Reviews
“…an album of vivid moments.”
(John Fordham)
Read the full review by John Fordham below:
British saxophonist, clarinetist and flautist Tony Woods is a jazz player with upfront folk-music enthusiasms. This is the lastest offering from a long-running project that has consistently occupied its own niche, somewhere between John Surman’s work, Gilad Atzmon’s Orient House, and the crossovers of the contemporary Scottish scene.
Woods’ yearning and songlike alto clarinet sound establishes an arresting introduction to the set with Driftwood, which also unleashes the album’s first surprise when an increasingly funky folk-dance shifts up a gear with electronic echo-effects, and then starts hinting at Pat Metheny’s rhapsodic song James. A soprano-sax jig veers into an improvisation like stripped-down Evan Parker, The North Wind Doth Blow has some exquisite moments in which Woods’ sax laments over delicate marimba lines, and Transformation hs its folk-prance undermined by some firece clarinet multiphonics. It’s an album of vivid moments.
Friday 23rd Oct 2009, John Fordham, The Guardian
“a beautifully played and densely atmospheric disc” (Robert Shore, Jazzwise Magazine February 2010.)
Read the full review below:
There’s a track on Tony Woods’ long-gestated new album that bears the (ironic) alternative title of “Giving jazz a bad name”. Apparently this is what someone called out when the tune, more properly known as “French Sweet”, was debuted at the Greenwich Jazz Festival. It’s hard to know what the audience member took exception to exactly. The length (13-plus minutes)? The folksy influence? If it was the latter, there are far worse offenders on this exotically inflected disc of English pastoralism-the children’s song “The North Wind Doth Blow” , for instance, which begins with Woods on Chinese hulusi (a three-piped flute) before Rob Millett’s marimba lines come to the fore and the leader switches to sax. It might have been nice to hear a little more from guitarist Mike Outram, who brings a welcome blast of electric effervesence to the title track. But whatever your feelings about folk-jazz it’s impossible to dislike such a beautifully played and densely atmospheric disc.
“a wonderful recording by one of the most interesting and thoughtful groups on the British jazz scene…beautiful.”
(Kyle Horch)
Read the full review by Kyle Horch below:
This is the third recording by the Tony Woods Project, which has been touring on the British jazz scene since 1997. I have been a fan of the group since hearing their previous CD, Lowlands. That recording impressed me with the group’s blend of modern jazz and folk music, its unique line-up of instruments, and Tony Woods’ excellent playing on a range of woodwind instruments. So, I snapped up the opportunity to hear this new recording when offered the chance to review it, and have not been disappointed. This new recording picks up where the last recording left off, with a new set of tunes penned by Tony Woods, several of which explore maritime imagery of sailing; the tinge of folk music which permeates the set gives the music a subtle sense of place. The first track, Driftwood, begins with an unhurried melody on the alto clarinet, yes, the alto clarinet, Tony Woods’ playing of which is an absolute revelation: a gorgeous warm tone and lovely intonation. The second track, Air, begins with an Eric Dolphy-ish free cadneza which leads to an up-tempo tune played with a crisp, compact soprano tone; Rob Millett contributes an intelligent vibraphone solo here as well. The Chinese hulusi, a shawm-like instrument with a drone element, is selected to open the third track, an arrangement of the children’s song The North Wind Doth Blow, giving it a mournful quality. For the fourth track, Bitter Sweet, Tony Woods picks up a wood flute in a lovely ballad introduction, before a faster, changing metre head leads to a groove, over which bassist Andy Hamill plays a harmonica solo. And so it goes, through the rest of the recording, always a shifting sound world as the lead instrument changes from one tune to the next until the final track, Acceptance, a lovely alto feature which also includes a deft solo from guitarist Mike Outram. The group is absolutely seamless in the way each member can shift role from accompanist to soloist, and back again with the finesse of a classical ensemble. There is a gentleness to the group’s sound, and Tony Woods’ compositions provide a wonderful variety of colour. Rob Millett provides consistently inventive voicings and is the glue of the group; when not soloing, he, Mike Outram, Andy Hamill and Milo Fell provide tasteful rhythm backing. Tony Woods’ woodwind playing is an inspiration throughout, and his brief comments in the booklet set the scene for each track while leaving space for the listener’s imagination. This is a wonderful recording by one of the most interesting and thoughtful groups on the British jazz scene. On offer here are magical atmospheres, vivid instrumental playing, a wonderful sense of ensemble improvisation, and a poignant sense of theme running through the tracks; light , shadow, wind, and sea. Beautiful-highly recommended.
Autumn 2009 Kyle Horch, Clarinet & Saxophone
“the album proves that jazz and
folk,
intelligently combined, can produce powerful and affecting music.”
Read the full review by Chris Parker below:
Described by reedsman/flautist Tony Woods as ‘music of light and
dark,
sweet and bitter, the wind and the shadow’, and containing in its notes
references to Eric Dolphy, religious poet George Herbert and traditional
children’s songs, this album comes from what might be termed the
lyrical/spiritual/pastoral section of the jazz spectrum. Woods himself
plays saxophones, clarinet, wood flute and hulusi, Rob Millett vibes,
marimba and gongs, and it is chiefly their interplay and the resultant
textural variety that defines the music of the ‘Project’. Also present,
however, is electric guitarist Mike Outram, and his spiky but eloquent
and
fluent playing brings a welcome edge of abrasiveness to the
proceedings, a
useful counterpoint to the folkishness of the band sound (Woods began
playing folk music with his father at the age of five and was raised in
Chilworth Old Village, Hampshire). Consequently, there is a muscularity
underlying the gently meditative quality of Wind Shadows that
clearly escaped the attention of the audience member at the Greenwich
Jazz
Festival (bravely quoted by Woods on the sleeve of this CD) who accused
the band of ‘giving jazz a bad name’. Also important to the band sound
are
insistently driving bassist Andy Hammill and drummer Milo Fell, so (as
with previous bands operating in this area – Danny Thompson’s
Whatever immediately springs to mind) the album proves that jazz and
folk,
intelligently combined, can produce powerful and affecting music.
July 2009 Chris Parker, Vortex Jazz.
“…altogether this is a deeply satisfying album.”
(Brian Blain)
Read the full review in JazzUK below:
Another quiet man, saxophonist Tony Woods, is gradually acquring theprofile he deserves. I’m not a folk-jazz enthusiast but the Tony Woods Project examines this world so beautifully on Wind Shadows (33 Records), that I’m completely disarmed. It’s that Scottish reel thing that gets everybody at it, but the way in which it morphs into a kind of backbeat propelled by Milo Fell on “Transformation” shows how open-minded Woods is. There’s elegiac stuff too-witness the opening alto clarinet line on “Driftwood”- and altogether this is a deeply satisfying album.
August/September 2009 JazzUK Brian Blain
“Wind Shadows is a quiet masterpiece of colourful, eloquent music making with a distinct pictorial quality… a beguiling mix of folk inspired melody and jazz improvisation“ (June 2009 Ian Mann, the Jazzmann.)
Read the full review below:
Saxophonist Tony Woods describes this album as “Music of light and dark, sweet and bitter, the wind and shadow”. It’s a fairly accurate summation, there is a definite pictorial quality to the music sketched here by Woods on reeds plus an all star cast of Mike Outram (guitar), Rob Millett (vibes, marimba, gongs), Andy Hamill (double bass, harmonica) and Milo Fell (drums). This is the third release by the Project following “High Seas” (FMR 1997) and “Lowlands” (Basho 2004) .
“Wind Shadows” is a beguiling mix of folk inspired melody and jazz improvisation played mainly in a pastoral vein which often gives it a very English quality. There are however ethnic elements plus more overtly “jazzy” moments to ensure that this is genuinely multi cultural music of a highly descriptive nature.The opening “Driftwood” is a perfect example of this album’s pictorial qualities. This description of a piece of driftwood being washed from the shore to the sea is perfectly depicted by Woods’ various reeds, Outram’s shadowy guitar and Millett’s shimmering vibes. Leisurely and gently atmospheric it’s the kind of thing that wouldn’t be out of place on an ECM record with Woods cast, perhaps as Louis Sclavis and Outram as John Abercrombie.
“Air” opens with some impressive circular breathing from Woods on soprano manipulating the proverbial “column of air”. The main melody of the piece is appropriately breezy and airy with former orchestral percussionist Millett also prominent in the mix. The vibist produces a typically dancing solo but in a track inspired by Eric Dolphy there is also an excursion into free jazz territory about three quarters of the way through the piece before things are resolved by the return of the main theme. It’s clever enervating stuff.
“The North Wind Doth Blow” is based on the melody of the children’s song but it is given an unusual twist by Woods deploying the haunting sound of the Chinese hulusi on the intro. Millett adds to the exotic atmosphere through the use of gongs and marimba . Taken as a whole this a haunting, beautiful piece of folk/world jazz, the kind of thing Jan Garbarek might be proud of.
The mood is carried over to the intro of the following “Bitter Sweet” which features Woods on wood flute before a more a more orthodox jazz style emerges. Here Woods demonstrates his abilities on the tenor dovetailing with Outram’s guitar on the album’s most full on playing thus far. Contrast is provided by a quieter interlude featuring the return of the wood flute and Hamill’s distinctive contribution on harmonica.“Dilemma” is a pensive ballad that derives it’s title from “the questioning, uncertain character” of the tune. (Woods’ words from the liner note). It’s a pretty tune featuring keening soprano,lyrical vibes and delicate brushwork.
“Transformation” features the gorgeous tones of Woods’ alto clarinet on an attractive melody that has it’s genesis in an improvised motif. Outram’s soaring guitar and Millett’s percussive colourations are also central to the track’s success. An ethnic feel emerges periodically contrasting nicely with a more abstract and exploratory central section. Like most of Woods’ writing there is the sense of a journey being taken and one with some fascinating scenery along the way.
The title “Wind Shadows” is apparently a sailing term, a reference to the “wind shadows” of other vessels. Woods’ lyrically lilting piece of the same name features the leader on soprano and incorporates a beautifully eloquent solo from bassist Hamill plus suitably stratospheric guitar from Outram as the pierce builds in intensity.
At thirteen plus minutes “French Sweet” is the lengthiest piece on the album, a slowly opening flower that contains some fine playing from all five participants. Impressionistic moments combine with tight unison passages including a swirling mid section that acts as a feature for Fell, his playing a dazzling combination of controlled power with a colourist’s eye for detail.
The closing “Acceptance” with Woods on reflective sounding tenor exhibits some of the Zen like calm suggested by the title.
Wind Shadows” is not an album that shouts for your attention but rather gains it through subtle, colourful, eloquent music making. It’s a record that slowly draws you in, each new listen reveals a different nuance or facet in these intelligent, carefully crafted compositions. It’s an excellent team effort with all five musicians making telling contributions. Millett should perhaps be singled out as his percussive contribution does much to establish a unique sound. Not only that he also engineered and mixed the album, co-producing it with Woods.
As for the leader he displays a considerable mastery of several different types of reed as well as demonstrating considerable skill as a writer and arranger. The questing intelligence and sheer variety of his playing sometimes reminded me of Harrison Smith and the cinematic quality of his writing of a more laid back Theo Travis. But “Wind Shadows” is something of a quiet masterpiece in it’s own right.
“Woods is clearly a master saxophonist but always directs his technique towards expression and emotion and evocation, which is just as we like it.
” – (June 2009. Peter Bacon the Jazz Breakfast.)
Read the full review below:
The alto clarinet is a tremendous instrument – closer to the saxophone than the usual clarinet but still woodier – and Tony Woods uses it on the opener, Driftwood. A lot of the song titles come from nature and the Woods instrumentalists have all the right sounds to evoke them. In addition to alto clarinet, Woods plays saxophones and wood flutes, including a complex Chinese one called a hulusi, and he is joined by Mike Outram on electric guitar, Rob Millett on vibraphone, marimba and gongs, Andy Hamill on double bass and harmonica, and Milo Fell on drums and percussion.They can be atmospheric, as on Driftwood or they can work up a head of steam, as on the bitter parts of Bitter Sweet (it also has gentler sweet bits – or are the contrasting tastes depicted the other way around, with bitter the quiet flute and harmonica parts and sweet the delirious excitement of the band going for it in controlled but increasing intensity?) Air starts with a virtuoso solo display on soprano saxophone. There is a strong, skirling folk music feel not only in traditional The North Wind Doth Blow but also in Dilemma, and in the title track (Wind Shadows is inspired by shapes that form on the sea during sailboat racing), and the writing in general feeds as much off expressive non-specific “pure” music as it does off jazz. Woods is clearly a master saxophonist but always directs his technique towards expression and emotion and evocation, which is just as we like it.
“And what I like above all about Woods’ music are those moments when a door is suddenly opened, and unexpected fresh air, the outdoors, nature, or even anarchy get invited in.” (Sebastian Scotney)
Read the full review in London Jazz below:
Woods’ consistently draws inspiration from the elements. His first album was High Seas, the second Lowlands. And what I like above all about Woods’ music are those moments when a door is suddenly opened, and unexpected fresh air, the outdoors, nature, or even anarchy get invited in. In the first track, Driftwood, Woods is burbling, arpeggiating on alto clarinet. You can tell that at some point in his life, as an English clarinet player, he has paid his dues to the pastoral tradition of Finzi and Stanford. But from [3:17] onwards, there is a transformation, the rules, the maths, the physics have gone, nature has taken hold. The alto clarinet is suddenly a seagull. Then it’s a foghorn warning the dinghies to get out of the way.
Mike Outram plays the sweetest wailing rock guitar in Britain. It’s a sound of great beauty, and the recording captures it well. In Bitter Sweet, he holds back, serene, allowing Woods to explore the contrasting rougher sound possibilities of the alto sax. But the end of his solo in Transformation he steps right out of the cool, and socks out in-your-face and defiant dissonance, but then returns to sweetness. I can almost picture an “it-wasn’t-me-ref” smile…..
In the second track, Air, Woods is on soprano sax. From nowhere, the band is suddenly pumping out full-on English folk-rock. And the end of the track has Milo Fell on drums and Mike Outram on guitar mischievously choreographing a surprise train-crash.
The album has such a range of instrumental colour, well caught by the recording. Woods himself plays soprano and alto saxes and alto clarinet, sometimes cleverly multiplied by overdubbing. He also has features on Indian wood flute and chinese hulusi (a bagpipe drone effect). On Driftwood the alto sax voice explores deep into tenor territory, and bassist Andy Hamill has a convincing excursion on harmonica. Rob Millett plays vibraphone, and , on The North Wind, marimba.
The feel of the band works together well as a unit , and I was surprised to note that there had been such long gaps between recording sessions.
The first session- the title track Wind Shadows- was in November 2006. The most recent- The North Wind Doth Blow- in March ‘09.In fact it’s quite a journey: in one of the gaps, Woods got married.(Sebastian Scotney, London Jazz.)
歌バラード情景を凸凹カラフルに活写する英国流コンセプチュアル編 TONY WOODS PROJECT (トニー・ウッズ) / WIND SHADOWS[33 JAZZ 195]
販売価格: 2,300円 (税込)
吹き込みを残すキャリア20余年の英国マルチ・リード奏者の、レギュラー・クインテットによる一作。まろやかなリード吹鳴にギターやヴィブラフォンの潤いある端麗音を重ね合わせた、ちょっとメロウなクール・サウンド的演出や、多重録音を使った一人多役の無限輪奏っぽい幻覚イメージ醸成、などといった、音響造形面でのこだわり〜独自の意匠にも中々際立ったものを見せながら、コンテンポラリー系ヨーロピアン・モード・ジャズの様々な典型、その探究成果がみっちり濃密に披露されてゆく力投内容。曲により演奏形式や楽想〜情緒のあり様は色々だが、欧州流のエスニックな吟遊牧歌ロマン指向、っぽい一種のフォーク・バラード的世界観がほぼ変わらぬ作風の基盤=大きな柱となっており、これをECMライクな浮遊型の耽美的スロー・インタープレイで体現してみたり、ボサ・グルーヴ調の軽快リズムでマイルドなポップ・インスト風に料理したり、刺激的ファンク・スタイルを導入していつしか曲想もM-BASEみたくダークな硬質都会派サスペンス風情へシフトして行ったり、更には、無伴奏ソロ・サックスによるアブストラクトな辛口フリー・インプロヴィゼーションがいきなりスリリングに炸裂したりと、変幻自在な流転の道程が形作られるも、根本の作家性=全ての曲がどこか地続きに繋がっているような統一的情景イメージ、にはいささかもブレるところがなく、骨太な大河ストーリーを思わせる力強い展開をエモーショナルに楽しませてくれる。
■ The original liner album “Last DEITO” was included in the words of Eric Dolphy “music, after it has gone out into the air, can not be captured again,” the authors wrote. The sound can be represented as color and shape, nature and sea and wind and by the theme of improvisation by each player, the image and feeling bitter and sweet, to hear music in the film remains in the heart from an impressive me.
■ 1, our development is the theme of improvisation by Tony Woods, a quiet melody repeated returns to the waves, creating the world mysterious and far-melancholiness. 3 has made the arrangement work is the subject of children’s songs in the United Kingdom. This song is a folk instrument in China, as a wind instrument made of a gourd sound box “FURUSU” play with, to feel attracted to a pure tone with a humorous pathos.
■ city in southern England, Southampton-born Tony Woods is the early flowering of musical talent began to play folk music from the age of the father. College of Music to study jazz at Leeds College of Music is Britain’s largest, contains a piano and sax in excellent results, after graduating with a major studio in London, but over a career as a session musician and have emerged in musicians. Who look to the future of Tony Woods, with his remarkable talent to the arrangement.
DORIFUTOUDDO
The North Wind Blow DUSU Air
Bitter Sweet
Dilemma
Transformation
Wind SHADOUZU
French Suites
Acceptance
01/07/2005 John Fordham Jazz UK
Tony Woods must be one of the least-known saxophonists in the UK ever to lead one of the circuit’s most imaginative bands. Woods’ group played London’s Lauderdale House in mid-June, mingling hard-hitting postbopand the folk- music (some of it adapted for the sax from fiddle pieces)Woods probably first got acquainted with through his concertina-playing father. A startling young vibraphonist, Rob Millett…brought the group close to the sound of the 70’s Gary Burtonband in his funkier exchanges with gifted guitarist Mike Outram, bassist Andy Hamill was immaculate, and Milo Fell whipcord-tight. If Woods’ fine Lowlands album suggested reflective world-jazz, this gig was as punchy as they come.
06/02/2004 Yorkshire Post
Saxophonist, flautist and composer Tony Woods has drawn on British folk traditions for this inventive and imaginative new release and the results are lovely. There are moments of genuine beauty throughout the music as Woods forges a highly personal programme that owes nothing to the American jazz tradition.
Instead, there is a pastoral feel to much of the material that is quintessentially British. But for all that, this is music of drive and authority. Woods’ soloing on his own Presence, Penny’s Whistle and Rollo’s Monkey is invigorating, and there is excellent support from guitarist Mike Outram, vibist Rob Millett and the bass-and-drums team of Andy Hamill and Milo Fell. It’s jazz of admirable freshness and originality.
LIVE WIRE LISTINGS – Swanage Jazz Festival 2002.
The Tony Woods Project is a pulling together of quality contemporary musicians who are adept at classy improvisation aimed at your soul. Tony Woods fronts the band on reeds, along with Bob Millett vibes, Mike Outram guitar, Andy Hamill bass and Milo Fell on drums. Our senses were lulled into submission with an old English folk tune played with a very contemporary sound on vibes, with enhanced resonance from the bass. Tony’s flute was very cooling as the audience drifted off to the rhythm and sound world of this band. Wonderful Bulgarian and folk influences came together in The Meeting Place to create a melting pot bubbling with good things and we drifted in a wonderful sea of sound, doing nothing but let the musical colours touch us. To contrast, the Latinised What Is This Thing Called Love? was next, and several of the barefoot audience were aching to dance, myself included, but the hypnotic qualities of this band meant we didn’t want to take our eyes off them for fear of breaking the powerful energies that they were giving to the audience with their music. The self-penned High Seas then tumbled onto our shores. Tony’s mesmerizing and emotional sax reduced me to tears as the music crept under my skin and coiled its way into my soul.
This was tangible and tactile music, a gift passed by hand and mouth from the musicians to the audience that we opened from within. It is to the eternal credit of the Tony Woods Project that a collection of wood, gut, skins and metal can impose itself so successfully on your emotions. Thank you for your freely given gift, boys. Fiona.
JAZZ UK MAGAZINE – Sep/Oct 2001.
If ever a band deserved a higher profile, it has to be the Tony Woods Project. Woods a sax/flute player with a superb alto sound, closed the spring/summer series of gigs at North London’s Lauderdale House, and many regulars thought it one of the best bands the venue had presented. A cool and cerebral approach might have been suggested by the yards of sheet music and tricky time-signatures, but there was nothing reserved about the playing of Stuart Laurence (drums), Dave Whitford (bass), Rob Millett (vibes), and Mike Outram (guitar) and the sheer engaging intelligence of Woods’ compositions. Some of them have a folksy edge, but ‘Old Joe Clarke’, a traditional tune that surfaced on Pat Metheney’s ‘80/81′ album turned into one of the most disciplined high energy explosions, with Outram’s guitar really flying. European sensibility and American grooves united. (BRIAN BLAIN.)
CLARINET AND SAXOPHONE MAGAZINE – Summer 1998.
With a combination of guitar, bass, drums, vibes and solo saxophone/flute what does one expect? Perhaps Earth, Wind and Fire, or something modelled on one of the Goodman small groups, or maybe Weather Report? What we get is nothing like any of these, but a highly organised, very contrapuntal small group with a soloist who doffs his hat more in the direction of Desmond, Konitz and Hodges, rather than Braxton, Brecker or Shorter. The refreshing sound of jazz-rock fusion minus an assault on the ears via relentlessly pulverising rock rhythms is a good example of the way in which we may hopefully be heading.
Tony Woods and his group, of whom we know little except that they are English, for the CD liner notes are less than informative, is clearly a player/composer with a mind of his own and the ability to put his ideas over with clarity and authority. His own playing contains idiosyncratic portamenti, but to some purpose rather than merely imposed trademarks. There is a plaintive, haunting quality on several tracks, but the most impressive aspects are the ways in which carefully contrived ensemble passages, whether as unison sax and guitar, or block-scored with vibes under-pinning the texture, interweave with the improvisatory sections. A special delight is the use of lyrical marimba playing, and an almost Spanish cum sitar sound produced by the guitarist. The opening title Sister Song employs highly contrapuntal effects from the five players, and Meeting Place is a melting pot of 6/8 rhythms and ethnic quotations. In Ballad Up Ballard Down the mournful sound of the sax is followed by misty vibes in a duo with the bass. Civil Peace is gentle jazz with some beguiling marimba. The simple process of subtracting instruments along the way accomplishes the gradual decrescendo in the extended coda-not so easy in what is already what Mancini would have dubbed ‘a small combo.’ Arranged passages intersperse the solos, and those two overworked words ‘effective’ and ‘interesting’ are nevertheless appropriate here. High Seas features some introspective wailing saxophone, and then develops into a raga-like section. Folk Song is almost entirely a solo for wood flute, with the Andean sound of haunting ethnic memories, rather than any orchestral associations. Relatives starts with a ground bass from marimba driving along with the propulsive rhythms of Glass-inspired minimilism, to be joined by energetic riffs to a final build-up.
An unusual disc, not falling readily into any particular category, but bringing a new soloist to our notice, and certainly unveiling the musical possibilities of a small group using today’s rhythms and style within the constraints of academic formalism.(Gordon Lewin)
JAZZWISE – June 1998.
Saxophonist Tony Woods leads a project which moves in several intriguingly different directions over the course of a strong album, and avoids simply replicating an established American model in favour of musical explorations which often seem very consciously English, and not only through the plangent pastoral flavour which is directly declared in ‘Folk Song’, but informs several other cuts as well, notably the evocative ‘Ballad Up Ballard Down’ and ‘The Half Step’. The instrumentation featuring Mark Johns on guitars and Robert Millett on vibes and marimba rather than a second horn and piano rings the changes on the standard jazz quintet in imaginatively applied fashion, both in the thoughtful arrangements and more freely responsive improvisatory passages. (Kenny Mathieson)
The GUARDIAN GUIDE – May 1998.
There’s a corner of British jazz in which pastoral expressiveness, folk idioms and the like offer a distinct alternative to anything from mainstream America. The Tony Woods Project’s album High Seas undoubtedly puts them at the forefront, vibraphone and guitar setting the style alongside the leader as he switches between saxophones and a wooden flute. A former student at both the Leeds and the Guildhall Schools of Music, Woods has a top soloist award from the Dunkirk Jazz Festival among his achievements and was part of the band Within the Word. (Ronald Atkins)
JAZZ JOURNAL – April 1998.
Folky flavours find frequent favour in Woods’s music, the light textures and dancing rhythms of the opening piece setting the style for most of the record (the scurrying 12-tone Rowing Blues a stark exception). Woods is a former student of Leeds College and The Guildhall, and in 1986 he won the soloist’s prize at the Dunkirk International Jazz Festival. His own playing, lyrical and largely diatonic, is of a piece with the idiom in which he writes, and he is accompanied by a good group, with guitarist Mark Johns a prominent and satisfying soloist whose chromatic and bluesy playing brings a welcome grit to the music. In sum, a session that successfully blends folk and jazz without blunting the edge of the latter. (Mark Gilbert)
JAZZ UK MAGAZINE – March/April 1998.
Finally, two projects by players who have definitely found their own voice… saxophonist Tony Woods also presents an absorbing collection of originals on ‘High Seas’ (FMR CD44), with the highly inventive collaboration of Mark Johns (guitar), Robert Millett (vibes and marimba), bassist Andy Hamill and Gary Wilcox on drums. The whole thing adds up to a light and airy collage of sounds which reflect a range of musical cultures, but which are skilfully combined in Tony Woods’ compositions – there’s something in every track that will hook your attention. Fresh, lively interesting, and well worth checking out. (PETE MARTIN.)
MUSICIAN MAGAZINE – December 1997.
Another album of original music, this time by Tony Woods, plus a trad folk song. This one, although studio recorded, has a very ‘live’ feel to it – the compositions are well understood by the musicians and the confidence shows in their playing. The tasteful use of vibes and marimba (Robert Millett), instead of keyboards, gives this CD a very listenable quality. Tony Woods excels as composer and leader on saxophones and wood flute on the nine tracks, although as the insert suggests, there are times when one is somewhat bemused by all that is going on. This is ‘now’ jazz of excellent quality and I’m sure Tony’s project will be a force to reckon with in the future. (John Critchinson)
AVANT MAGAZINE – Winter 1997: This is definitely one of the label’s sharpest releases for a while. Oh! so thankfully it gets away from that dull theme-solo-theme approach of far too many jazz recordings. This album simply contains some exceptional small group writing by Woods. It is no criticism to say that there is a lightness of touch in the leader’s own playing that finds expression in his writing. That’s lightness as in delicacy not as in lightweight. Several of the songs have at their heart a sense of cultural or stylistic clash. Sisters’ Song and Ballad Up Ballard Down have an Eastern or Middle Eastern modal feel. The Meeting Place opens with an almost folky sound, but shifts later in its development to a free sax and drums workout. On this track and on Rowing Blues Woods also uses rock rhythms effectively and gives the music a different dynamic.The line-up allows plenty of space to the musicians, but also gives the compositions the chance to grow, change and expand. Of the players Johns proves a particularly good foil for the leader and some of their unison playing is quite exceptional. His tone is really beautiful and his solo on Rowing Blues is right on the money. On Folk Song his acoustic playing shows confidence and directness, where a lesser player would slide into whimsy. Millett also shines, essaying some pretty complex lines at speed and contributes lyrical solos on vibes and marimba. The rhythm section of Hamill and Willcox provides a strong and sensitive support to the music, despite the constant changes of key, time and mood. Woods uses his band to good effect and his confidence in the musicians pays off in their really classy playing. It is good to hear jazz that succeeds in being individualistic and draws on a range of ‘non-American’ forms and styles with skill, imagination and elan. That Woods’ album achieves this without sounding like an ECM session shows some class. (DUNCANHEINING)
QUOTES:Tim Whitehead.
“Tony Woods is, above all, a contemporary jazz musician. As a composer, his work is rooted in modern grooves, as a saxophonist and improviser he has that assuredness and command that allows for the music to emerge from spaces and silences, and he has the raw passionate edge and tender lyricism, which allows him to travel where he will in the music. He is a natural alto player, and his atmospheric and loose compositions allow the musicians to flow around the structures in the spirit of improvisation, groove, and vocalisation which is jazz ‘root and branch’. The music has a poise and dignity to it which is rare; I have no doubt his enormous talent will soon be given its due.”
“Tony Woods is a superlative saxophonist with a beautiful sound. He never overplays, and is prepared to wait – nothing is forced, which is why his playing projects the utmost emotion. He is also an excellent composer of themes which are completely conceived and realised melodically, harmonically and rhythmically. His group is very fine, creating music of the heart – never merely of the glands – and full of light and shade and surprises. Whether written or improvised, the music of his group is always ’saying something’.”(Ian Carr)
South West Jazz.
“. . . wonderful tone colours complement the intriguing yet approachable contemporary tunes. Lyricism and clarity are so often overlooked in jazz. . .”
“…an album of vivid moments.”
(John Fordham)
Read the full review by John Fordham below:
British saxophonist, clarinetist and flautist Tony Woods is a jazz player with upfront folk-music enthusiasms. This is the lastest offering from a long-running project that has consistently occupied its own niche, somewhere between John Surman’s work, Gilad Atzmon’s Orient House, and the crossovers of the contemporary Scottish scene.
Woods’ yearning and songlike alto clarinet sound establishes an arresting introduction to the set with Driftwood, which also unleashes the album’s first surprise when an increasingly funky folk-dance shifts up a gear with electronic echo-effects, and then starts hinting at Pat Metheny’s rhapsodic song James. A soprano-sax jig veers into an improvisation like stripped-down Evan Parker, The North Wind Doth Blow has some exquisite moments in which Woods’ sax laments over delicate marimba lines, and Transformation hs its folk-prance undermined by some firece clarinet multiphonics. It’s an album of vivid moments.
Friday 23rd Oct 2009, John Fordham, The Guardian
“a beautifully played and densely atmospheric disc” (Robert Shore, Jazzwise Magazine February 2010.)
Read the full review below:
There’s a track on Tony Woods’ long-gestated new album that bears the (ironic) alternative title of “Giving jazz a bad name”. Apparently this is what someone called out when the tune, more properly known as “French Sweet”, was debuted at the Greenwich Jazz Festival. It’s hard to know what the audience member took exception to exactly. The length (13-plus minutes)? The folksy influence? If it was the latter, there are far worse offenders on this exotically inflected disc of English pastoralism-the children’s song “The North Wind Doth Blow” , for instance, which begins with Woods on Chinese hulusi (a three-piped flute) before Rob Millett’s marimba lines come to the fore and the leader switches to sax. It might have been nice to hear a little more from guitarist Mike Outram, who brings a welcome blast of electric effervesence to the title track. But whatever your feelings about folk-jazz it’s impossible to dislike such a beautifully played and densely atmospheric disc.
“a wonderful recording by one of the most interesting and thoughtful groups on the British jazz scene…beautiful.”
(Kyle Horch)
Read the full review by Kyle Horch below:
This is the third recording by the Tony Woods Project, which has been touring on the British jazz scene since 1997. I have been a fan of the group since hearing their previous CD, Lowlands. That recording impressed me with the group’s blend of modern jazz and folk music, its unique line-up of instruments, and Tony Woods’ excellent playing on a range of woodwind instruments. So, I snapped up the opportunity to hear this new recording when offered the chance to review it, and have not been disappointed. This new recording picks up where the last recording left off, with a new set of tunes penned by Tony Woods, several of which explore maritime imagery of sailing; the tinge of folk music which permeates the set gives the music a subtle sense of place. The first track, Driftwood, begins with an unhurried melody on the alto clarinet, yes, the alto clarinet, Tony Woods’ playing of which is an absolute revelation: a gorgeous warm tone and lovely intonation. The second track, Air, begins with an Eric Dolphy-ish free cadneza which leads to an up-tempo tune played with a crisp, compact soprano tone; Rob Millett contributes an intelligent vibraphone solo here as well. The Chinese hulusi, a shawm-like instrument with a drone element, is selected to open the third track, an arrangement of the children’s song The North Wind Doth Blow, giving it a mournful quality. For the fourth track, Bitter Sweet, Tony Woods picks up a wood flute in a lovely ballad introduction, before a faster, changing metre head leads to a groove, over which bassist Andy Hamill plays a harmonica solo. And so it goes, through the rest of the recording, always a shifting sound world as the lead instrument changes from one tune to the next until the final track, Acceptance, a lovely alto feature which also includes a deft solo from guitarist Mike Outram. The group is absolutely seamless in the way each member can shift role from accompanist to soloist, and back again with the finesse of a classical ensemble. There is a gentleness to the group’s sound, and Tony Woods’ compositions provide a wonderful variety of colour. Rob Millett provides consistently inventive voicings and is the glue of the group; when not soloing, he, Mike Outram, Andy Hamill and Milo Fell provide tasteful rhythm backing. Tony Woods’ woodwind playing is an inspiration throughout, and his brief comments in the booklet set the scene for each track while leaving space for the listener’s imagination. This is a wonderful recording by one of the most interesting and thoughtful groups on the British jazz scene. On offer here are magical atmospheres, vivid instrumental playing, a wonderful sense of ensemble improvisation, and a poignant sense of theme running through the tracks; light , shadow, wind, and sea. Beautiful-highly recommended.
Autumn 2009 Kyle Horch, Clarinet & Saxophone
“the album proves that jazz and
folk,
intelligently combined, can produce powerful and affecting music.”
Read the full review by Chris Parker below:
Described by reedsman/flautist Tony Woods as ‘music of light and
dark,
sweet and bitter, the wind and the shadow’, and containing in its notes
references to Eric Dolphy, religious poet George Herbert and traditional
children’s songs, this album comes from what might be termed the
lyrical/spiritual/pastoral section of the jazz spectrum. Woods himself
plays saxophones, clarinet, wood flute and hulusi, Rob Millett vibes,
marimba and gongs, and it is chiefly their interplay and the resultant
textural variety that defines the music of the ‘Project’. Also present,
however, is electric guitarist Mike Outram, and his spiky but eloquent
and
fluent playing brings a welcome edge of abrasiveness to the
proceedings, a
useful counterpoint to the folkishness of the band sound (Woods began
playing folk music with his father at the age of five and was raised in
Chilworth Old Village, Hampshire). Consequently, there is a muscularity
underlying the gently meditative quality of Wind Shadows that
clearly escaped the attention of the audience member at the Greenwich
Jazz
Festival (bravely quoted by Woods on the sleeve of this CD) who accused
the band of ‘giving jazz a bad name’. Also important to the band sound
are
insistently driving bassist Andy Hammill and drummer Milo Fell, so (as
with previous bands operating in this area – Danny Thompson’s
Whatever immediately springs to mind) the album proves that jazz and
folk,
intelligently combined, can produce powerful and affecting music.
July 2009 Chris Parker, Vortex Jazz.
“…altogether this is a deeply satisfying album.”
(Brian Blain)
Read the full review in JazzUK below:
Another quiet man, saxophonist Tony Woods, is gradually acquring theprofile he deserves. I’m not a folk-jazz enthusiast but the Tony Woods Project examines this world so beautifully on Wind Shadows (33 Records), that I’m completely disarmed. It’s that Scottish reel thing that gets everybody at it, but the way in which it morphs into a kind of backbeat propelled by Milo Fell on “Transformation” shows how open-minded Woods is. There’s elegiac stuff too-witness the opening alto clarinet line on “Driftwood”- and altogether this is a deeply satisfying album.
August/September 2009 JazzUK Brian Blain
“Wind Shadows is a quiet masterpiece of colourful, eloquent music making with a distinct pictorial quality… a beguiling mix of folk inspired melody and jazz improvisation“ (June 2009 Ian Mann, the Jazzmann.)
Read the full review below:
Saxophonist Tony Woods describes this album as “Music of light and dark, sweet and bitter, the wind and shadow”. It’s a fairly accurate summation, there is a definite pictorial quality to the music sketched here by Woods on reeds plus an all star cast of Mike Outram (guitar), Rob Millett (vibes, marimba, gongs), Andy Hamill (double bass, harmonica) and Milo Fell (drums). This is the third release by the Project following “High Seas” (FMR 1997) and “Lowlands” (Basho 2004) .
“Wind Shadows” is a beguiling mix of folk inspired melody and jazz improvisation played mainly in a pastoral vein which often gives it a very English quality. There are however ethnic elements plus more overtly “jazzy” moments to ensure that this is genuinely multi cultural music of a highly descriptive nature.The opening “Driftwood” is a perfect example of this album’s pictorial qualities. This description of a piece of driftwood being washed from the shore to the sea is perfectly depicted by Woods’ various reeds, Outram’s shadowy guitar and Millett’s shimmering vibes. Leisurely and gently atmospheric it’s the kind of thing that wouldn’t be out of place on an ECM record with Woods cast, perhaps as Louis Sclavis and Outram as John Abercrombie.
“Air” opens with some impressive circular breathing from Woods on soprano manipulating the proverbial “column of air”. The main melody of the piece is appropriately breezy and airy with former orchestral percussionist Millett also prominent in the mix. The vibist produces a typically dancing solo but in a track inspired by Eric Dolphy there is also an excursion into free jazz territory about three quarters of the way through the piece before things are resolved by the return of the main theme. It’s clever enervating stuff.
“The North Wind Doth Blow” is based on the melody of the children’s song but it is given an unusual twist by Woods deploying the haunting sound of the Chinese hulusi on the intro. Millett adds to the exotic atmosphere through the use of gongs and marimba . Taken as a whole this a haunting, beautiful piece of folk/world jazz, the kind of thing Jan Garbarek might be proud of.
The mood is carried over to the intro of the following “Bitter Sweet” which features Woods on wood flute before a more a more orthodox jazz style emerges. Here Woods demonstrates his abilities on the tenor dovetailing with Outram’s guitar on the album’s most full on playing thus far. Contrast is provided by a quieter interlude featuring the return of the wood flute and Hamill’s distinctive contribution on harmonica.“Dilemma” is a pensive ballad that derives it’s title from “the questioning, uncertain character” of the tune. (Woods’ words from the liner note). It’s a pretty tune featuring keening soprano,lyrical vibes and delicate brushwork.
“Transformation” features the gorgeous tones of Woods’ alto clarinet on an attractive melody that has it’s genesis in an improvised motif. Outram’s soaring guitar and Millett’s percussive colourations are also central to the track’s success. An ethnic feel emerges periodically contrasting nicely with a more abstract and exploratory central section. Like most of Woods’ writing there is the sense of a journey being taken and one with some fascinating scenery along the way.
“Wind Shadows” is a beguiling mix of folk inspired melody and jazz improvisation played mainly in a pastoral vein which often gives it a very English quality. There are however ethnic elements plus more overtly “jazzy” moments to ensure that this is genuinely multi cultural music of a highly descriptive nature.The opening “Driftwood” is a perfect example of this album’s pictorial qualities. This description of a piece of driftwood being washed from the shore to the sea is perfectly depicted by Woods’ various reeds, Outram’s shadowy guitar and Millett’s shimmering vibes. Leisurely and gently atmospheric it’s the kind of thing that wouldn’t be out of place on an ECM record with Woods cast, perhaps as Louis Sclavis and Outram as John Abercrombie.
“Air” opens with some impressive circular breathing from Woods on soprano manipulating the proverbial “column of air”. The main melody of the piece is appropriately breezy and airy with former orchestral percussionist Millett also prominent in the mix. The vibist produces a typically dancing solo but in a track inspired by Eric Dolphy there is also an excursion into free jazz territory about three quarters of the way through the piece before things are resolved by the return of the main theme. It’s clever enervating stuff.
“The North Wind Doth Blow” is based on the melody of the children’s song but it is given an unusual twist by Woods deploying the haunting sound of the Chinese hulusi on the intro. Millett adds to the exotic atmosphere through the use of gongs and marimba . Taken as a whole this a haunting, beautiful piece of folk/world jazz, the kind of thing Jan Garbarek might be proud of.
The mood is carried over to the intro of the following “Bitter Sweet” which features Woods on wood flute before a more a more orthodox jazz style emerges. Here Woods demonstrates his abilities on the tenor dovetailing with Outram’s guitar on the album’s most full on playing thus far. Contrast is provided by a quieter interlude featuring the return of the wood flute and Hamill’s distinctive contribution on harmonica.“Dilemma” is a pensive ballad that derives it’s title from “the questioning, uncertain character” of the tune. (Woods’ words from the liner note). It’s a pretty tune featuring keening soprano,lyrical vibes and delicate brushwork.
“Transformation” features the gorgeous tones of Woods’ alto clarinet on an attractive melody that has it’s genesis in an improvised motif. Outram’s soaring guitar and Millett’s percussive colourations are also central to the track’s success. An ethnic feel emerges periodically contrasting nicely with a more abstract and exploratory central section. Like most of Woods’ writing there is the sense of a journey being taken and one with some fascinating scenery along the way.
The title “Wind Shadows” is apparently a sailing term, a reference to the “wind shadows” of other vessels. Woods’ lyrically lilting piece of the same name features the leader on soprano and incorporates a beautifully eloquent solo from bassist Hamill plus suitably stratospheric guitar from Outram as the pierce builds in intensity.
At thirteen plus minutes “French Sweet” is the lengthiest piece on the album, a slowly opening flower that contains some fine playing from all five participants. Impressionistic moments combine with tight unison passages including a swirling mid section that acts as a feature for Fell, his playing a dazzling combination of controlled power with a colourist’s eye for detail.
The closing “Acceptance” with Woods on reflective sounding tenor exhibits some of the Zen like calm suggested by the title.
Wind Shadows” is not an album that shouts for your attention but rather gains it through subtle, colourful, eloquent music making. It’s a record that slowly draws you in, each new listen reveals a different nuance or facet in these intelligent, carefully crafted compositions. It’s an excellent team effort with all five musicians making telling contributions. Millett should perhaps be singled out as his percussive contribution does much to establish a unique sound. Not only that he also engineered and mixed the album, co-producing it with Woods.
As for the leader he displays a considerable mastery of several different types of reed as well as demonstrating considerable skill as a writer and arranger. The questing intelligence and sheer variety of his playing sometimes reminded me of Harrison Smith and the cinematic quality of his writing of a more laid back Theo Travis. But “Wind Shadows” is something of a quiet masterpiece in it’s own right.
“Woods is clearly a master saxophonist but always directs his technique towards expression and emotion and evocation, which is just as we like it.
” – (June 2009. Peter Bacon the Jazz Breakfast.)
Read the full review below:
The alto clarinet is a tremendous instrument – closer to the saxophone than the usual clarinet but still woodier – and Tony Woods uses it on the opener, Driftwood. A lot of the song titles come from nature and the Woods instrumentalists have all the right sounds to evoke them. In addition to alto clarinet, Woods plays saxophones and wood flutes, including a complex Chinese one called a hulusi, and he is joined by Mike Outram on electric guitar, Rob Millett on vibraphone, marimba and gongs, Andy Hamill on double bass and harmonica, and Milo Fell on drums and percussion.They can be atmospheric, as on Driftwood or they can work up a head of steam, as on the bitter parts of Bitter Sweet (it also has gentler sweet bits – or are the contrasting tastes depicted the other way around, with bitter the quiet flute and harmonica parts and sweet the delirious excitement of the band going for it in controlled but increasing intensity?) Air starts with a virtuoso solo display on soprano saxophone. There is a strong, skirling folk music feel not only in traditional The North Wind Doth Blow but also in Dilemma, and in the title track (Wind Shadows is inspired by shapes that form on the sea during sailboat racing), and the writing in general feeds as much off expressive non-specific “pure” music as it does off jazz. Woods is clearly a master saxophonist but always directs his technique towards expression and emotion and evocation, which is just as we like it.
“And what I like above all about Woods’ music are those moments when a door is suddenly opened, and unexpected fresh air, the outdoors, nature, or even anarchy get invited in.” (Sebastian Scotney)
Read the full review in London Jazz below:
Woods’ consistently draws inspiration from the elements. His first album was High Seas, the second Lowlands. And what I like above all about Woods’ music are those moments when a door is suddenly opened, and unexpected fresh air, the outdoors, nature, or even anarchy get invited in. In the first track, Driftwood, Woods is burbling, arpeggiating on alto clarinet. You can tell that at some point in his life, as an English clarinet player, he has paid his dues to the pastoral tradition of Finzi and Stanford. But from [3:17] onwards, there is a transformation, the rules, the maths, the physics have gone, nature has taken hold. The alto clarinet is suddenly a seagull. Then it’s a foghorn warning the dinghies to get out of the way.
Mike Outram plays the sweetest wailing rock guitar in Britain. It’s a sound of great beauty, and the recording captures it well. In Bitter Sweet, he holds back, serene, allowing Woods to explore the contrasting rougher sound possibilities of the alto sax. But the end of his solo in Transformation he steps right out of the cool, and socks out in-your-face and defiant dissonance, but then returns to sweetness. I can almost picture an “it-wasn’t-me-ref” smile…..
In the second track, Air, Woods is on soprano sax. From nowhere, the band is suddenly pumping out full-on English folk-rock. And the end of the track has Milo Fell on drums and Mike Outram on guitar mischievously choreographing a surprise train-crash.
The album has such a range of instrumental colour, well caught by the recording. Woods himself plays soprano and alto saxes and alto clarinet, sometimes cleverly multiplied by overdubbing. He also has features on Indian wood flute and chinese hulusi (a bagpipe drone effect). On Driftwood the alto sax voice explores deep into tenor territory, and bassist Andy Hamill has a convincing excursion on harmonica. Rob Millett plays vibraphone, and , on The North Wind, marimba.
The feel of the band works together well as a unit , and I was surprised to note that there had been such long gaps between recording sessions.
The first session- the title track Wind Shadows- was in November 2006. The most recent- The North Wind Doth Blow- in March ‘09.In fact it’s quite a journey: in one of the gaps, Woods got married.(Sebastian Scotney, London Jazz.)
歌バラード情景を凸凹カラフルに活写する英国流コンセプチュアル編 TONY WOODS PROJECT (トニー・ウッズ) / WIND SHADOWS[33 JAZZ 195]
販売価格: 2,300円 (税込)
吹き込みを残すキャリア20余年の英国マルチ・リード奏者の、レギュラー・クインテットによる一作。まろやかなリード吹鳴にギターやヴィブラフォンの潤いある端麗音を重ね合わせた、ちょっとメロウなクール・サウンド的演出や、多重録音を使った一人多役の無限輪奏っぽい幻覚イメージ醸成、などといった、音響造形面でのこだわり〜独自の意匠にも中々際立ったものを見せながら、コンテンポラリー系ヨーロピアン・モード・ジャズの様々な典型、その探究成果がみっちり濃密に披露されてゆく力投内容。曲により演奏形式や楽想〜情緒のあり様は色々だが、欧州流のエスニックな吟遊牧歌ロマン指向、っぽい一種のフォーク・バラード的世界観がほぼ変わらぬ作風の基盤=大きな柱となっており、これをECMライクな浮遊型の耽美的スロー・インタープレイで体現してみたり、ボサ・グルーヴ調の軽快リズムでマイルドなポップ・インスト風に料理したり、刺激的ファンク・スタイルを導入していつしか曲想もM-BASEみたくダークな硬質都会派サスペンス風情へシフトして行ったり、更には、無伴奏ソロ・サックスによるアブストラクトな辛口フリー・インプロヴィゼーションがいきなりスリリングに炸裂したりと、変幻自在な流転の道程が形作られるも、根本の作家性=全ての曲がどこか地続きに繋がっているような統一的情景イメージ、にはいささかもブレるところがなく、骨太な大河ストーリーを思わせる力強い展開をエモーショナルに楽しませてくれる。
■ The original liner album “Last DEITO” was included in the words of Eric Dolphy “music, after it has gone out into the air, can not be captured again,” the authors wrote. The sound can be represented as color and shape, nature and sea and wind and by the theme of improvisation by each player, the image and feeling bitter and sweet, to hear music in the film remains in the heart from an impressive me.
■ 1, our development is the theme of improvisation by Tony Woods, a quiet melody repeated returns to the waves, creating the world mysterious and far-melancholiness. 3 has made the arrangement work is the subject of children’s songs in the United Kingdom. This song is a folk instrument in China, as a wind instrument made of a gourd sound box “FURUSU” play with, to feel attracted to a pure tone with a humorous pathos.
■ city in southern England, Southampton-born Tony Woods is the early flowering of musical talent began to play folk music from the age of the father. College of Music to study jazz at Leeds College of Music is Britain’s largest, contains a piano and sax in excellent results, after graduating with a major studio in London, but over a career as a session musician and have emerged in musicians. Who look to the future of Tony Woods, with his remarkable talent to the arrangement.
DORIFUTOUDDO
The North Wind Blow DUSU Air
Bitter Sweet
Dilemma
Transformation
Wind SHADOUZU
French Suites
Acceptance
01/07/2005 John Fordham Jazz UK
Tony Woods must be one of the least-known saxophonists in the UK ever to lead one of the circuit’s most imaginative bands. Woods’ group played London’s Lauderdale House in mid-June, mingling hard-hitting postbopand the folk- music (some of it adapted for the sax from fiddle pieces)Woods probably first got acquainted with through his concertina-playing father. A startling young vibraphonist, Rob Millett…brought the group close to the sound of the 70’s Gary Burtonband in his funkier exchanges with gifted guitarist Mike Outram, bassist Andy Hamill was immaculate, and Milo Fell whipcord-tight. If Woods’ fine Lowlands album suggested reflective world-jazz, this gig was as punchy as they come.
06/02/2004 Yorkshire Post
Saxophonist, flautist and composer Tony Woods has drawn on British folk traditions for this inventive and imaginative new release and the results are lovely. There are moments of genuine beauty throughout the music as Woods forges a highly personal programme that owes nothing to the American jazz tradition.
Instead, there is a pastoral feel to much of the material that is quintessentially British. But for all that, this is music of drive and authority. Woods’ soloing on his own Presence, Penny’s Whistle and Rollo’s Monkey is invigorating, and there is excellent support from guitarist Mike Outram, vibist Rob Millett and the bass-and-drums team of Andy Hamill and Milo Fell. It’s jazz of admirable freshness and originality.
LIVE WIRE LISTINGS – Swanage Jazz Festival 2002.
The Tony Woods Project is a pulling together of quality contemporary musicians who are adept at classy improvisation aimed at your soul. Tony Woods fronts the band on reeds, along with Bob Millett vibes, Mike Outram guitar, Andy Hamill bass and Milo Fell on drums. Our senses were lulled into submission with an old English folk tune played with a very contemporary sound on vibes, with enhanced resonance from the bass. Tony’s flute was very cooling as the audience drifted off to the rhythm and sound world of this band. Wonderful Bulgarian and folk influences came together in The Meeting Place to create a melting pot bubbling with good things and we drifted in a wonderful sea of sound, doing nothing but let the musical colours touch us. To contrast, the Latinised What Is This Thing Called Love? was next, and several of the barefoot audience were aching to dance, myself included, but the hypnotic qualities of this band meant we didn’t want to take our eyes off them for fear of breaking the powerful energies that they were giving to the audience with their music. The self-penned High Seas then tumbled onto our shores. Tony’s mesmerizing and emotional sax reduced me to tears as the music crept under my skin and coiled its way into my soul.
This was tangible and tactile music, a gift passed by hand and mouth from the musicians to the audience that we opened from within. It is to the eternal credit of the Tony Woods Project that a collection of wood, gut, skins and metal can impose itself so successfully on your emotions. Thank you for your freely given gift, boys. Fiona.
JAZZ UK MAGAZINE – Sep/Oct 2001.
If ever a band deserved a higher profile, it has to be the Tony Woods Project. Woods a sax/flute player with a superb alto sound, closed the spring/summer series of gigs at North London’s Lauderdale House, and many regulars thought it one of the best bands the venue had presented. A cool and cerebral approach might have been suggested by the yards of sheet music and tricky time-signatures, but there was nothing reserved about the playing of Stuart Laurence (drums), Dave Whitford (bass), Rob Millett (vibes), and Mike Outram (guitar) and the sheer engaging intelligence of Woods’ compositions. Some of them have a folksy edge, but ‘Old Joe Clarke’, a traditional tune that surfaced on Pat Metheney’s ‘80/81′ album turned into one of the most disciplined high energy explosions, with Outram’s guitar really flying. European sensibility and American grooves united. (BRIAN BLAIN.)
CLARINET AND SAXOPHONE MAGAZINE – Summer 1998.
With a combination of guitar, bass, drums, vibes and solo saxophone/flute what does one expect? Perhaps Earth, Wind and Fire, or something modelled on one of the Goodman small groups, or maybe Weather Report? What we get is nothing like any of these, but a highly organised, very contrapuntal small group with a soloist who doffs his hat more in the direction of Desmond, Konitz and Hodges, rather than Braxton, Brecker or Shorter. The refreshing sound of jazz-rock fusion minus an assault on the ears via relentlessly pulverising rock rhythms is a good example of the way in which we may hopefully be heading.
Tony Woods and his group, of whom we know little except that they are English, for the CD liner notes are less than informative, is clearly a player/composer with a mind of his own and the ability to put his ideas over with clarity and authority. His own playing contains idiosyncratic portamenti, but to some purpose rather than merely imposed trademarks. There is a plaintive, haunting quality on several tracks, but the most impressive aspects are the ways in which carefully contrived ensemble passages, whether as unison sax and guitar, or block-scored with vibes under-pinning the texture, interweave with the improvisatory sections. A special delight is the use of lyrical marimba playing, and an almost Spanish cum sitar sound produced by the guitarist. The opening title Sister Song employs highly contrapuntal effects from the five players, and Meeting Place is a melting pot of 6/8 rhythms and ethnic quotations. In Ballad Up Ballard Down the mournful sound of the sax is followed by misty vibes in a duo with the bass. Civil Peace is gentle jazz with some beguiling marimba. The simple process of subtracting instruments along the way accomplishes the gradual decrescendo in the extended coda-not so easy in what is already what Mancini would have dubbed ‘a small combo.’ Arranged passages intersperse the solos, and those two overworked words ‘effective’ and ‘interesting’ are nevertheless appropriate here. High Seas features some introspective wailing saxophone, and then develops into a raga-like section. Folk Song is almost entirely a solo for wood flute, with the Andean sound of haunting ethnic memories, rather than any orchestral associations. Relatives starts with a ground bass from marimba driving along with the propulsive rhythms of Glass-inspired minimilism, to be joined by energetic riffs to a final build-up.
An unusual disc, not falling readily into any particular category, but bringing a new soloist to our notice, and certainly unveiling the musical possibilities of a small group using today’s rhythms and style within the constraints of academic formalism.(Gordon Lewin)
JAZZWISE – June 1998.
Saxophonist Tony Woods leads a project which moves in several intriguingly different directions over the course of a strong album, and avoids simply replicating an established American model in favour of musical explorations which often seem very consciously English, and not only through the plangent pastoral flavour which is directly declared in ‘Folk Song’, but informs several other cuts as well, notably the evocative ‘Ballad Up Ballard Down’ and ‘The Half Step’. The instrumentation featuring Mark Johns on guitars and Robert Millett on vibes and marimba rather than a second horn and piano rings the changes on the standard jazz quintet in imaginatively applied fashion, both in the thoughtful arrangements and more freely responsive improvisatory passages. (Kenny Mathieson)
The GUARDIAN GUIDE – May 1998.
There’s a corner of British jazz in which pastoral expressiveness, folk idioms and the like offer a distinct alternative to anything from mainstream America. The Tony Woods Project’s album High Seas undoubtedly puts them at the forefront, vibraphone and guitar setting the style alongside the leader as he switches between saxophones and a wooden flute. A former student at both the Leeds and the Guildhall Schools of Music, Woods has a top soloist award from the Dunkirk Jazz Festival among his achievements and was part of the band Within the Word. (Ronald Atkins)
JAZZ JOURNAL – April 1998.
Folky flavours find frequent favour in Woods’s music, the light textures and dancing rhythms of the opening piece setting the style for most of the record (the scurrying 12-tone Rowing Blues a stark exception). Woods is a former student of Leeds College and The Guildhall, and in 1986 he won the soloist’s prize at the Dunkirk International Jazz Festival. His own playing, lyrical and largely diatonic, is of a piece with the idiom in which he writes, and he is accompanied by a good group, with guitarist Mark Johns a prominent and satisfying soloist whose chromatic and bluesy playing brings a welcome grit to the music. In sum, a session that successfully blends folk and jazz without blunting the edge of the latter. (Mark Gilbert)
JAZZ UK MAGAZINE – March/April 1998.
Finally, two projects by players who have definitely found their own voice… saxophonist Tony Woods also presents an absorbing collection of originals on ‘High Seas’ (FMR CD44), with the highly inventive collaboration of Mark Johns (guitar), Robert Millett (vibes and marimba), bassist Andy Hamill and Gary Wilcox on drums. The whole thing adds up to a light and airy collage of sounds which reflect a range of musical cultures, but which are skilfully combined in Tony Woods’ compositions – there’s something in every track that will hook your attention. Fresh, lively interesting, and well worth checking out. (PETE MARTIN.)
MUSICIAN MAGAZINE – December 1997.
Another album of original music, this time by Tony Woods, plus a trad folk song. This one, although studio recorded, has a very ‘live’ feel to it – the compositions are well understood by the musicians and the confidence shows in their playing. The tasteful use of vibes and marimba (Robert Millett), instead of keyboards, gives this CD a very listenable quality. Tony Woods excels as composer and leader on saxophones and wood flute on the nine tracks, although as the insert suggests, there are times when one is somewhat bemused by all that is going on. This is ‘now’ jazz of excellent quality and I’m sure Tony’s project will be a force to reckon with in the future. (John Critchinson)
AVANT MAGAZINE – Winter 1997: This is definitely one of the label’s sharpest releases for a while. Oh! so thankfully it gets away from that dull theme-solo-theme approach of far too many jazz recordings. This album simply contains some exceptional small group writing by Woods. It is no criticism to say that there is a lightness of touch in the leader’s own playing that finds expression in his writing. That’s lightness as in delicacy not as in lightweight. Several of the songs have at their heart a sense of cultural or stylistic clash. Sisters’ Song and Ballad Up Ballard Down have an Eastern or Middle Eastern modal feel. The Meeting Place opens with an almost folky sound, but shifts later in its development to a free sax and drums workout. On this track and on Rowing Blues Woods also uses rock rhythms effectively and gives the music a different dynamic.The line-up allows plenty of space to the musicians, but also gives the compositions the chance to grow, change and expand. Of the players Johns proves a particularly good foil for the leader and some of their unison playing is quite exceptional. His tone is really beautiful and his solo on Rowing Blues is right on the money. On Folk Song his acoustic playing shows confidence and directness, where a lesser player would slide into whimsy. Millett also shines, essaying some pretty complex lines at speed and contributes lyrical solos on vibes and marimba. The rhythm section of Hamill and Willcox provides a strong and sensitive support to the music, despite the constant changes of key, time and mood. Woods uses his band to good effect and his confidence in the musicians pays off in their really classy playing. It is good to hear jazz that succeeds in being individualistic and draws on a range of ‘non-American’ forms and styles with skill, imagination and elan. That Woods’ album achieves this without sounding like an ECM session shows some class. (DUNCANHEINING)
QUOTES:Tim Whitehead.
“Tony Woods is, above all, a contemporary jazz musician. As a composer, his work is rooted in modern grooves, as a saxophonist and improviser he has that assuredness and command that allows for the music to emerge from spaces and silences, and he has the raw passionate edge and tender lyricism, which allows him to travel where he will in the music. He is a natural alto player, and his atmospheric and loose compositions allow the musicians to flow around the structures in the spirit of improvisation, groove, and vocalisation which is jazz ‘root and branch’. The music has a poise and dignity to it which is rare; I have no doubt his enormous talent will soon be given its due.”
“Tony Woods is a superlative saxophonist with a beautiful sound. He never overplays, and is prepared to wait – nothing is forced, which is why his playing projects the utmost emotion. He is also an excellent composer of themes which are completely conceived and realised melodically, harmonically and rhythmically. His group is very fine, creating music of the heart – never merely of the glands – and full of light and shade and surprises. Whether written or improvised, the music of his group is always ’saying something’.”(Ian Carr)
South West Jazz.
“. . . wonderful tone colours complement the intriguing yet approachable contemporary tunes. Lyricism and clarity are so often overlooked in jazz. . .”
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