Trevor Watts & Jamie Harris Live in Sao Paulo Brasil now available on Bandcamp

Down load here: https://trevorwatts.bandcamp.com/album/live-in-sao-paulo-brasil

Johnny Butler HyperViolet on Spotify

The critically acclaimed HyperViolet by former Beyoncé arranger Johnny Butler is on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/album/0oQ1yzRwVuWgHKUUxP6WJV

Stuart Masters live! Union Chapel & Elsewhere

Coming soon - look out for pre-order info at hi4headrecords.com Union Chapel & Elsewhere, live performances

 by the brilliant fingerstyle acoustic guitarist Stuart Masters

Dialogues at Cafe Oto - download the soundtrack

The soundtrack from Mark French's excellent film Dialogues at Café Oto can be downloaded from BandCamp https://trevorwatts.bandcamp.com/album/dialogues-at-cafe-oto

Review of Closer to You by Amalgam in New York City Jazz Record Feb 2018

This is the text of Marc Medwin's excellent review:

Trevor Watts, who turns 79 this month, has been pushing at the geographical and formal boundaries of improvised music for more than half a century. To label him a formative force in the British improvised music scene would be to underestimate his importance. His reed playing has continued to be as multivalently energetic today as it was when he co-founded the Spontaneous Music Ensemble (SME) in the mid '60s. Putting together an absolutely astounding rhythm section is one of the things Watts does best. By 1978, when Closer to You was recorded, bassist Colin McKenzie and drummer Liam Genockey had gelled into a rock-solid hard-driving but hair-width subtle support system, all characteristics readily apparent on this expanded version of the album. 'Keep Right' wears its odd metrics lightly, bass and drums forming ever-tightening rings of intricacy around the jagged saxophone lines. Contrast that relatively brief bit of off-kilter dance with the weighty opening of the album's sustained high point, 'Dear Roland' where McKenzie orchestrates with a dazzling display of harmonics and Genockey punctuates with pithy pointillisms. Both spend much of the track's opening minutes coloring the swathes of silence separating the leader's multiple saxophone work, rendering the dedicatory title especially relevant by obvious but non-cliché references to Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Watts' exhortations guide while never dictating, as in the high energy opener 'De Dublin Ting', where he launches into alto triplets as the rhythm section slams and grooves with alacrity. 'South of Nowhere's second half bristles with New Thing vigour largely thanks to Watts' high register runs. Energy music is evident on the best of the bonus tracks, the aptly titled 'Albert Like' bringing Archie Shepp phrasing into a mix peppered liberally with McKenzie's funky breaks. The album channels that nebulous beast then known as 'fusion' without calling too much attention to any one genre or style.

Amalgam - Closer to You available for download

Closer to You by Trevor Watts' Amalgam is available for download here: https://trevorwatts.bandcamp.com/

Great review of Closer to You at Point of Departure

Trevor Watts Amalgam
Closer to You
Hi4Head Records HFHCD019

Recorded in May, 1978, this reissue of Closer to You features saxophonist Trevor Watts, electric bassist Colin McKenzie, and drummer Liam Genockey in a set marked by a dynamic mix of free-wheeling raucous energy and a more somber, almost mournful atmosphere. Watts’ Amalgam gets out of the gate like a rocket ship on the opener, “De Dublin Thing.” His careening, wild alto saxophone is a vehicle of nearly unbridled spirit, and while his overblowing may not be for everybody, it does add to the urgency and immediacy of his playing. Genockey gets all over his kit, and McKenzie propels the trio while setting up his drummer for a number of hits and fills. “South of Nowhere” begins in a quieter mode that’s free of time, with Watts’ lamentations giving way to a groove. After a decrescendo that ends in near silence, McKenzie jumpstarts a whimsical march that sets the foundation for Watts’ playful Braxtonish excursions.

The album’s centerpiece is the nearly twenty-minute “Dear Roland” – ostensibly for Roland Kirk, given his death a year earlier and Watts’ simultaneous playing of alto and soprano. As on “South of Nowhere” the trio begins in a soft, sparse, and darker mood which is occasionally interrupted and augmented by alto/soprano screeches, gongs, and tom rumbles. Watts plays a three note motive that McKenzie immediately echoes and transforms into the basis for a groove, which the trio explores for several minutes before fading and returning to the opening framework. The piece’s narrative arc and varied sonic textures make for an engaging conclusion to the original album.
This reissue also includes five previously unreleased bonus tracks. As before, Watts, McKenzie, and Genockey absolutely get after it. “Albert Like” has a weird, almost funky r&b feel over which Watts blows a series of catchy earworm hooks – that is until the cut abruptly ends, as if the tape ran out. The freely improvised “Bottle Alley” – which doesn’t quite have as much purpose as the other selections – has an audible tape hiss. And while the rocking, uptempo burner “Mad” scintillates, the intensity of the album’s original four tracks make what comes after almost too much. Bonus tracks or no, this new version of Closer to You – even in its quieter moments – hits fast and hits hard.
—Chris Robinson