Salute To The Sun

Description

Composer, trumpeter, producer, DJ, and founder of Gondwana Records, Matthew Halsall has always worn many hats. But at the heart of everything he does, Halsall is above all an artist and a musician. A trumpeter whose playing, stripped down and full of soul, radiates a thoughtful beauty, but also a composer and leader of a band that has created its own sound world. Halsall's sound draws inspiration from the legacy of British jazz, the spiritual jazz of Alice Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders, as well as influences from world music and electronics, and even modern art and architecture, to create something that is uniquely his own. Music that is rooted in the north of England but draws from global inspirations.
Salute to the Sun is his first album as a leader since “Into Forever” 2015 and marks the debut of his new group. A handpicked ensemble, made up of some of the best young musicians from Manchester: Matt Cliffe on flute and saxophone, Maddie Herbert on harp, Liviu Gheorghe on piano, Alan Taylor on drums, and Jack McCarthy on percussion, along with Gavin Barras, Halsall's long-time collaborator and bassist. The album draws its energy from weekly rehearsal sessions during which Matthew and the band refined their sound and inspiration from themes and ideas that have inspired Halsall over the years regarding ecology, environment, and harmony with nature. The result is undoubtedly Halsall's most beautiful and complete recording to date, playful, charming, and imbued with the warmth of the sun and the energy of life.