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Carnival Celestial

Alexander Hawkins with Neil Charles & Stephen Davis, Alexander Hawkins (piano), Neil Charles (double bass), Stephen Davis (drums)

Carnival Celestial

Awards:

…A gripping collage of synth-textures, enigmatic hooks, fleeting Thelonious Monkish references, and free-jazzy surges.

Carnival Celestial

Alexander Hawkins with Neil Charles & Stephen Davis, Alexander Hawkins (piano), Neil Charles (double bass), Stephen Davis (drums)

Purchase product

CD

$18.00

8 available: usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days

Awards:

…A gripping collage of synth-textures, enigmatic hooks, fleeting Thelonious Monkish references, and free-jazzy surges.

About

British pianist and composer Alexander Hawkins is a creative epicenter of the London jazz scene and is regarded as one of the most innovative musicians with a surprising radius of action. His trio with Neil Charles and Stephen Davis was formed in 2012 and masterfully celebrates the connection of freedom and structure, composition and improvisation. Carnival Celestial is a fantastic work of musical presence and impressively proves what is possible with piano, bass and drums - one of the more convention-laden formats in jazz practice. "Hawkins, Charles, and Davis clearly have moved the piano trio forward and stretched its conceptual horizons with Carnival Celestial, and in doing so, they have contributed to its ongoing vitality," writes Bill Shoemaker in the liner notes.

Neil Charles: Double Bass, Percussion

Stephen Davis: Drums, Percussion

Alexander Hawkins: Piano, Synthesizer, Sampler, Percussion

Contents and tracklist

Awards and reviews

  • Presto Recordings of the Year
    Finalist 2023

…A gripping collage of synth-textures, enigmatic hooks, fleeting Thelonious Monkish references, and free-jazzy surges.

In concert, few trios can match Hawkins, Davis and Charles for the intensity of their improvisational chemistry. Carnival Celestial captures a good deal of that energy, but also underlines the more experimental character of this exceptional trio.

The playing from all three has that close attentiveness that creates music where players are heard moving together rather than hearing-then-responding […] a typically thoughtful piece of programming on a notably thoughtful session.
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