Instrumation

Gwilym Simcock - Near and NowCD / digital Gwilym Simcock piano “Near and Now” is Gwilym Simcock's second full album for solo piano. The first, the highly successful “Good Days at Schloss Elmau” from 2011, was his ACT debut. That early album was nominated for the Mercury Prize and was an important step in establishing the Welsh-born pianist's reputation internationally. It has also stood the test of time, a fact which is at least in part due to the strong architectural sense that Simcock always brings to his work as both composer and improviser. As he says: “I have always enjoyed the challenge to make sure that a piece of music has a satisfying arc to it – it should take you on a journey whether it is composed or improvised.” As the Daily Telegraph’s Ivan Hewett’s wrote of “Elmau” at the time: “Simcock has a feeling for the way harmony can create architecture as well as momentary colours – a rare gift.” Simcock's talent was singled out as special in his early twenties, most notably by Chick Corea: “Gwilym’s an original. A creative genius.” In 2006 he achieved a unique distinction when he became the first ever jazz musician to be invited to join the BBC’s prestigious New Generation Artists scheme. In more recent times, since May 2016 he has been travelling the world as a member of Pat Metheny's Quartet. But that high-profile involvement is just a part of the current story. Simcock is also an in-demand composer, whose recent commissions include the London Symphony Orchestra’s percussion ensemble, Sinfonia Cymru in Cardiff and a third major commission from Hamburg’s NDR Big Band.The time while travelling the world with Metheny and his all-star quartet has been put to good use. Simcock explains: “In the last six months or so, whilst away from home, I spent my spare time writing new music for a second solo album. I actually wrote much more, but quite a few of the pieces expanded.” In the new album, recorded at Simcock's home in Berlin, the pianist is aiming for an “honest and personal sound,” for which he cites Keith Jarrett’s home-recorded album “The Melody At Night, With You” as a model. The instrument is a newly-acquired Steinway “B” from around 1900, completely custom-rebuilt for Simcock by the Klangmanufaktur partnership in Hamburg. Each of the pieces on the album has another piano player as its dedicatee, and yet two things shine through consistently. First is the increasingly distinctive and individual musical personality of Simcock; and equally important is the sense of enjoyment which colours his whole music making process: his credo about listening is above all “to know why you are enjoying something.” And playing? “To be able to make music that you know you'd want to listen to yourself.” Each piece has a different trajectory. The first piece, in three tracks, dedicated to Billy Childs, is the one which has the most compositional input, whereas the last, a tip of the hat to Egberto Gismonti, is the most improvised, the most intent on the building of texture and atmosphere. The first part of that piece is a reverie. In the joyous epilogue to the piece, Simcock describes it as increasingly acquiring “a driving feel, but not in a virtuosic way," a description which could also be applied to other joyous and lively episodes of the album. "Inveraray Air", the piece for Yellowjackets pianist Russell Ferrante is an astonishing, mighty piece of organic construction, based at least in part on just one tiny four-note melodic cell. And Mehldau? An aspect of his solo playing that Simcock enjoys is “a specific rhythmic focus, quite a rocky side.” And at the mid-point of the album, perhaps its emotional heart, is a short and beautiful 'thank you', which stands in contrast to the larger structures around it. Simcock has dedicated the transparently poetic “You’re My You” to his first jazz piano teacher and mentor in Manchester from the ages of 14 to 18, Les Chisnall. “He has a very warm and giving approach to music, and that spirit is what I wanted to convey,” says Simcock. Warmth and generosity are what make a happy home, and this offering, direct from Simcock's own house has plenty of both. Plus dazzling beauty, and above all enjoyment.Credits: Recorded at home in Berlin, November 2018 Recording Engineer: Gwilym Simcock Studio Engineer: Florian Pfeifle Mixed and Mastered by Florian Pfeifle, Nils Nöhden & Gwilym Simcock Piano tuned by Teresa Hauptmann Cover art by Mimmo Paladino, by kind permission of the artist

Since his Mercury Award-nominated solo work "Good Days at Schloss Elmau" at the latest, pianist Gwilym Simcock has belonged to the spearhead of jazz in Great Britain. With "Instrumation", the Valais-born pianist presents himself not only as a piano virtuoso, but also as a creative creator of elegant jazz orchestra compositions. The leading British daily newspaper The Guardian praised the recording, which is divided into two suites, in the highest terms and awarded it 4 stars. The Financial Times also enthusiastically celebrated the "masterful expansion of his flourishing and rhythmic pianostyle". On "Instrumation" Simcock plays out his vein for romantic-classical art music.

"Reverie at Schloss Elmau – a sublime fusion of jazz and classical, an intimate dialogue between piano and bass, performed by two world-class musicians.

Duo Art - it is the most reduced form of making music together. No less rich, if it succeeds, the smallest "big band" in the world. Two musicians on their own, in harmony and competition. Complementing each other, questioning each other and giving each other their opinion - a fascinating dialogue ear to ear. Spontaneous and intense, call and response - jazz in its purest form. Sometimes less is more to create magical moments - as "Duo Art Creating Magic" proves.

A masterful jazz trio blending Celtic influences, complex rhythms, and harmonic depth – Simcock, Sirkis & Garland in perfect symbiosis.

Gwilym Simcock piano Chick Corea calls him an "original, a creative genius" and Jamie Cullum, undisputed star of British jazz, declares him "our best young piano player". Credits: Produced by Siggi Loch with the artist Recorded at Schloss Elmau by Florian Oestreicher, September 2, 2010. Mixed and mastered by Curtis Schwartz and Gwilym Simcock