New Django Bates & Human Chain album "You Live And Learn... (apparently)"

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After six years of CD silence, a new Django Bates & Human Chain album was released! You Live And Learn... (apparently) is the eagerly-awaited new album from Django Bates, the UK's most original and innovative musician and composer. Six years after the release of his acclaimed album Quiet Nights, You Live And Learn... (apparently) features Human Chain, The Smith Quartet, and the recording debut of 22 year old Swedish rising star vocalist Josefine Lindstrand.

The active ingredients in this 12-track album include 70s fusion, R&B grooves, rap & soul quotations, Latin rhythms, and eruptions of free jazz combined with a sense of irrepressible energy and creativity. With Django's innate sense of humour and his witty lyrics, You Live And Learn... (apparently) takes the listener on a journey of musical discovery.

The title track You Live and Learn... (apparently) was inspired by Django's desire to write a pop song with musical finesse - financial success would be assured if he failed, and if he succeeded the band would have another fine piece to play, he quips. Revision features Nikki Yeoh's rap vocal debut, Football takes a playful look at the national game, and Weird World tries to make sense of planet earth and the Millennium Dome from the perspective of an extra-terrestrial. Alongside nine original compositions, the album includes three inspired covers of contemporary standards - a sensitive string quartet arrangement of Gilbert O'Sullivan¹s Alone Again (Naturally), an idiosyncratic interpretation of Paul Anka's classic My Way, and Bowie's Life On Mars in which Bowie sideman David Sanborn plays a scorching solo. The Jerwood Foundation commissioned Weird World and Football whilst From Chaos, Anything Is Possible was commissioned by the PRS Foundation.

Human Chain is Django Bates, Iain Ballamy, Martin France and Michael Mondesir. The crucial three have been linked with Django since 1992, and the band has performed internationally in places as distant as Bogota and Shanghai, and as close to home as Stoke Newington. Human Chain is at the core of this album's groundbreaking sound. The Smith Quartet were chosen as regular collaborators five years ago because, as Django puts it, 'they are the grooviest string quartet around'. These unique artists, and an all-star roster of guest soloists that includes Jim Mullen, David Sanborn, and Nikki Yeoh, make this new album an eagerly awaited release by Django's many fans.

The recording was produced by Django Bates, and quadruple platinum rock producer Andrew Murdock, at Ray Davies' North London studio Konk in January 2003.

You Live And Learn... (apparently) has been touring as a live project internationally for the past three years, receiving five-star reviews and much critical acclaim. It should be a high priority for the programmers of this year's London Jazz Festival.

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