8th May 2015: Tam de Villiers continues ‘Panacea’ tour with two Paris dates this month. Latest press including both live show and album reviewed by Jazz Breakfast.

De Villiers continues working closely with his regular team of musicians, Karl Jannuska (drums), David Prez (tenor saxophone), and Frederic Chiffoleau (double bass), on Panacea, his debut for Whirlwind Recordings.

A collection of varying pieces, instrument and vocal, the album takes the listener on both a cerebral and visceral voyage, where the natural feel and organic execution of the material draws the listener in while allowing appreciation of the band’s exuberant interactions without its compositional depth and complexity burying their musicality.

Tam continues the ‘Panacea’ tour with two dates in Paris this month (details) and we have received the following reviews for both the album and his live shows:

“Left-handed, cream-colored Fender Strat. Pedals. All compositions, bar one, were those of de Villiers. Playing with a plectrum, and frequently without, the amiable guitarist had the fret board covered from the off. Powerful, shredded woodshed riffs, de Villiers had a well-developed creative partnership with tenor saxophonist David Prez.”
Bebop Spoken Here (full review)

“A very strong musical unit… They have played an awful lot as a unit and that they have strong and characterful jazz chops means that the resulting sounds are full of lithe movement, energy and passion.”
The Jazz Breakfast (live & album review)

“From the outset it was apparent that de Villiers is a player with an enormous technical facility, the kind of musician who is able to make even the most complex music look relatively easy.”
4 Stars, The Jazz Mann (full review)

Here are some pictures from the live CD launch of Panacea.

Images – Ken Champken