Billy Marrows Grande Familia Sextet: Mount Tibidabo

Rating: ★★★★

Record and Artist Details

Musicians:

Billy Marrows (g)
Olli Martin (t tb, b tb)
Tom Potter (d)
Flo Moore
Mike Soper (t)
Tom Ridout (s)

Label:

www.billymarrows.com

February/2025

Media Format:

DL

RecordDate:

Rec. date not stated

Marrows plays with such lyrical melodicism and an easeful swing, you can’t help but be seduced into his charmed world. Even on a classic apple-pie slice of Americana, like ‘Shenandoah’, so owned by the likes of Bill Frisell, Marrows manages to evoke weeping willows and blossom rich boughs.

You so want to be on his kind of river. The lovely ecclesiastic horns feed into the illusion. And the vibe continues throughout this all too short EP. The title track evokes a cycle ride in rural Spain, all sun and fun, while the even gentler waltz of ‘The Heron’ features a flowing Flo Moore break.

As a sextet there’s even more intimacy than on the Penelope album which centred around a big band of 12. Soper’s trumpet is exemplary, while the presence of trombone, notably bass trombone rounds out the sound with a nuanced richness. The band are of a fresh faced yet already accomplished generation, with associations to everybody from Sam Newbould to Rosie Frater-Taylor. As with Penelope the music, quietly joyful yet underwritten with loss, holds in mind Marrow’s mother, her paintings adorning the release, and 25 per cent of the proceeds will go to World Child Cancer. So, flash the cash: what’s not to like?

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