Artist: Fiona Nehama Abrahami

Date of Release: 30/12/2009

Catalogue no: MW09FNA01

Label: MusicWomb

Price: £11.99

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Track Listing

Appearances by

Olivia Moore, Rob Lavers

Random Excess is a CD collection of 16 new recordings(mostly composed since 2005) performed by the cream of the Northern jazz scene. But it’s not just jazz, it’s a smorgasbord of genres unified by jazz flavours. The tracks vary widely in both line-up and style; line-ups range from solo guitar to 14 piece bands with strings and Rastafarian drummers. Genres include various derivations of jazz, fusion, dub, reggae, ska, funk, blues and contemporary. No two tracks are alike, but they’re all exceptionally well performed and well produced pieces.

Musicians appearing on the CD include fusion guitarist Gary Boyle renowned for his work with Stomu Yamashta, Eberhard Weber, and his own band Isotope; saxophonists Joel Purnell and Rob Lavers who have both built respectable reputations leading their own jazz ensembles; session bassist Kenny Higgins, a solid sideman who works regularly with Corrine Bailey Rae; pianist John Ellis who leads a number of bands including his own jazz trio and ska band Baked A La Ska; bassist Matt Owens who works alongside John on many projects but who is also a respected bandleader and composer in his own right (John and Matt are also currently working with up-and-coming singer Kirsty Almeida); saxophonist Atholl Ransome, an outstanding performer and member of the Haggis Horns who have worked with Corrine Bailey Rae and Mark Ronson; trumpeter Simon Beddoe who is making a name for himself with the band If Destroyed Still True (IDST); Moss Project guitar wizard Moss Freed; up-and-coming violinist Olivia Moore; and the charismatic Reverend Cleve Freckleston a.k.a. Rev Chunky, a powerful and unique voice on the Leeds scene.

Reviews

18/08/2010 Peter Quinn, JazzWise, Sept 2010

This eclectic collection of tracks is extraordinarily rich in ideas and textural detail; [it] captures the originality of Abrahami's compositional world. What's perhaps most impressive about Random Excess is the way in which Abrahami proves as adept at extended through-composed pieces and sumptuous jazz ballads as she is at atonal miniatures. [They're] all part of the same continuum for this composer.

01/07/2010 David Katz, Riddim Magazine, Germany

"No matter how many times you listen to the album Random Excess each time sounds like the first time. Every time you play this CD you will be surprised by the discovery of something new. It invites listeners to dance, but also gives them space for introspection. It is unique. And you'll never get bored with it."

08/01/2010 Jumbo Records, Leeds

From an incredibly varied musical career taking in not just jazz but jazz-rock, jazz-punk, reggae, 2 -Tone (even touring with the Beat and playing with the legendary Desmond Dekker) and more, Fiona has assembled a crack team of superb musicians Gary Boyle (Isostope), Kenny Higgins, Joel Purnell, Rob Lavers, John Ellis, Matt Owens, Atholl Ransome (Haggis Horns), Simon Beddoe and Cleve Freckleston (Phew!) to play her great compositions. Not just a Jazz album, more a diverse medley of different genres and routes (roots?) all brought together under the banner of Jazz...And it more than works....From light touched cocktailish craftyness to upbeat contempary cuts this moves through different moods and grooves with ease. Recommended.