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Derek has written some words to
accompany the CD sleeve notes :
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"Snapshot" ... well that's exactly what it was; a
snapshot in time on afternoon - 27th February 2007
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The session was
totally unplanned. I was recording Trudy Kerr's CD "Deja Vu" as
engineer at Clowns Pocket Studio but she and the Band were so well rehearsed
that they were finished by lunchtime on the second day. Given that Jan was over
from Sweden and his flight back wasn't until the next morning, I took advantage
of an empty studio, an all-star band that was warmed up with miscophones all in
place, and pulled out charts that I had been playing on my "guest with the
house band" circuit, and off we went.
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It was really
like an old Blue Note Session - we topped and tailed, and nothing was ore than
two takes. The line up had never played together before, and they didn't
rehearse any of the charts, yet amazing Jazz appeared from a band that was
already running like a well-oiled machine. Three hours later we had an Album.
It was like a hughely enjoyable gig with a world class rhythm section.
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The tunes were
diverse - a bit of Grover and Methany given some acoustic treatment; some
obscure Ellington {'My Love' is from the Sacred Concerts}; some straight ahead
Swing {Li'l Darlin' - to hefty with love} done in the style of cute; a couple
of nice ballads and some Mulligan with counterpoint, courtesy of a Dave Grusin
arrangement I have loved for years, and one I used to play with Spike Robinson
yet never got around to recording {to Spike, again with love}.
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And that was
that. I've never done a 'standards' album before, yet it was surprisingly easy,
probably due to the amazing rhythm section and my 30 years of house band guest
spots!
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So .... enjoy
the best gig I've done in years" - Derek Nash {June 2009}.
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Below is another excellent
review from the London Jazz Website :
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"If what
you like is a very high quality straight-ahead Blue Note style blowing session,
look no further. Derek Nash has assembled an appealing mix of contrasting
tunes, he has a powerfully swinging rhythm section to work with, and the
recording quality is very good throughout
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The liner notes
tell the story: there was some spare time left after a session in Nash's
studio; the trio of Jan Lundgren on piano, Geoff Gascoyne on bass and Steve
Brown on drums were "nicely warmed up"; out came Nash's lead-sheets
and down to business. It's what it says on the cover: a friendly, highly
musical and enjoyable album recorded as-live, a snapshot of where Nash had got
to as a musician, well captured on one afternoon in February 2007.
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Nash plays all
four saxes on the album. His tenor playing on four of the nine numbers numbers
on the CD is sweet-toned and fluent. I sense influences on the sound and
vocabulary from players like Bobby Wellins and Spike Robinson. The playing is
mostly stylish, measured, but I did enjoy his farmyard oinks at [2:03] on Neal
Hefti's Li'l Darling. The two tracks on soprano are masterpieces of beauty and
line, and awesome control. On baritone Nash has attractive, immensely civilized
low voice-high voice conversation with pianist Lundgren. In Polka Dots &
Moonbeams I found myself saying: I can't believe it's not Mulligan. But it's
the one track on alto, Rodgers and Hart's Falling With Love in 4/4, which has
given me the most pleasure. Nash seems to take more risks, and I find I like
that real grittiness of character, grunt and scratchiness in the voice.
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It's an
enjoyable album, and Derek Nash is a phenomenon in British jazz. The rest of us
in the human race just have to consider ourselves slackers. He is credited as
having... co-executive-produced the album with Trudy Kerr, but that's just the
start. He also mixed, engineered, and mastered it himself. Not just the
playing, but the mixing... and all the rest....are jobs VERY well done.
Enjoy".
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Sebastian
Scotney - Londonjazz website : On Tuesday, July 07, 2009
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