HAZELRIGG BROTHERS - Songs We Like
Independent Label
George Hazelrigg: piano; Geoff Hazelrigg bass; John O’Reilly Jr drums
No recording details
Although this is the Hazelrigg Brothers debut album, they are hardly newcomers to the jazz scene. The brothers George (piano) and Geoff (bass) have been playing as a jazz trio for twenty years. They also run a high-end audio equipment company, and manage a home studio, which is used for production and session work. Some people have too much talent...
And their talent really shines on this album, a jazz trio (with John O’Reilly Jr on drums) whose repertoire includes Bartok, Jimi Hendrix, Jethro Tull, Led Zeppelin, The Police and Steely Dan. The liner notes by keyboardist/producer Jason Miles (who has worked with Miles Davis, George Benson and The Brecker Brothers among others) compares this band to the Keith Jarrett Trio – praise indeed. It also reminds me of the much-missed Esbjörn Svensson Trio (EST), with its spacious instrumentation, imaginative use of dynamics and hard-edged percussive sound.
With the brothers’ background in audio and recording, it’s no surprise that this album is superbly recorded and mixed. My only complaint that is John O’Reilly Jr doesn’t get the billing he deserves – this really should be called the Hazelrigg Brothers Trio and it would have been nice to have included a photo of the drummer somewhere on the album sleeve.
But what really matters is the music. The first track, Jethro Tull’s ‘Living in the Past’ opens with Hazelrigg’s arresting bass pulse and O’Reilly’s syncopated percussion, before George Hazelrigg joins them, playing the melody. It’s a cracking start to a very satisfying album. Men at Work’s ‘Catch A Star’ is reggae-tinged workout, while Hendrix’s ‘If 6 Was 9’ opens with some ominous-sounding piano, and at the coda, features some explosive drumming from O’Reilly.
A jaunty rendition of Bartok’s ‘Evening In The Country’ highlights the fluency of George Hazelrigg’s playing and is one of the album’s many highlights. The near-seven minute version of Led Zeppelin’s ‘Ten Year’s Gone’ is the album’s longest track, and this long, contemplative rendition ends with the fire and fury you would expect from a heavy metal number.
Steely Dan’s apocalyptic ‘King Of The World,’ the closer on their Countdown to Ecstasy album, is played at a slower tempo than the original, with piano and bass replacing the vocal parts. Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer’s ‘Passacaglia, from the Daughters of Zeus, Urania,’ is a majestic fusion of jazz and classical, while a brisk version of The Police’s ‘Spirits In The Material World’ features some sublime vamping on piano. Led Zeppelin’s ‘What Is And What Should Never Be,’ ends the album on a reflective note, although the tune finishes with some funky piano playing and energetic drumming – I wish this section had been extended! This is a very impressive debut album.
Reviewed by George Cole
Independent Label
George Hazelrigg: piano; Geoff Hazelrigg bass; John O’Reilly Jr drums
No recording details
Although this is the Hazelrigg Brothers debut album, they are hardly newcomers to the jazz scene. The brothers George (piano) and Geoff (bass) have been playing as a jazz trio for twenty years. They also run a high-end audio equipment company, and manage a home studio, which is used for production and session work. Some people have too much talent...
And their talent really shines on this album, a jazz trio (with John O’Reilly Jr on drums) whose repertoire includes Bartok, Jimi Hendrix, Jethro Tull, Led Zeppelin, The Police and Steely Dan. The liner notes by keyboardist/producer Jason Miles (who has worked with Miles Davis, George Benson and The Brecker Brothers among others) compares this band to the Keith Jarrett Trio – praise indeed. It also reminds me of the much-missed Esbjörn Svensson Trio (EST), with its spacious instrumentation, imaginative use of dynamics and hard-edged percussive sound.
With the brothers’ background in audio and recording, it’s no surprise that this album is superbly recorded and mixed. My only complaint that is John O’Reilly Jr doesn’t get the billing he deserves – this really should be called the Hazelrigg Brothers Trio and it would have been nice to have included a photo of the drummer somewhere on the album sleeve.
But what really matters is the music. The first track, Jethro Tull’s ‘Living in the Past’ opens with Hazelrigg’s arresting bass pulse and O’Reilly’s syncopated percussion, before George Hazelrigg joins them, playing the melody. It’s a cracking start to a very satisfying album. Men at Work’s ‘Catch A Star’ is reggae-tinged workout, while Hendrix’s ‘If 6 Was 9’ opens with some ominous-sounding piano, and at the coda, features some explosive drumming from O’Reilly.
A jaunty rendition of Bartok’s ‘Evening In The Country’ highlights the fluency of George Hazelrigg’s playing and is one of the album’s many highlights. The near-seven minute version of Led Zeppelin’s ‘Ten Year’s Gone’ is the album’s longest track, and this long, contemplative rendition ends with the fire and fury you would expect from a heavy metal number.
Steely Dan’s apocalyptic ‘King Of The World,’ the closer on their Countdown to Ecstasy album, is played at a slower tempo than the original, with piano and bass replacing the vocal parts. Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer’s ‘Passacaglia, from the Daughters of Zeus, Urania,’ is a majestic fusion of jazz and classical, while a brisk version of The Police’s ‘Spirits In The Material World’ features some sublime vamping on piano. Led Zeppelin’s ‘What Is And What Should Never Be,’ ends the album on a reflective note, although the tune finishes with some funky piano playing and energetic drumming – I wish this section had been extended! This is a very impressive debut album.
Reviewed by George Cole
