the theme and tasteful drumming from the excellent Abbie Finn. The album closes with a somewhat sideways look at Cy Coleman's Witchcraft with the band members taking a number of risks with the melody and making it firmly their own. All in all this is a very worthwhile recording in all ways and can be purchased on-line at www.deanstockdalemusic.com.
Reviewed by Jim Burlong
