Time for some jazz, and we do like a bit of jazz here at the magazine. I think, for me, it is because I’d love to time-travel back to the jazz age, have an illicit whiskey during prohibition with jazz age president Warren Harding and dance the night away in a smokey jazz bar.
This is a live recording and gives a sense of the moment at the “New Colonial Hotel,” Colombo, Sri Lanka. I also note that this review is a world music piece by us and came curtesy of one of our friends here at the magazine, the ever talented Doctor Lincoln.
The Ceylon Jazz Ensemble is:
Quincy Saul – Clarinet
Aravind Kirshnan – Guitars
Muni Kulasinghe – Violin
Revel – Guitars (On Track 5 & 6)
The album was created with
Lincoln Samuel – Sound Design
Samath Gammampila
It was released on July 15th and is essentially a fusion jazz piece.
Here is my review:
“Intro” Welcome to the New Colonial Hotel, 100 years old, as we are told in the spoken introduction. It transports me quickly to the world of Henry Mancini, the clarinet uplifts here and provides a soundtrack feel for the album to come. A nod here to Quincy Saul on the clarinet, nice work!
“Anuradha” picks up the mood and delivers smooth fusion jazz with that touch of live, ‘in the moment’ feeling. With jazz, it is always about the feeling and the moment and these guys tap into the late evening syncopation of smooth music and chilled drinks.
“Soundcheck” is a bit of improvisation that had me moving my hands, enjoying the feeling of the melody. The bird flies on the notes.
“New Colonial” definitely feels like a live track; you can sense the audience in the hotel. The song works with a simple melody and then the clarinet has freedom over the rhythm. Again, it has this feeling of a film soundtrack and you sense the listeners moving with the beat and being transported to times past, and to memories still being made.
“Muni Talking” is a link piece where we are told ‘everyone knows Autumn leaves…’
“Summertime” has the best violin work on the album, some interesting jazz style violin actually in a track that I felt had a 30’s feel to it.
“Outro- Into the Kosi” completes this album.
Overall, a chilled out instrumental album that is certainly worth checking out and supporting. If you like some improvised fusion jazz with a small ensemble, then this is one that will take you to the small clubs of old and relax the senses at the end of the day. In 2024, jazz will have a wide umbrella and this is a welcome contribution as it brings some innovative musicianship to the genre. These guys are just starting off a music career and this provides a pointer toward things to come.
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You can stream the album from here
By Lorraine Foley