Distinguished orchestral players, the LSO Percussion Ensemble returns with a vibrant, jazz-infused album of music by Gwilym Simcock, Steve Reich, Chick Corea, Makoto Ozone & Joe Locke.
Quartet Quintet centres around the world premiere of Quintet, a five-movement suite by the British pianist and composer Gwilym Simcock that pulls inspiration from seminal jazz fusion acts Steps Ahead, Yellowjackets and Weather Report, and Steve Reich’s 2013 Quartet for two vibes and two pianos.
The album also includes new arrangements of classic pieces by jazz legends Chick Corea, Makoto Ozone and Joe Locke.
Producer: Simon Rhodes
Engineering: Classic Sound Ltd
Recorded live in the Jerwood Hall of LSO St Luke’s, London February 2019
Release date: 6 March 2020
LSO5090 | 822231509028
CD | Jewel Case
Reviews
The more one listens to the album, the more stylistic common threads appear. Makoto Ozone’s “Kato’s Revenge” has echoes of Corea tunes like “Armando’s Rumba,” for example. For a live concert, the absence of extraneous noise is extraordinary, and the hushed concentration of the second movement of the Reich and sections of Simcock’s piece are highly affecting. And then there is the velocity and excitement which this group of virtuosi can bring to the music. There are moments when things go superhumanly fast, such as the end of the Ozone. That is a moment when the mallets are – metaphorically rather than literally – flying.