Nurture The Child / Challenge The Adult features immersive and thought-provoking original contemporary jazz by a quartet of highly acclaimed musicians, led by guitarist Harry Christelis. Due out on 17th Feb 2023 on LP, CD and digital formats via new label, Clonmell Jazz Social.
Zero Hours’ is kindlier, reminiscent of the fjords of Jan Garbarek, in which the treated instruments twist and disport in a sort of solemn, free play, before the guitar takes up the lead. There’s a sense of great distance conveyed, an ocean trek undertaken, whose complex, unsteady progress is denoted by the irregular interplay of the rhythm section, like the shimmer of luminous sea creatures or coral reefs. Gradually, like blue whales en route to their mysterious destination, we watch them disappear into the distance.
‘In These Places We Live’, by contrast, takes us indoors, conjures the blissful ennui of familiarity, of long-term loved ones, the dialogue between guitar and trumpet like a couple who have known each other for years, snug as old shoes, sharing mutual thoughts and opinions, before in comes the bass, like a much-loved old neighbour.
On ‘Walking Blue’ a cloud of melancholia descends, a spot of emotional turbulence that the collective playing here at once depicts and fights off. The percussion is particularly strong, rumbling, precipitous. Busy as this is, there’s the implication in the echo and reverb of a great orbit of silence lying beyond it.
‘Lu’ marks a shift in tone with its waltzing percussion, playful guitar, and eloquent trumpet sighs. ‘Prism’ is free improv, with fast, chattery interplay. Zipping off at tangents like darting fish, and yet strangely tight, the quartet sure of what they’re doing, where they’re going.
‘Missing’ (an alternative version features on the CD edition) opens in suitably subdued and sombre mode, guitar notes falling like teardrops before the consoling accompaniment of trumpet, breathing hard, with the two of them then ascending to a song sung in unison, like some old ballad beloved by an absent friend.
Finally comes ‘Explorations Of One’s Self Inside A Caravan’ with racey percussion dispelling any lingering melancholia from the previous track. Electric waves of treated sound keep pace, as washes of reverb and cymbal add to the strange sense of exhilaration and adventure, with the guitar throwing out Talk Talk-style tentative clusters, before we enter a meteoric zone of Sun Ra-ish electronic space matter. And here in the album’s closing phrases, it is as if the players are conversing for one last time as they stare out to sea, a sea evoked in the electronic wash, a place you’d want to spend an hour: comfortably unfamiliar, intimately remote, beguilingly melancholic, and distressingly beautiful.
Ahead of the album release, on 17th February 2023, Harry Christelis has released the following singles via digital retail and streaming services: ‘Zero Hours’ on 16th December 2022, ‘In These Places We Live’ on 6th January 2023 and ‘Explorations Of One’s Self Inside A Caravan’ on 3rd February 2023.
*** Biographies ***
Harry Christelis
Born and raised in London, guitarist and composer Harry Christelis has become an established name on theUK improvised music scene. He is recognised as a musician with a unique and impressionistic sound, keenly focused on spatial and atmospheric exploration in his music. Christelis’ delicate and understated approach to composing and playing has clear nods to many of hismusical heroes like Jakob Bro, Bill Frisell, John Lennon, Talk Talk, Connan Mockasin, Miles Davis, and Paul Motian. He is, however, able to bring all his influences together into one big melting pot, where they form a sound that is uniquely his own that elevates any of the music he plays, whether it be from jazz, folk, rock, orelectronic musical traditions. Harry’s own projects are a seamless blend of these influences and showcase his ever growing repertoire of original compositions, as his musical vehicles explore a mixture of more instantly familiar ‘standards’ playing with free improvisation, and jazz and folk harmony.His first two albums, Moostak Trio (2020) and Scribbling (Ubuntu 2022) were met with critical acclaim internationally. The quartet Christelis has put together for this latest album is a blend of long-standing collaborators – in the form of Andrea Di Biase (Kenny Wheeler) on double bass and Dave Storey (James Allsopp) on drums – augmented by a fresh partnership with rising star Christos Stylianides (Jas Kayser) on trumpet. The musiciansrepresent a wide range of different approaches to improvised music, whether exploring more traditionalstyles of jazz, classical, free improvisation, or electronic music. With very little focus given to rehearsing withinthis band, each player is given real freedom to bring themselves into the music, and to be truly present with each other, with where the music is going, and where they want to take it in any given moment.
Andrea Di Biase
Andrea Di Biase has for a long time been established as one of Europe’s finest double bassists, working with the likes of Kenny Wheeler, Bruno Heinen, and many more. With a deep understanding of classical music as well as jazz, he has a technical command over his instrument that is rarely seen in other players, and he uses that ability to support, but also constantly push the boundaries of the music he is playing.
Dave Storey
One of the UK’s most in-demand drummers, Dave Storey is known for his unique approach to the jazz tradition. Working with names such as James Allsopp, Steve Buckley, and Tom Herbert, his feel on the instrument is reminiscent of the great Elvin Jones, but is also unmistakably his own, playing with a deep and powerful sound, and a wide sense of the beat that seems to stretch its arms and envelop the music he is playing.
photography by Steven Cropper
Christos Stylianides
Christos Stylianides is one of the brightest talents to emerge on the UK improvised music scene in recent times. Working with names like Maria Chiara Argiro and Jas Kayser, Christos is known as a trumpet player who blurs the lines between the frontline and the rhythm section, with an approach that weaves through the space in music to create expansive sonic textures as well as soaring melodies.
Artist: Harry Christelis
Title: Nurture The Child / Challenge The Adult
Label: Clonmell Jazz Social
Release date: Friday 17th February 2023
Format: CD / DL / LP
Cat No: CJS001CD / CJS001D / CJS001LP
Tracklist:
01 Horizon
02 Zero Hours
03 In These Places We Live
04 Walking Blue
05 Lu
06 Prism
07 Missing
08 Explorations Of One’s Self Inside A Caravan
09 Missing – Alternate Take (CD & DL only)
Credits:
Harry Christelis – guitar
Christos Stylianides – trumpet
Andrea Di Biase – double bass
Dave Storey – drums
All compositions by Harry Christelis
Recorded on 24th & 25th January 2022 at Lightship 95 Studios
Recorded by David Holmes
Mixed & mastered by Alex Bonney
Produced by Harry Christelis
Artwork by Harry Christelis
Design by Pedro Velasco & Harry Christelis© & ℗ Harry Christelis 2022
Clonmell Jazz Social
Clonmell Jazz Social (CJS) is a record label and events organisation, committed to showcasing the most exciting and innovative music on the UK’s vibrant jazz and improvised music scene. Through a mixture of live events, videos, and music releases, CJS is constantly featuring a wide range of contemporary artists that display not only incredible talent and artistry, but also push the boundaries of the genre through theirvarying approaches to music.