Saturday Night & Sunday Morning is a joy. Full Review >
The Audio Beat Music ●●●●● Sound ●●●●●
Nottingham’s Coup Perdu went to great lengths with the artwork on this double vinyl release but the music itself is yet more spectacular. This is a contemporary take on Silitoe’s book and film of the sixties, complete with snippets of dialogue from the movie. Aram is a British trombonist living in Switzerland and he gathered a very hot combo to play this suite: Colin Vallon on piano, Andy Scherrer on tenor sax and the late Kenny Wheeler on trumpet and flugelhorn alongside a very capable rhythm section. It's a remarkable piece of work, a mix of contemporary and bebop styles with distinctly European vibe that shows Aram to be a composer of the first order.
Jason Kennedy THE EAR Best Albums of 2014
It's hard to imagine how this record could be improved. Sonically it is outstanding, musically it is so tightly held and counterpointed with drama and tension, as a project it is exhilarating in its intensity. It is presented as 1 of 1000 copies where the pride of ownership rewards far beyond the price of admission. Mr Armstrong of Coup Perdu, thank you.
Audionote.co.au
This beautifully presented double album from Nottingham’s hippest jazz label was recorded in Switzerland by composer and trombonist John Aram with Colin Vallon (piano), Andy Scherrer (tenor), Dave Whitford (bass) and Norbert Pfammatter (drums) with the late Kenny Wheeler on flugelhorn sitting in on more than half the pieces. It’s based on Alan Sillitoe’s book and screenplay of the same name and uses occasional clips from the movie to reinforce the link. It’s an extremely impressive and mature work that reflects the moods and themes of the text while working on the higher level that only the language of music can reach. Scherer is brilliant, as is Vallon; in fact this is an extremely strong ensemble with the added benefit of Wheeler, who played on the film’s soundtrack. He contributes two tracks to the fourth side where the mood is very different, with the main Suite taking up sides one through three. The style has a clear bop influence but the British composer gives it some inspired twists that mark Aram out as the best musician you’ve never heard of.
Hifi+ recording 9/10 music 10/10
Something of a love letter to a city (Nottingham), one of its great novelists (Alan Sillitoe) and a memorable film which shares its title, this musical suite by trombonist Aram features his band of Andy Scherrer (tenor), ColinVallon (piano), Dave Whitford (bass) and Norbert Pfammatter (drums) with Kenny Wheeler as guest on flugelhorn and with little snippets from the film dialogue here and there. It keeps strongly to the 1960s feel and is recorded with great sensitivity to the sonic richness of the instruments. Originally released on limited edition vinyl in stylish cover, it is now available as a CD or download – the vinyl would be the bee’s knees, though.
The jazz breakfast
In Geneva where he has been resident the past two decades, John Aram is a well-regarded jazz trombonist and composer (his CV includes numerous TV and film music projects as well) but he’s a relatively unknown quantity in the UK from where he originally hails. Nottingham to be precise is his hometown and that’s the backdrop for novelist Alan Sillitoe’s original screenplay for Karel Reisz’ social realist Brit film Saturday Night and Sunday Morning which is the source for Aram’s superbly realised jazz suite. Using fragments of dialogue from the film that was released in 1960, the suite forms an imaginary soundtrack to the narrative, the tracks split up into scenes or moods based on the film. Although he atmospherically reflects the period in terms of jazz, he updates it with a still lyrical yet more contemporary sounding jazz arrangement. The warm authenticity and elegant execution of the project no doubt owes something not only to the classy line-up, but to Aram’s roots and his empathy with Nottingham’s Working Class culture of the period, as well as receiving novelist Sillitoe’s endorsement and permission to use dialogue samples, even though the writer sadly passed away just before this project was completed. John Dankworth wrote the original soundtrack to the film, and besides the warm echoes here of that score in terms of period and melodic interest, there’s a more direct link via the guest appearance of the late lamented Kenny Wheeler on half the 11 tracks, as he appeared in Dankworth’s orchestra. There’s sensuous soloing too from the likes of saxophonist Andy Scherrer and the Swiss native ECM recording pianist Colin Vallon. If you’re a vinyl addict, get your order in early for a limited edition 180g edition released by aesthetically tasteful new boutique label Coup Perdu, because, as Sillitoe’s iconoclastic protagonist Arthur Seaton remarked, “…all the rest is propaganda”.
Selwyn Harris JAZZWISE ●●●●●
released September 19, 2011
