Latest News: The new Dave Stapleton Quintet album 'Between the Lines' will be released on 26th April 2010 - click for more info
We will be launching our new album quintet album ‘Between the Lines’ at the Vortex Jazz Club, London on 24thFeb 2010. Music starts at 8.00pm and costs £8 to get in. Hope to see you there!
To buy your tickets – click here
Between the Lines will be released on 26th April but we will have a few advance copies at the gig!
Posted 1st Feb 2010
Had a fun gig last night at Kenton Theatre in Henley-on Thames with DSQ. Ivo Neame played alto as Ben Waghorn couldn’t make it for this one. We’re looking forward to the Vortex on Weds 24th Feb - hope to see you there.
The new DSQ album ‘Between the Lines’ comes out on 26th April 2010.
Photo by David Self
‘The House Always Wins’, my second album with my quintet has recently been released in France an has recieved some great reviews. Check them out!
“An unexpected great record”
Ivo Neame’s new album ‘Caught in the Light of Day‘ is out today. With recent features in Jazzwise and Metro his new album looks set to become of the most exciting releases this year. Check it out today.
Over the last few years Ivo Neame has recorded and performed throughout the world on piano and saxophone with diverse artists such as Matthew Herbert, Seb Rochford, F-ire collective big band, Stan Sulzmann, Tim Garland, Jim Mullen, Gerard Presencer, Mark Lockheart, Alec Dankworth, Gilad Atzmon, Henry Lowther and Julian Siegel.
With Caught in the Light of Day featuring Jim Hart on vibes, Jasper Hoiby on bass and James Maddren on drums it’s his turn to shine!
[More...] Ivo Neame’s new album ‘Caught In The Light of Day’ demonstrates the combined brilliance of his writing and playing. Listen to it once and you’ll be impressed. Listen twice and its gifts will begin to unfold. The quality of the writing and the performances are immediately apparent but on repeated listens you hear how the musicians foster and nurture these compositions. Neame trusts his team and lets them take the form of each track into their own hands. This record is about interplay, about letting the music breathe.
Over the last few months both Tim (Editions Label manager) and myself have been in discussions with some exciting artists to add to the Edition Roster with a view of releasing their albums in 2010. We will be annoucing the new signings very soon on the Edition website – www.editionrecords.com. Artists include some of the most respected musicians on the British and European scene.
We will also be annoucning our full release schedule for the first half of 2010. More will be revealed in the near future.
Visit www.editionrecords.com for more info
The Mavron String Quartet will be performing the 1st movement from my string quartet in a lunchtime concert on Friday 27th at Porthcawl Pavillions. For more info visit www.myspace.com/mavronquartet
"One of the success stories of UK jazz" - Guardian
It's rare that young musicians can match their talent and ambition with the energy and skills needed to advance not only their own careers but those of fellow musicians as well. Since graduating in classical piano from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in 2002, Dave Stapleton has become an important figure on the UK jazz scene.
A jazz pianist of unusual abilities. A composer of beautiful, lyrical tunes and film scores. A record producer, who brings to the music of others the same care and attention to detail that he lavishes on his own releases. A gifted photographer and the astute and intelligent co-founder of Edition Records. Dave Stapleton is all of these things. What is more, he is already receiving well-deserved recognition for his work in all these areas.
Stapleton releases the third album with his acclaimed quintet in February 2010 and follows the four and five star reviews that met When Life Was In Black and White (EDN1007R) and The House Always Wins (EDN1008).
Jazzwise Magazine said of When Life Was In Black and White:
"This music is vital and fresh ... full of powerful riffs, melodic hooks and intriguing and surprising turns of phrase."
While the Guardian described The House Always Wins in the following glowing terms: :
"...hooks that could hardly be more accessible but which none the less avoid any formulaic references...quality and fiery, fearless soloists...A real UK jazz revelation."
The Dave Stapleton Quintet (DSQ) combine muscular intensity with consummate delicacy in performance. A strong frontline of trumpeter Jonny Bruce and saxophonist Ben Waghorn is equalled by the magnificently subtle but pulsing rhythm section of bassist Paula Gardiner and drummer Elliott Bennett. With Stapleton moving between Fender Rhodes and acoustic piano, this is hi-energy jazz. Imagine those great Blue Note and Riverside recordings of the early sixties. DSQ have that same ability to excite heart, mind and body. Their journey so far has taken them on several UK tours and appearances at festivals in Budapest, Cannes (Midem), Cork, Zagreb, Belgrade, London, Brecon and Cheltenham.
Stapleton's exquisitely beautiful and highly evocative music coupled with his multi-functional approach to the business of music led to him being accepted onto the second edition of the prestigious Take Five initiative. Sponsored by the Jerwood/PRS Foundation and managed by international music producers Serious, Take Five provides Britain's most talented young jazz musicians with the unique opportunity to take 'time out' to develop their craft.
In Stapleton's case, it has clearly paid dividends already. He continues to develop as a musician, as a composer and as a business man. In 2006, he signed an exclusive worldwide publishing deal with Westbury Music Ltd. Then in June 2008 and 2009, he was nominated for the Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award for Composers in recognition of his abilities and potential as a composer.
Always keen to spread his wings, Stapleton has written a number of scores for animations and short films. These include Pellegrina for the S4C (Channel Four Wales) short animation and The Outsider, which won Best Welsh Film Award at the Cardiff Film Festival. And in Spring 2009, the Mavron String Quartet premiered Stapleton's first work for string quartet in Cardiff. But perhaps his finest work to date is the wonderful Catching Sunlight (EDN1005). A glance at the cover with its haunting Stapleton photograph tells you this is something special. It grew from a commission from the Lunar Saxophone Quartet, to which Stapleton added trumpeter Neil Yates and his own rhythm section.
Released to universal acclaim in 2008, Catching Sunlight has been highly praised in the UK, in Ireland, in France, in Russia and received a five star review in German magazine Jazzthetik. The review in the Independent on Sunday described the music as "among the best performances I've heard all year". And the Irish Times noted in its four star review that:
"Dave Stapleton's writing, which is so well conceived that it's sometimes difficult to separate the written from the improvised."
But Piano Magazine gave the work its most detailed analysis and, as its author was keen to point out, saw it as a sign of Stapleton's progress as a writer:
"His compositional building blocks, repeated ostinati, short motifs that shift through registers and keys, and choppy phrasing alternated with smoother melodic or freely improvised sections, remain the basis of his technique, but the structures are tighter and his playing more deftly controlled than on his earlier recordings".
As a musician, there's a strength and virility to his playing, matched by an innate capacity for tenderness and reflection. As a composer, he draws upon a formidable grasp of jazz, classical and world styles, yet transforms these raw materials into something richly personal. His music touches on the language of contemporary classical music and jazz but matches these with powerful riffs, melodic hooks and intriguing and surprising turns of phrase. Whatever he does, Stapleton brings to each project a questing and searching for adventure.
He has recorded improvised duets with both saxophonist Deri Roberts and pianist Matthew Bourne. The Conway Suite (EDN1006) was recorded in Conway Church in Cardiff with Roberts on tenor and soprano and Stapleton on the church organ. Its distinctive blend of jazz, Bach, minimalism and free improvisation brought comparisons with Jan Garbarek's work with the Hilliard Ensemble. If anything, Stapleton's collaboration with Matthew Bourne, Dismantling the Waterfall (EDN1001), again featuring a gorgeous Stapleton photograph on its cover, received an even warmer response. As Jazzwise said, it is "a fine collaboration between two of the UK's most exciting young pianists."
EDITION RECORDS, the label Stapleton founded in 2007 with photographer Tim Dickeson, has gone from strength to strength. Each release to date has been a jewel and both the Guardian, Jazzwise and BBC Radio 3 have paid tribute to its high production values and innovation. To date, as well as Stapleton's own records, EDITION has released albums by the Keith Tippett Tapestry Orchestra - the legendary Live at Le Mans (EDN1009) - and others just as fine by Geoff Eales, Dave Kane, Mark Lockheart and Troyka. Now with distribution in 23 countries worldwide, EDITION plans a further twelve releases in 2010, including records by Tom Cawley's Curios, as well as the launch of the new Limited Edition imprint.
It's been a fine seven years of innovation in music and business from Dave Stapleton since he left the Royal Welsh College. Here's to the next seven!
For More Information see:
www.davestapleton.com
www.editionrecords.com
www.myspace.com/davestapletonquintet
www.myspace.com/davestapletonmusic
www.westburymusic.net
www.youtube.com/editionrecords
www.harmoniamundi.com
Dave Stapleton - piano
Ben Waghorn - saxophone
Jonny Bruce - trumpet
Paula Gardiner - double bass
Elliot Bennett - drums
"A real UK Jazz revelation" GUARDIAN
Dave Stapleton Quintet (DSQ) are one of the finest outfits on a British jazz scene overcrowded with talent. As compelling and powerful live as they are on record, DSQ bring to Stapleton's exceptional and distinctive compositions an intensity that recalls those great Blue Note and Riverside recordings of the early sixties.
The band release their third album, Between the Lines, in February 2010 and there's little doubt it will receive the same critical and public acclaim that greeted previous releases, When Life Was In Black and White (EDN1007R) and The House Always Wins (EDN1008). Both records met with rave reviews in the Guardian, Independent on Sunday and Jazzwise.
Jazzwise Magazine said of When Life Was In Black and White:
"This music is vital and fresh full of powerful riffs, melodic hooks and intriguing and surprising turns of phrase."
While the Guardian described The House Always Wins in the glowing terms:
"...hooks that could hardly be more accessible but which none the less avoid any formulaic references...quality and fiery, fearless soloists...A real UK jazz revelation."
DSQ bring together the muscular, vital frontline team of trumpeter Jonny Bruce and saxophonist Ben Waghorn and the subtle, vibrating rhythm section of bassist Paula Gardiner and drummer Elliott Bennett. With Stapleton moving between Fender Rhodes and acoustic piano, this is hi-energy jazz. It is music to feed the mind and move the body.
UK audiences already know just how good this band truly are. Now, with highly successful festival appearances in Cannes, Budapest, Zagreb, Cork, Bratislava and Belgrade under their belt, the rest of Europe is catching on. Imagine music as approachable and sophisticated as Keith Jarrett or EST or the Bad Plus. Now add that to the energy of the Jazz Messengers or Cannonball Adderley. That's DSQ.
Join them on their musical journey now! DSQ - the Dave Stapleton Quintet.
Dave Stapleton Quintet EDN1008
Dave Stapleton - fender rhodes / piano
Ben Waghorn - tenor saxophone / bass clarinet
Jonny Bruce - trumpet
Paula Gardiner - double bass
Elliot Bennett - drums
Their third and highly anticipated release following their 'The House Always Wins' album. RELEASED: 26th APRIL 2010
Dave Stapleton EDN1005
Dave Stapleton - Piano
Neil Yates - Trumpet
Paula Gardiner - Double Bass
Elliot Bennet - Drums
Luanr Sxophone Quartet:
Joel Garthwaite - Soprano Saxophone
Hannah Riches - Alto Saxophone
Lewis Evans - Tenor Saxophone
Lauren Hamer - Baritone Saxophone
"This disc is without a doubt one this year's best and certainly one of those under-recognized gems that shouldn't be ignored". DOWNTOWN MUSIC GALLERY, NEW YORK
"Pieces rank among the best performances I've heard all year". INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY
"Dave Stapleton's writing is so well conceived that it's sometimes difficult to separate the written from the improvised". IRISH TIMES ****
"with a sound halfway between Miles and Arve Henriksen. An excellent recording with standout contributions from both composer and trumpeter". JAZZWISE ****
Dave Stapleton / Matthew Bourne EDN1001
Dave Stapleton - Piano
Matthew Bourne - Piano
"This impressive experimental duo set by tyro pianists Dave Stapleton and Matthew Bourne consists of 17 shortish, continually diverting pieces titled after lines of a 17-line poem by Julie Tippetts." INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY
"fine collaboration between two of the UK's most exciting young pianists restless imagination". JAZZWISE
"a lyrical lilt reminiscent of Keith Jarrett" THE GUARDIAN
Dave Stapleton Quintet EDN1008
Dave Stapleton - Piano
Ben Waghorn - Saxophone
Jonny Bruce - Trumpet
Paula Gardiner - Double Bass
Elliot Bennett - Drums
"A real UK jazz relevation." THE GUARDIAN ***
"Deft melodies and hard hitting grooves make his music genuinely kick-ass" TIME OUT
Dave Stapleton Quintet EDN1007
Dave Stapleton - Piano
Ben Waghorn - Saxophone
Jonny Bruce - Trumpet
Paula Gardiner - Double Bass
Elliot Bennett - Drums
"Dave Stapleton is a real find for British Jazz... a young musician of real maturity and vision... it's the breadth of his talent that's most encouraging. This music is vital and fresh... full of powerful riffs, melodic hooks and intriguing and surprising turns of phrase... this is up there with the Barkers, Sheppards and Baptistes of the UK scene" JAZZWISE
"Idiosyncratically powerful reappraisal of both post-bop and free-jazz" THE GUARDIAN
Dave Stapleton / Deri Roberts EDN1006
Dave Stapleton - Church Organ
Deri Roberts - Saxophones
"This remarkably soulful recording coax a huge variety of sounds from the airy church acoustic, with Terry Riley-type drones leading into late-Coltrane wails, creating a satisfying natural sense of space and place... What's more striking is the strong, spiritual feeling of the slowly unfolding form" INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY ****
"The Conway Suite reminds me of that Hilliard Ensemble and Jan Garbarek album 'Officium' but not as self consciously ecclesiastical and I actually prefer it for that reason" BBC RADIO 3
On CATCHING SUNLIGHT:
"Pieces rank among the best performances I've heard all year". Inpendent on Sunday
"Dave Stapleton's writing, which is so well conceived that it's sometimes difficult to separate the written from the improvised. The voicings, so delicately seasoned with disquieting dissonance, and his use of counterpoint are beautifully crafted". Irish Times ****
"Rich and colourful music from one of the UK's most talented and ambitious young jazz composers". The Jazz Mann
"Stapleton's writing mostly revolves around propulsive piano vamps with nods to Gil/Miles circa Sketches of Spain". Jazzwise ****
"Here is some of the best new jazz around, both in conception and writing and its performance is exquisite. It really is brilliant". Cardiff Jazz Society CD Reviews
"Over just the past few years, he's been earning a reputation as a composer as well as a pianist of fierce ambition". Jazzwise ****
"His compositional building blocks, repeated ostinati, short motifs that shift through registers and keys, and choppy phrasing alternated with smoother melodic or freely improvised sections, remain the basis of his technique, but the structures are tighter and his playing more deftly controlled than on his earlier recordings". Piano Magazine
On DISMANTLING THE WATERFALL:
"Wales-based pianist Dave Stapleton has produced one of the success stories of UK jazz over the past year". Guardian - John Fordham
"a surprisingly winning regard for sound as sound, and an eclectic approach that covers Satie-like sentience, Cecil Taylor knuckle-isms and Viennese abstraction". Independent on Sunday
"a fine collaboration between two of the UK's most exciting young pianists". Jazzwise
On On WHEN LIFE WAS IN BLACK AND WHITE:
"Dave Stapleton's quintet performed tunes from their current CD, 'When Life Was In Black and White'. Allowing his European classical background to shine through in compositions of arresting melodic continuity, his band succeeded not so much through individual voices, but by the strength of their collective musical personality". The Observer
"Idiosyncratically powerful reappraisal of both post-bop and free-jazz". The Guardian
"ECM-ish, filmic originals from distinctive Cardiff-based pianist as heard on his excellent recent album, 'When Life Was Black And White'". Time Out
"Stapleton is one of the most refreshing, sophisticated and intelligent young jazz composers working today. Innovative, infectious and utterly compelling, the future of new British jazz is in safe hands". The Western Mail
"This music is vital and fresh ... full of powerful riffs, melodic hooks and intriguing and surprising turns of phrase ... this is up there with the Barkers, Sheppards and Baptistes of the UK scene". Jazzwise
"Dave Stapleton is a real find for British Jazz ... a young musician of real maturity and vision ... it's the breadth of his talent that's most encouraging. He writes exceptionally well drawing on his classical training as well as jazz and he's hungry to explore the possibilities of free improvisation ... There's something refreshingly unstuffy about Dave Stapleton's sources of inspiration. There's Jarrett and Hancock, of course, Dave Holland and Joshua Redman but also the American Minimalists like Phillip Glass, Steve Reich and Terry Riley". Jazzwise
"Stapleton is one of the most refreshing, sophisticated and intelligent young jazz composers working today. Innovative, infectious and utterly compelling, the future of new British jazz is in safe hands". The Western Mail
On THE HOUSE ALWAYS WINS:
"subtle, vivacious and inteligent writing"... an amazingly modern quintet". So Jazz, France
"...hooks that could hardly be more accessible but which none the less avoid any formulaic references... quality and fiery, fearless soloists... A real UK jazz relevation" The Guardain (4 Stars ****)
"There's some excellent thematic writing here...stays in the memory long after the record has finished" Jazzwise(4 stars ****)
"know how to build a groove...bold and catchy compositions" BBC Radio 3 'Jazz on 3'
"Fiery, blusey...A cracking band...Fast establishing a formidable rep...whether in acoustic or proggy Fender Rhodes there's a steely strength" The Independent on Sunday
"Deft melodies and hard hitting grooves make his music genuinely kick-ass" Timeout
On On THE CONWAY SUITE:
"Don't let anyone tell you that there isn't any interesting music scenes' happening in Wales. There is definitely something interesting happening around Dave Stapleton. The Conway Suite reminds me of that Hilliard Ensemble and Jan Garbarek album 'Officium' but not as self consciously ecclesiastical and I actually prefer it for that reason" Mixing It', BBC Radio 3
"Were this a Jan Garbarek album, it would sell by the cartload. The combination of organ and saxophone favourably recalls John Surman's Proverbs & Songs. The music feels as if it's swirling around you and has an almost tactile quality, it's so rich in texture. Quite charming and quite moving" Jazzwise
"... with Terry Riley-type drones leading into late-Coltrane wails, creating a satisfying natural sense of space and place ... what's more striking is the strong, spiritual feeling of the slowly unfolding form" Independent On Sunday
STRING QUARTET No. 1:
4-movement string quartet commissioned by the Mavron String Quartet
[2009]
Length: Approx 30'
BUY SCORE / PARTS
UNDERTONES:
Commissioned by Dave Danford
Written for 5 octave Marimba and soprano saxophone
[2008]
Length: Approx 6'
CATCHING SUNLIGHT:
Written for saxophone quartet, piano, bass drums and trumpet and commissioned by the Lunar Saxophone Quartet
[2007]
Length: Approx 50'
BUY SCORE
BUY CD
THE OUTSIDER: Film by Rahil Patel
Won Audience Award for 'Best Welsh Short Film' at the Cardiff Film Festival 2006
[2006]
WATCH
PELLEGRINA: Animation by Virginia Head
Performed by principal violist of WNO, Philip Heyman and pianist Zoë Smith for S4C shorts
[2005]
9 STEPS TO A NEW START: Film by Neil Wagstaff
Feature Film
[2005]
WATCH
CONSCIOUS VEIN: Film by Edward Loades
Won 'Best Sound' at the International Film School of Newport Awards 2005
[2005]
WATCH
ODE: Animation by Virginia Head
Short animation
[2005]
WATCH
DIE ZWOELFTE STUNDE: Film by Keri Collins and Paul West [2004]
Short Film
[2004]
Please click on picture below to watch short clips of films.
Title: MUMMY'S GIRL (Part 1)
Director: Keri Collins
Instrumentation: Piano and Clarinet (Tom Jackson)
[2009]
Title: MUMMY'S GIRL (Part 2)
Director: Keri Collins
Instrumentation: Solo Piano
[2009]
Title: ODE
Animator: Virginia Head
Instrumentation: String Quartet / Solo Piano
[2005]
Title: THE OUTSIDER
Directed: Rahil Patel
Instrumentation: Orchestral
[2006]
Title: CONSCIOUS VEIN
Animated: Edward Loades
Instrumentation: Sound Design
[2005]
Title: 9 STEPS TO A NEW START
Directed: Neil Wagstaff
Instrumentation: Jazz Quintet
[2005]
To contact Dave:
Email: dave@davestapleton.com
Tel: 01672 540621
Mob: 07714 239758
Record Label:
Edition Records
6 Denison Way
St. Fagans
Cardiff
CF5 4SF
Tel: 02920 654961
Email: info@editionrecords.com
Publishing:
Jon Handle
Westbury Music
Suite B
2 Tunstall Road
London
SW9 8DA
Tel: +44 (0)20 7733 5400
jon@westburymusic.net
For More Infomation:
www.davestapleton.com
www.editionrecords.com
www.myspace.com/davestapletonquintet
www.myspace.com/davestapletonmusic
www.westburymusic.net
www.youtube.com/editionrecords
www.harmoniamundi.com