Jazz breaking news: Troyk-estra set to release explosive live album
Monday, October 7, 2013
Troyk-estra – the expanded big band version of Kit Downes, Chris Montague and Joshua Blackmore’s acclaimed prog-jazz band Troyka – are set to release a live album taken from their barnstorming performance at this year’s Cheltenham Jazz Festival in May (pictured above).
Troyk-estra – the expanded big band version of Kit Downes, Chris Montague and Joshua Blackmore’s acclaimed prog-jazz band Troyka – are set to release a live album taken from their barnstorming performance at this year’s Cheltenham Jazz Festival in May (pictured above). Set for release on Impossible Ark Records, the album will be launched at the Purcell Room on 23 November as part of this year’s EFG London Jazz Festival. The album's release date now set for Monday 2 December. The expanded big band version of the trio was first conceived as part of Jazzwise magazine’s 15th Birthday celebrations during a week of performances at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in March 2012: the idea was to combine the cutting-edge jazz group with a large ensemble featuring rising stars from the Royal Academy of Music – where all three members of Troyka also met and studied.
The expanded line up also includes a mix of leading young British jazzers such as saxophonist James Allsopp and trumpeter Noel Langley, the latter stepping in at the last minute to read the fiendishly complex charts with aplomb. The rest of the high-calibre band includes trumpeters Reuben Fowler, Alex Bonney and Imogen Hancock, trombonists Kieran Stickle McLeod, Patrick Hayes, Tom Green and Courtney Brown and saxophonists Mike Chillingworth, Nadim Teimoori and Sam Miles, bass clarinettist Sam Rapley, bassist Louis Van Der Westhuizen and vibist Ralph Hero Wyld – all tearing through the tricky scores with verve and energy under the dynamic direction of RAM Head Of Jazz, Nick Smart, who conducted the ensemble.
On early listens the recording captures the raw energy and excitement of Troyka’s music magnified in imaginative new ways as the horns add vibrant harmonic layers while the large ensemble’s many star soloists rise to the occasion with style. The core trio all show signs of maturing as players; Downes is imperious on Hammond organ, Montague solos with serious fire while Blackmore crackles on the kit, handling the myriad time signatures and complex grooves with ease. With plans to collaborate with other leading European big bands the group plan further gigs as the project gains momentum. Watch Jazzwise for more news on the project in the coming months.
– Mike Flynn
– Photo: Tim Dickeson
For more info on the album launch go to www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whatson