Jazz breaking news: Jay Phelps Strides Ahead With Debut Album

Phelps first made his name initially as a member of Empirical, the band that made a huge impact with debut album Empirical which went on to win Jazzwise album of the year three years ago and pick up further awards nationally and internationally.

Despite the acclaim and the high profile festival and club appearances on both sides of the Atlantic, Phelps decided to leave, to work on other projects, and Jay Walkin’ is the first full indication of his new direction. While only two tracks are available at this stage the title track has a mellow honeyed feel to it with sophisticated modal lightly arpeggiated horn arrangements with a slight Cool School and straightahead feel. Phelps, now 28, first got into jazz by listening to Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue. He moved to London from Canada in his teens and became part of the jazz scene in the capital.

Jay Walkin’ to be released on Proper’s Specific label also features Shabaka Hutchings of Zed-U on saxophone; 
Jonathan Gee (of the Monk Liberation Front) piano;
 Karl Rasheed-Abel (Soweto Kinch Band) bass; 
Gene Calderazzo (Partisans) drums; and 
Michael Mwenso (ex-James Brown band), vocals.

The album will be previewed with a special gig at the Pizza Express Jazz Club in Soho on 21 October followed by the album’s launch in November. Tracks are the opener, title track original ‘Jay Walkin’, which has a Dizzy-ish feel followed by episodic flourishes combining trumpet and saxophone, making way for subtle mid-to-uptempo Phelps trumpet lines. The next cut is Jackie McLean’s ‘Out Of The Blue’; then Phelps composition ‘Six Degrees Of Separation’; Basie / Livingston / David’s ‘Blue And Sentimental’, arranged by Phelps; his own tune ‘10 Years’; Tchaikovsky’s ‘Semplice’ arr. Phelps, and then another new tune the seventh track ‘I Love My Mama’ is counted in before Michael Mwenso joins to deliver a good natured mellow vocal complete with plenty of laid back charm. Phelps then rises to a high register solo that is just right. The final tracks are a pair of further originals, ‘A Dose Of Aladine and ‘Hola For Ola’.

– Stephen Graham