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| PD3 with Dick Pearce Live CD released August 28, 2006 PD3 (Pete Downes Trio) have joined forces with legendary trumpet player Dick Pearce and produced an electrifying live recording from a performance at the Pizza Express Jazz Club, Soho, London in April. "New material was chosen at a rehearsal before the gigs" says Pete - one of Europe's leading fusion guitarists, " therefore many of the tunes were performed for the first or second time. It's very exciting to capture that freshness in front of an audience." PD3 received critical acclaim with their earlier releases 'Street Scene' and 'Into the Blue' from the likes of Jazzwise, The Observer and Jazz Journal International. Dick Pearce (trumpet/flugelhorn) was in Ronnie Scott's band for many years and works regularly with the likes of Stan Tracy and other leading British jazz artists. "I wrote 'View in Blue' for Dick" says Pete. "We had never played it live and had intentionally not worked out a concrete arrangement, yet it came together on the night and Dick's playing is hauntingly beautiful. Also the arrangement of Mozart's Requiem was for Dick. I took the first few bars before the choral section and merged the woodwind themes into a composite tune. Our original reggae-jazz version of Cantaloupe Island starts the CD and, as you can probably tell from the choice of material, we've retained our diverse influences throughout. " "We met Dick at one of our trio performances" says Pete, "He said he thought our sound was exciting and that he'd like to play with us. We were really pleased as it was just what we were looking for as he adds immensly to the sound and retains originality and sensitivity. We've managed to retain the space and dynamics that we utilise almost as another instrument. Dick was aware of this and there is space to create pictures and movement. Tim Bruce (drums) and Andy Coe (double bass) complete the quartet and were the rhythm section on the first two recordings. "Tim is a very percussive drummer and when you play with him you can feel him listening. Andy is very visual and entertains the audience with his physical approach." "Of course there are imperfections in a live recording, but life is like that. You hear the humanity come through. I've always been excited by live recordings: Weather Report 8.30, We Want Miles. John Mclaughlin Trio at the Festival Hall are in my Desert Island Disc list." The cover design uses only photos by David Bell taken at the first nights performance and compliments the immediacy of the music. The CD will be distributed in the UK by New Note in association with OT Records. Track-list: Cantaloupe Island 07:22, Killer Joe 08:49, View in Blue 05:04, Eclipse 05:52, Tutu 08:07, Requiem 05:17, Straight No Chaser 08:42, Watermelon Man 06:48, So What 10:13 write your comments about the article :: © 2006 Jazz News :: home page |