4th December 2014: Four star reviews from DownBeat Magazine, The Scotsman, UK Vibe and The Observer for Cloudmakers Trio’s ‘Abstract Forces’. Plus, four star review and full feature from Jazzwise.
Amongst the hotbed of talent on the London post-jazz improv scene there is one band that stands out from the crowd for their no-gimmick & uncompromising approach to music making, that effortlessly marries the complex with accessibility.
Under the leadership of the award-winning multi-instrumentalist Jim Hart, the Cloudmakers Trio represents the culmination of over a decade of musical growth between three of the finest London-based musicians currently working on the international jazz, improvised, and alternative music scenes.
The album is a powerful mix of strong grooves, catchy hooks and, as the title suggests, very open improvising.
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Abstract Forces has received another wave of four star reviews from the UK and Europe. Read the highlights here including this one from Downbeat Magazine on the right, and see the full feature in Jazzwise below.
“It is a powerful combination, and the inventive soloing and intricate interplay between the three instruments is both absorbing and consistently engaging.”
4 Stars, The Scotsman
What Jim Hart demonstrates above all else on this latest album is just how much space the vibraphone can fill, both as a lead and comping instrument, creating an other world feel that even an acoustic piano may struggle to replicate.”
4 Stars, UK Vibe (Full Review)
Hart has a positive genius for rhythmic hide-and-seek. His improvised lines grab your attention and won’t let go, no matter how many tricky corners he gets into. There’s no mistaking the musicianship and phenomenal togetherness of all three.”
4 Stars, The Observer (Full Review)
“In addition to creative work he does with rhythm and soloing, Hart also uses the vibraphone to create soundscapes and atmospheres like a painter.”
Musik an Sich (DE)
“Abstract Forces is the the true culmination and the essence of Jim Hart’s more than ten year career as a vibraphonist, band leader and composer.”
Rhein Main Magazine (DE)
“Jim Hart is the master of the vibraphones metal bars, and conjures from it the most colorful of sound waves. The album is sophisticated and dynamic and although extremely energetic and rhythmically tricky, there is never a lyrical moment missing on this CD in anyway. Both poetry and power are elegantly balanced.”
Sound and Image (DE)
“Smith’s skittering drums, Hart’s strange augmented, almost theramin-like responses and the moody lines that Janisch pulls out speak volumes of their patient, attentive approach to building space and adventure into their music: it’s all utterly bewitching. The definition of a top-drawer trio to my mind is one where each plays an equal role in performance, introducing ideas and leading the music into new places. This is certainly true of Abstract Forces.”
London Jazz (Full Review)
“It’s one of the most exciting and persuasive jazz albums to have come out of the UK’s recording studios so far this year.”
4 Stars, Jazzwise
