Ended the week and started the weekend with Cantilena the second album recorded by the British jazz quartet, First House. It was released by ECM. The album presents a studio performance of leader and saxophonist Ken Stubbs with Django Bates on piano, Mick Hutton on bass and Martin France on drums, recorded in 1989 in Norway.

Tyran Grillo wrote for ECM Reviews:

"After a memorable ECM debut with Eréndira, the talented quartet of saxophonist Ken Stubbs, pianist Django Bates, bassist Mike Hutton, and drummer Martin France—a.k.a. First House—followed up with an even more effective chunk of progressive jazz in Cantilena. From the first soulful licks of the title opener, we know we are in for something special and from the heart. The composer’s alto draws us into the night with recumbent charm, thereby opening an ambitious set that delivers everything it promises and more.."

https://ecmreviews.com/2012/03/01/cantilena/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=St9zcpruElE&list=OLAK5uy_nfUh8Ae1ALAQwx7A2bwrhqIkL5VN1TIko

#firsthouse #ecm #ecmreviews #britjazz #djangobates #kenstubbs

Welcomed sleep yesterday then greeted Friday with an LP I first heard, having borrowed it from Cambridge Library during a brief sojourn there in my youth: Eréndira is the first album recorded by the British jazz quartet, First House. It was released by ECM. The album presents a studio performance of leader and saxophonist Ken Stubbs with Django Bates on piano, Mick Hutton on bass and Martin France on drums, recorded in July, 1985 in Norway.

Tyran Grillo wrote for ECM Reviews:

“A Day Away” starts as if awakening, those first rustlings of the morning flittering across France’s kit, Bates opening his eyes as butterfly’s wings to sunlight, while Hutton takes our first steps, breathing in the saxophone’s crisp air...a beautiful, seemingly forgotten album from a quartet of musicians who tended to involve themselves in more progressive acts. Here, they take it back home. Don’t pass this one by."

#ecm #djangobates #kenstubbs #martinfrance #britjazz #ecmreviews

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6ffKlpKcVY&list=OLAK5uy_nhLOzgP4zFQlqNCiRfDWWJ1vPmqslyilQ