City Stuart McCallum

• 1 City 04:52
• 2 Inhale 03:54
• 3 North Star 05:11
• 4 T-Onics 03:47
• 5 Effergy 05:41
• 6 Trio Seven 05:53
• 7 MK II 04:41
• 8 Said And Done 04:57
• Total Runtime 38:56

Info for City

The beautiful ambient-electronica-jazz soundscape City is the new album from Manchester guitarist and composer Stuart McCallum and his second studio album for Naim. City features a handful of seasoned musicians including McCallum on guitars, Robin Mullarkey, bass (ESKA, Roisin Murphy), Sean Foran (Trichotomy), Rhodes and Richard Spaven (Flying Lotus, José James) drums, synths and electronics. Violinist Emma Sweeney guests on one track, Trio Seven. The album also features guest vocalists on four tracks, JP Cooper (newly signed to Island Records), Sharlene Hector (Basement Jaxx), Fridolijn Van Poll and Sophie Barker (Zero 7).

For his new album, City, McCallum steps even further into the world of electronica, whilst still maintaining that magical combination of both acoustic and electronic instruments that gives his music such a distinctive sound. However, two things make City stand out from his previous work. First, the addition of vocals and second, the decision to bring in London based drummer and producer, Richard Spaven, who he met during his time playing with Cinematic Orchestra, not only to perform, but to co-write and produce the album (all tracks are co-written by McCallum and Spaven apart from City).

Key tracks on the album include the evocative City; sampled extracts of JP Cooper's 'Something You Can't Have' play like glimpses of a city snatched from a car window. North Star, featuring Sharlene Hector, was written the old fashioned way, after studio computers decided to take an unscheduled rest. Effergy is simply sublime, an ambient meditation with McCallum's guitar hinting at something darker beneath the surface, with haunting vocal textures by Fridolijn Van Poll, while Said and Done features the otherworldly vocals of Zero 7's Sophie Barker.

Stuart McCallum's music has always thrived in that beautiful space where genres blur. With a wide range of influences from Machinedrum, Lau and Martin Simpson to Debussy, Taylor McFerrin and Burial, it's not difficult to see how this has come about. His 2011 Naim debut, Distilled, was a series of beautiful instrumental soundscapes and glorious melodies that owed as much to dance music as it did to jazz. Since then he has been busy with a wide range of other projects, including several collaborations with British artist Linder, scoring music for the Northern Ballet and working in an acoustic duo setting with Mike Walker.

Spaven has played with a host of artists, including 4hero, Mark de Clive-Lowe, Flying Lotus, Gregory Porter, José James and Robert Mitchell. His production style lies somewhere between the realms jazz and electronica and subtly bridges the gap between these two worlds using grooves that blend contemporary jazz and bass-heavy downtempo electronics. The melodies and layered harmonies from McCallum's guitar, as well as synth pads and bass, are all driven by Spaven's hypnotic grooves and provide the perfect foil for McCallum's often delicate and captivating sound.

Stuart McCallum, guitars
Richard Spaven, drums, synths, electronics
Robin Mullarkey, electric bass
Sean Foran, Fender Rhodes
Emma Sweeney, violin
Guest vocalists:
JP Cooper, vocals (on City)
Sharlene Hector, vocals (on North Star)
Sophie Barker, vocals (on Said and Done)
Fridolijn van Poll, Effergy

Recorded at Flowriders Studio, Amsterdam; Fine Line, London; CSR Studios, Manchester
Mixed at Rosehill Studios, Manchester
Mastered by Shawn Joseph at Optimum Mastering, Bristol
Produced by Richard Spaven

Stuart McCallum - Guitars, Keyboards & Electronics
From jazz beginnings to DJ culture, Stuart McCallum’s music is ‘alternative jazz’ – a distillation of influences, creating a sound that is concentrated and distinctive. Not wanting to hide behind over complicated harmonic and rhythmical structures, angular and forgettable melodies, Stuart’s music is a new hybrid of composition, production and performance. It embraces simple, memorable melodies, bass lines and drum beats, with electronica and improvisation enriched by elegant orchestral writing.

Stuart has a wealth of experience in many different musical environments and genres. After being invited to join the Cinematic Orchestra in 2004, Stuart has performed on and contributed to the writing of the band’s critically acclaimed albums, ‘Ma Fleur’ and ‘Live At The Royal Albert Hall’. In addition he has contributed to the award winning Disney nature documentary soundtrack, ‘The Crimson Wing’, and the remix of Radiohead’s ‘Exit Music For A Film’ for Radiohead’s remix compilation album, ‘Exit Music: Songs For Radio Heads’. Memorable performances with the band include The Royal Albert Hall with the Heritage Orchestra and The London Metropolitan Orchestra, headlining The Big Chill in the UK, and playing at Montreal Jazz Festival and Coachella festival in Palm Springs.

‘Distilled’, Stuart’s third solo album is the culmination of Stuart’s guitar playing, production and composition experience to date. The sonic palette of instruments and electronics used is a development from his 2 previous solo albums ‘Echo Architect’ and ‘Stuart McCallum’. Stuart’s guitar playing is the main feature of the music - the vocalist in the instrumental lineup. His interest in exploring different sounds from both electric and acoustic guitars is apparent in the music, from the innovative use of delays and filters, to hitting the guitars with hands and drumsticks! The guitar plays alongside electronic and acoustic drums, double bass, keyboards, synths, percussion, harp, celeste, strings, woodwinds and horns.

Over the past two years Stuart has worked closely with internationally acclaimed British artist Linder. ‘The Dark Monarch’, performed at Tate St Ives in 2009 has resulted in a Tate DVD and book to document the piece. The 13 hour improvised performance piece, ‘The Darktown Cakewalk’, performed at the 2010 Glasgow International Festival resulted in Stuart being awarded a nomination for ‘Best Music in Theatre in Scotland’ by the Scottish Theatre Critics Association. Stuart and Linder also collaborated to create a visual ‘soundtrack’ to Stuart’s ‘Distilled’ album launch.

In 2007 Stuart was invited to take part in the PRSF artist development scheme ‘Take Five’. A week of workshops with legendary UK saxophonist, John Surman, lead to Stuart being commissioned by Manchester Jazz Festival to write a suite of music to be performed by John and Stuart and a 10 piece chamber ensemble. The suite was performed in the beautiful setting of St Annes Church in Manchester’s City Centre and was acclaimed by both audience and critics. Stuart wrote a new suite of music for Manchester Jazz Festival in 2010, this time for a solo set which was performed live on BBC Radio 3′s flagship jazz show ‘Jazz On 3′. The music was so well received by the show that it was included in its ‘Best Of 2010′ review show.

As well as John Surman, Stuart has also performed and recorded with some of the most prominent jazz artists of today, including Kenny Wheeler, Mike Gibbs, Gwilym Simcock, Tim Garland, Laurent Robin and Laurent De Wilde.

This album contains no booklet.