for Tom Harrell, Stan Sulzmann and Jim Hart (all personal heroes) and have them record on the album. Guy Barker was also a great conductor on the sessions, and a mentor.
Will you be touring the album as well?
How did you find the whole process?
Sound Cellar, Poole (1st August); Grove Inn, Leeds (11th); Spice of Life, London (14th)
It was a huge learning curve. I guess I was quite lucky as Jazz Services and their Recording Support Scheme, and the Musicians Benevolent Fund’s Peter Whittingham Award all showed belief in the project and that really freed me up to make the album how I wanted to. The logistical side of things is always the hardest part but when I got that over and done with and we got into the studio it was a lot of fun. What do you hope to achieve with this release? with the Doncaster Youth Jazz Association and NYJO. Through my studies with Nikki Iles, I scored this music up for big band and played it at my final recital at the academy. I was very lucky to be awarded the Kenny Wheeler Jazz Prize and the wheels were set in motion to make an album later that year to be released on Edition Records. A lesson with the legendary Michael Abene in Austria prompted a rewrite of all the material which is eventually what has ended up on the record. The band consists of some of the finest jazz and session musicians in the UK including Mike Lovatt, Gordon Campbell, Percy Pursglove and Sam Mayne. Schemes like the Jazz Services Recording Support Scheme and the Peter Whittingham Award really helped make this project possible, and with the funding in place it was great to have the creative freedom to write music
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We‘ve been on the road already, and have more dates in August and September:
Cori Tap, Bristol (29th); Jazz Nursery, London (5th September) Where can people get hold of a copy and find out more? You can listen to samples of Between Shadows at Edition Records’ Souncloud page and order it on their website. You can also find me at www. reubenfowler.com and follow me on Soundcloud, Twitter and Facebook.
I hope that with this release I can facilitate the production of other albums. It would be great to record my other projects at some point in the future, although this one has been such an undertaking I guess it could be a while!! I also hope that other musicians who have a creative vision might look at this project and feel empowered to go out there and do it. I remember applying for funding and telling friends about my idea to make a big band album at Angel with Tom Harrell, Stan Sulzmann and Jim Hart and there was a lot of speculation as to whether this was realistic, whether it was too ambitious for a first project or whether it would ever happen at all! In the end all I really had was a set of music I really believed in, and I guess I just made sure it happened because it was really important to me.
To find out more about the scheme, visit the Jazz Services website www. jazzservices.org.uk