The album features Nigel Price (electric and acoustic guitars), Henry Lowther (trumpet and flugelhorn), Neil Angilley (acoustic and Fender Rhodes pianos), Misha Mullov-Abbado (double bass) and Davide Giovannini (drums). Peter Jones has been building a reputation as a jazz singer ever since the release of One Way Ticket To Palookaville in 2013. ‘Great arrangements… a killer band. This debut album has lots to recommend it,’ reported Jazzwise magazine. Peter’s mature baritone voice may remind you of Kurt Elling or Mark Murphy, with a dash of Georgie Fame and José James. He has performed all over London and the southeast, including headline gigs at prestigious venues like The Pheasantry, Toulouse Lautrec, The Bull’s Head, Twickenham Jazz Club, Mill Hill Jazz Club, Leamington Jazz Club, The Langham Hotel, The Spice of Life, Soho, Oliver’s, Greenwich, and Rincón, Richmond. A talented lyricist, Peter has provided words to three tunes on this album that were previously instrumental-only. Save Your Love For Me was originally written and recorded by Buddy Johnson in 1955. Here it gets a bright, danceable George Benson-type treatment (the album also includes the radio edit as a bonus track). Stanley Turrentine’s Sugar appeared on his first album for CTI. A sleazy, film noir feel was our aim with this track, while preserving the swing and snap of the original. Maxine, a gentle, romantic 6/8 ballad by Donald Fagen, is here given a harder-edged, more swinging 4/4 feel, kicked off by Davide Giovannini’s propulsive drums. So many jazz songs about Spring are melancholy, and Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most, a Tommy Wolf ballad with lyrics by Fran Landesman, is no exception. Here, Nigel Price solos with great sensitivity on acoustic guitar. Ben E King had a hit in 1960 with Spanish Harlem, a Jerry Leiber/Phil Spector song. This reharmonised version is given a latin feel, with a distinctive piano ostinato from Neil Angilley, and more beautiful acoustic work from Nigel. Peter first heard the Jimmy Van Heusen/Johnny Burke number It Could Happen To You played by buskers on the Copenhagen waterfront. He’s been performing it regularly ever since. Why isn’t the dark, beautiful Love Theme From Chinatown, the Jack Nicholson/ Faye Dunaway film noir, part of the standard repertoire? Since the only way to perform it vocally was to write some lyrics, that’s just what Peter did. Wes Montgomery’s live take on John Coltrane’s Impressions is one of the most thrilling recordings in jazz. Peter’s lyric continues the film noir theme of the album with a story of pursuit and revenge. Nigel’s scorching first solo is followed by contributions from Neil on Rhodes, Henry Lowther on muted trumpet, and Misha Mullov-Abbado on bass. Sky Dive is the Freddie Hubbard latin classic from his CTI period, and has long been a favourite of Peter’s. His lyric was inspired by Andrew Marvell’s poem To His Coy Mistress. First recorded by The Kingston Trio, the dramatic Ervin Drake ballad It Was A Very Good Year was made famous by Frank Sinatra. Here, the idea was to hint at the lush, orchestral sound of Sinatra’s recording. Singers from Chet Baker to Cecile McLorin Salvant have recorded the haunting, intimate 1937 Harry Revel/Mack Gordon ballad There’s A Lull In My Life. Henry breaks your heart with his muted trumpet solo, accompanied by Neil and Misha. Henry Lowther is a living legend. He has played with just about everyone of note in British jazz including Mike Westbrook, John Dankworth, Mike Gibbs, Humphrey Lyttelton, Kenny Wheeler and Stan Tracey. In rock his credits include Jack Bruce, Bryan Ferry, Elton John, Van Morrison and The Pretenders. Many believe Nigel Price to be the finest guitarist in the UK. His organ trio won the 2010 Parliamentary
Jazz Award for Best Jazz Ensemble. He spent three years with UK funk legends The James Taylor Quartet, and is
also a regular performer at Ronnie Scott’s, where he has played over 400
times. Neil Angilley has recorded and performed all over the world with such artists as Down To The Bone, Snowboy and the Latin Section, Shirley Bassey, Ben ‘E’ King, Sister Sledge, The Pasadenas, Gypsy Kings, US3, Roy Hargrove and Lisa Stansfield. He also runs his own Trio. In 2014, Misha Mullov-Abbado won both the Kenny Wheeler Jazz Prize and the Dankworth Prize for jazz composition. Misha is an in-demand bass player, composer and arranger with his own debut album released in 2015. Davide Giovannini has worked with Steve Winwood, Bjork, Paul McCartney, Lisa Stansfield, Jocelyn Brown and the Pet Shop Boys, as well as Brazilian greats Toninho Horta, Marcos Valle and Bebel Gilberto, plus Snowboy, and jazz legends Roy Hargrove, Marlena Shaw and Roy Ayers. He is the drummer with the Neil Angilley Trio and also runs his own Minas Project, inspired by music from the Minas Gerais region of Brazil.