Oriole “song for the sleeping” (F-ire, via proper music) led by Jonny Phillips, Oriole are a group that are part of the F-ire collective, a group of musicians that focus on improvisation evoking Phillips’ travels in such areas as Eygpt, Brazil and Spain, the album blends various middle eastern sounds[…]
The F-IRE collective represents some of the London jazz scene’s most energetic and imaginative young musicians, and it’s the imaginative aspect that features strongly on its latest release. Led by guitarist and composer Jonny Phillips, Oriole is a nonet, including cello, tenor saxophone, bass clarinet and keyboards, with influences straddling[…]
F-ire Collective musicians have started turning up all over the mainstream polls (notably the BBC Jazz Awards in 2004 and 2005) and the input of the gifted drummer/composer and F-ire stalwart Seb Rochford has been at the heart of recent UK jazz success stories like Acoustic Ladyland, Polar Bear –[…]
More super-confident new British jazz, with guitarist Jonny Phillips’ compositions for octet (with the addition of vocalist Julia Biel on two tracks, and occasional guests) providing tight, idiomatic themes that repeated listening brings to life. Standout instrumentalists are the strikingly good Ben Davis on cello, Sarah Homer on bass clarinet,[…]
Club regulars will already be familiar with Oriole’s first album, Song for the Sleeping (F-IRE CD03), even if only subliminally, since it’s frequently played between sets. This, the band’s second album, has many of the debut recording’s virtues (striking Jonny Phillips melodies imbued with deliciously wistful melancholy courtesy chiefly of[…]
Their new Album ‘Migration’ is an early contender for jazz release of the year, a sublime, slightly unsettling but emotionally rewarding work that draws on folk, north Brazilian, West African and Mediterranean music. Like the Norwegian pianist Christian Wallumrod, Phillips conjures music that is quietly intense, beguilingly beautiful and full[…]
Described as “a sensory banquet of soaring melodies, colourful South American folklore, lively dances and emotional ballads of longing”, their music often sounds distinctly English, with clarinet and Ben Davis’s languid cello prominent in the mix. But the rhythm section, sparked by Acoustic Ladyland anchorman Seb Rochford, chugs along firmly[…]
If a strapline for the promotion of Oriole were needed, then how’s about this – the UK’s self contained neo-samba nova wave that’s well free of any ipanema coctail cliche. I’m playfully pumping the hype, but the groups eminence grise, the guitarist and composer Jonny Phillips, comes over in earnest[…]
After the thunderous success of Acoustic Ladyland and Polar Bear, lets hope that Oriole are the next F-IRE Collective band to break. But when it happens expect a quiet storm. A delightfully folksy outfit, Oriole’s rich cinematic tapestries mature on their second album into rustic, languid world music. Venezuelan, Brazilian,[…]
“Migration” is Orioles second album – a rich mix of South American folklore, traditional and religiously rooted music. Prepare to travel to dusty side roads , lively market places and the great outdoors as the album encourages you to discover and experience. Orioles composer and guitarist Jonny Phillips teams up[…]
