DERBYSHIRE SUITE

STUDIO RECORDING  of  the ‘DERBYSHIRE SUITE’ now available on JETWORKS records. 

The suite has had fantastic reviews and the Buxton Festival Fringe performance on Wed July 18th, 8pm at Buxton Methodist Church,  coincides with the release of the studio recording, (released on May 21st 2012), which is now available from the JET Collective, and to download worldwide from i-tunes, amazon and other major sites.

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/derbyshire-suite/id529156019

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0085580VS/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_dp_9zt0pb1GA446N

 

 

REVIEW OF ‘DERBYSHIRE SUITE’ PERFORMANCE AT BUXTON FRINGE FESTIVAL, JULY 2012

We don’t get much jazz on the Fringe and to have an original suite, expertly played was a very welcome addition to the programme.

The Jet Collective came about almost by accident last year and the line-up isn’t conventional: two saxes, electric guitar, bass, drums and three keyboards (plus miscellaneous shakers, recorder and, delightfully, melodica). This combination must have presented challenges when it came to composition and the option of a trumpet, perhaps, might have been welcome at times.

The Suite comprises 13 pieces – all prompted in some way by the experience of being in Derbyshire. Some are relatively obvious in terms of inspiration. The opening ‘Storm over Derbyshire’ by pianist Paul Biggins – with a rolling and rumbling McCoy Tyner-like figure – was especially appropriate for this year. Other movements needed more explaining. The finale – ‘Shaw Croft’ – takes its name from the site of the Ashbourne Shrove Tuesday ‘football’ match and one saxophone represented the ‘Ups’ while the other took the part of the ‘Downs’.

The music drew on a wide range of forms for inspiration. So, for example, the Castleton carol ‘Down in yon forest’ provided a simple but charming starting point for one piece. Jigs and morris dance tunes also found their way into the suite. For me the highlights included the bluesy ‘Back Home’, which featured Sara Littlefield’s tenor sax and the bossa nova ‘Summer Peaks’ – written by Wendy Kirkland. (Incidentally it was a pleasure to hear a jazz outfit in which women took such a central role).

By calling themselves a Collective this group seems to eschew leaders and everyone had a chance to shine either instrumentally or as a composer. Pat Sprakes’ bass sounded strong and purposeful all night and Clive Loveday’s drumming was subtle and sensitive. Karen Clegg provided some lovely vocal touches – as well as recorder and melodica solos. Steve Salfied – on tenor and soprano – shared the saxophone duties as well as contributing the boldest composition ‘Mills & hills, mines & moors.’

Reg Clegg’s guitar was thoughtful throughout – and his work in producing the CD of the Suite is excellent. The last member of the Collective – but certainly not the least – is pianist Paul Biggins whose strong compositional sense was also evident in his improvisation.

The Collective had to wrestle with the acoustic of the Church at times – piano recitals have sounded very good here but the amplified jazz was a little muddy at times (not, I think, a musical metaphor).

If you missed the JET Collective in Buxton you can remedy that by hearing them on August 2nd at Club Chesterfield – http://www.chesterfieldjazz.com – or buy their music at http://www.jetcollective.org

Keith Savage

ORIGINS

In June 2011, the eight musicians from the JET Collective spent a weekend inventing a new suite of music inspired by Derbyshire Landscapes and then performed it on the Sunday evening – who knew what would happen?

The new music created was inspired by personal experiences, contrasts within the landscapes, local legends, chequered histories and folk traditions and was all composed and arranged by the collective members at Stanton Village Hall on Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th June 2011, and then performed Sun 26th June, Stanton Village Hall, Stanton in Peak, Derbyshire, DE4 2LX at 8pm, to a packed hall and received a standing ovation.

The Derbyshire Suite, inspired by Derbyshire landscapes, was first performed in June 2011 by The JET Jazz Collective in Stanton in Peak . The musicians now plan to develop the Suite and to add some new pieces.

The music, with titles like ‘Storm over Derbyshire’, ‘Derbyshire Jig’, ‘Mills and Hills Mines and Moors’, draws on various styles and it all has a strong jazz influence with improvisation an important component.

The eight musicians who recently formed JET Collective want to find new ways to create and perform their music and new venues and audiences to perform to. The musicians, all from the East Midlands, who had never played together previously, met  in July 2011 for a weekend. They created eight new pieces of music. Not knowing what they would produce, they jumped in at the deep end and arranged a public performance for the Sunday evening. Fortunately this was a great success and the collective got an ecstatic reception with standing ovations. One young music lover said this was possibly the best thing he had ever heard.

The musicians come from various musical backgrounds, all having jazz as a common love. Karen Clegg’s voice is dark and smoky, Steve Salfield and Sara Littlefield are both fine expressive sax players. On keyboards Wendy Kirkland and Paul Biggins both play brilliantly and bring different interpretations. Reg Clegg and Pat Sprakes both double on guitar and bass.  Reg brings a strong funk and blues influence while Pat is a jazz guitar virtuoso. Clive Loveday is a wonderful jazz drummer who has a rare ability to listen and interact with the harmony and melodies.

On 8th/9th October, the musicians reconvened to expand and develop the ‘Derbyshire Suite’, adding six extra pieces making the suite performance and album length.They then performed the full suite  on Sunday October 9th at 8pm at the Burton Institute, Winster, DE4 2DQ.

You can hear live recording of the full ‘Derbyshire Suite’ by the Jet Collective on the Audio page and on SoundCloud

Hear the live recording of the suite at :  http://soundcloud.com/zoo-music-1/sets/jet-collective-derbyshire#

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