Colin Steele Quartet – Joni – Jazz Interpretations of the Joni Mitchell Songbook (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 47:53 minutes | 920 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Marina Records
The acclaimed trumpeter has been inspired by the quirky, romantic, disillusioned and joyful tunes written by one of the greatest songwriters of the past 50 years, Joni Mitchell. Steele’s approach is to savour the simplicity; not stray too far from the melody; look for beauty; and create tunes that glow and sparkle with warmth and affection.
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Colin Steele Quartet – Diving for Pearls: Jazz Interpretations of the Pearlfishers Songbook (2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 47:35 minutes | 962 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Marina Records
This project – a tribute to an obscure Glaswegian indie band by an equally obscure Edinburgh jazz musician – is an oddly satisfying exercise in wilful Caledonian obscurity. The Pearlfishers, led by David Scott of the BMX Bandits, have been recording dreamy, elegant, adult-oriented pop since the early 90s, pitched somewhere between Brian Wilson, Steely Dan and Prefab Sprout. Colin Steele, the self-taught trumpeter behind his own Scottish-accented modern jazz quintet and jazz-folk outfit Stramash, here dismantles 10 of Scott’s cleverly written songs and reassembles them as glistening modern jazz, his Harmon-muted trumpet turning the melodies into a pleasantly chromatic blur. It would be fascinating to hear Steele apply this approach to the music of other indie bands, Scottish or otherwise.
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