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Laura Jurd & Paul Dunmall — Fanfares & Freedom
(Discus Music 181, 2024, CD / DL)

by Jon Davis, Published 2024-09-02

In a world filled with bands built around guitars or keyboards, it’s refreshing to come across a novel combination of instruments. On Fanfares & Freedom, noted saxophonist Paul Dunmall brings his quartet together with Laura Jurd’s brass quintet for an outing of adventurous music. The brass quintet is a common type of ensemble which is known in the Classical repertoire for playing fanfares, those flourishes that are used to introduce something grand; and the combination of saxophone, piano, bass, and drums is an absolutely standard jazz configuration. But I can’t think of another case where the two have been put together. This music was the result of a commission that Laura Jurd received to compose a piece for a scored ensemble plus an improvising quartet, though in the end the improvisation isn’t limited to Dunmall’s side. The music is conceived as a sort of dialog between the quartet and the brass, but in this energetic and free-flowing set all boundaries are flexible. Dunmall plays tenor and sopranino saxophones, and he’s backed by Liam Noble (piano), Caius Williams (double bass), and Miles Levin (drums). Jurd’s brass quintet includes the composer on trumpet, Chris Batchelor (trumpet), Alex Paxton (trombone), Raphael Clarkson (trombone), and Oren Marshall (tuba). Given this array of instruments, Jurd takes full advantage of the possibilities, at times evoking Classical brass music, New Orleans jazz, modern big-band, and more. It’s not always clear exactly what was composed and what was improvised, but the bottom line is that it’s all enjoyable. Fanfares & Freedom is an excellent jazz album, both challenging and entertaining, and ample proof that Jurd and Dunmall are deserving of their status as two of the leading figures in British jazz.

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Filed under: New releases, 2024 releases

Related artist(s): Paul Dunmall, Laura Jurd

More info
http://discusmusic.bandcamp.com/album/fanfares-and-freedom-181cd-2024

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