Press Release

Ruth Gipps: Winds of Change Release date 25th March 2022

Three Worlds Records and London Chamber Orchestra present the first complete catalogue of Ruth Gipps’ chamber writing for horn.

This intensely personal recording offers an in-depth insight into Ruth Gipps’ life and music. Many of these works were inspired by Gipps’ son, the prolific horn player Lance Baker, and are recorded here for the very first time.

Hannah von Wiehler conducts an outstanding chamber ensemble of the UK’s leading principals and soloists, including ECHO Rising Star Ben Goldscheider as principal horn and bassoonist Meyrick Alexander.

Ben Goldscheider comments: “I first became acquainted with Gipps’ music via her Horn Concerto op.58, a work that struck me as a result of its spellbinding virtuosity and orchestral colour. I was shocked to discover so many of her works have not been commercially recorded. We hope that this recording will help ensure the longevity of these works, and further her place in British musical history.”

For Meyrick Alexander, the recording was a chance to revisit one of the high points of his student life: “I performed in Ruth’s London Repertoire Orchestra in the 1960s, sitting beside her husband, the clarinettist Robert Baker, and their son Lance, a steady presence on first horn. My regular encounters with the enthusiastic and encouraging personality of Ruth Gipps were amongst the high points of my student experience. It is a real joy to play her music again so many years later, and to reignite memories of her.”

 

 

Track List

1. The Three Billy Goats Gruff Op.27b, trio for oboe, horn and bassoon
2. Seascape Op.53, for double wind quintet
3. A Taradiddle for Two Horns Op.54
4. Sonatina for Horn and Piano Op.56
5. Triton for Horn and Piano Op.60
6. Wind Octet Op.65, for two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons and two horns
7. Wind Sinfonietta Op.73, for wind ensemble
8. The Pony Cart Op.75, for flute, piano and french horn
9. The Lady of the Lambs Op.79, for soprano and wind quintet
10. Sonata for Alto Trombone (or Horn) and Piano

 

Artists

 

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Media Enquiries

Damaris Brown

Artium Media Relations

damaris@artiummediarelations.co.uk

+44 7900 684720

 

Leading French horn player Jim Rattigan on tour in January 2022

8th January 2022 – PizzaExpress Jazz Club, Soho, London 1pm
Featuring Ivo Neame on piano, Dave Whitford on bass, James Maddren on drums
& the Tear String Quartet

26th January 2022 – Newhampton Arts Centre, Wolverhampton
27th January 2022 – Albany Club, Coventry
28th January 2022 – 1000 Trades, Birmingham
29th January 2022 – Bishop’s Castle Town Hall, Shropshire
30th January 2022 – Ashburton Arts Centre, Teignbridge

Featuring Alcyona Mick on piano, Phil Donkin on bass, James Maddren on drums & the Tear String Quartet

“The original compositions and arrangements are elegantly poised and, with a sound suspended somewhere between flugelhorn and trombone, Rattigan’s playing is ravishing.”
**** BBC Music Magazine

French horn player Jim Rattigan will be touring his critically acclaimed album When in the New Year. The eloquently inventive composer/arranger/bandleader brings together some of UK’s finest players from both jazz and classical music – Ivo Neame and Alcyona Mick on piano, Dave Whitford and Phil Donklin on bass, James Maddren on drums and the Tear String Quartet (Julian Tear – violin, Alison Gordon – violin, Nic Barr – viola, and Nic Cooper – cello).

“Having had a career in classical music and now playing jazz, I thought that I would write some music that would combine the two worlds,” explains Rattigan. “This is not crossover music but a juxtaposition – the two styles working side by side. I worked with Julian Tear for many years in the Academy of St Martin’s chamber orchestra and asked him to record the music with his quartet. The quartet becomes a quintet when I call on the double bass to play ‘arco’ and the French horn is a bridge between to two genres.”

Most of the ten original compositions on the album were written five years ago. “They seemed a little sad and reflective at the time so I put them in a folder and forgot about them,” says Rattigan. “The irony is that the title When could be applied to the times we’re living in now.”

Jim Rattigan’s When reviewed by BBC Music Magazine Jan 2021

 

All rights acknowledged www.classical-music.com

Jim Rattigan – When – Jazzwise December 2020 January 2021

 

All rights acknowledged www.hifinews.com

Jim Rattigan shares ‘When’ with Jazzwise

 

 

One of the UK’s leading French horn players, Jim Rattigan is widely recognised as a pioneer of the jazz French horn and has performed with many globally renowned artists including, Michael Brecker, Bill Frisell, Carla Bley, Charlie Haden, Paul McCartney, George Michael and Adele.

He returns with a new album from his latest album When (Three Worlds Records) which is released on 4 December and features a stellar cast of UK musicians including pianist Nikki Iles, bassist Michael Janisch and drummer James Maddren alongside The Tear Quartet string ensemble of Julian Tear (violin), Alison Gordon (violin), Nic Barr (viola), and Nic Cooper (cello).

Commenting on the music Rattigan says: “Having had a career in classical music and now playing jazz, I thought that I would write some music that would combine the two worlds,” explains Rattigan. “This is not crossover music but a juxtaposition – the two styles working side by side. I worked with Julian Tear for many years in the Academy of St Martin’s chamber orchestra and asked him to record the music with his quartet. The quartet becomes a quintet when I call on the double bass to play ‘arco’ and the French horn is a bridge between to two genres.”

Please visit Jazzwise for the sample video

 

Source: Jazzwise

Jim Rattigan’s Pavillon review by Jazzwise

The Jazz Mann May 2020

“The Freedom of Movement” represents another impressive offering from Pavillon. Rattigan’s compositions and arrangements are rich, colourful and inventive and the playing, by a hand picked ensemble, is exceptional throughout. It’s a recording that wears its undoubted sophistication lightly, and which injects a little welcome humour at appropriate moments. Credit is also due to the production and engineering team of Rattigan, Peter Beckman and Alex Bonney for the warmth and quality of the mix.

Once again Rattigan makes the French horn a thoroughly convincing jazz solo instrument and “The Freedom of Movement” is 100% a jazz record, and an excellent one at that. In no way is this some kind of tepid jazz/classical crossover. The presence of such an all star jazz line up immediately dispels that idea.

Ian Mann

 

Thanks to Ian Mann at The Jazz Mann May 2020

Jim Rattigan’s Pavillon at Eastside Jazz Club, Birmingham

Jim Rattigan’s Pavillon (Eastside Jazz Club, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, 7 November 2019. Review and photos by John Watson).

What a wonderful glow there is in the sound of the French horn. But it takes real courage to specialise in the instrument, for the horn is a beautiful but awesomely temperamental beast to master, ever ready to crack and send your notes splitting in all directions like shattered glass.

 

 

But Jim Rattigan is not only a master of the instrument, with a wealth of classical and studio experience, he has achieved the even greater distinction of becoming a fluent improviser in the jazz world. And he is an extraordinarily gifted composer and arranger too. He is currently on a UK tour with his large ensemble Pavillon, and their concert at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire’s Eastside Jazz Club was a triumph. (The title of the group, by the way, comes from the French word for the instrument’s bell.)

The inclusion of the French horn in jazz groups, though rare, goes back a long way: starting with the Claude Thornhill Orchestra and also the work of Julius Watkins in the Ernie Fields Band in the early 1940s; then the playing of Willie Ruff with Lionel Hampton; and in game-changing style the writing of Gil Evans for the classic Birth Of The Cool recordings by the Miles Davis Nonet. Composer Gunther Schuller – who was a horn player on some of those nonet recordings – further developed the use of the instrument in his own “third stream” creations. In later years, Mike Gibbs used the horn in some of his orchestra line-ups, but the instrument has largely remained a jazz rarity.

Rattigan’s work puts the French horn firmly back on the jazz map.

With a 12-strong line-up including trumpeters Robbie Robson and Steve Fishwick, saxophonists Martin Speake and James Allsopp, pianist Hans Koller and drummer Martin France, Pavillon boasts superb sololists as well as richly-textured ensembles and imaginative compositions.

 

 

The tour celebrates the release of the new Pavillon CD The Freedom Of Movement (Three Worlds Records), with witty tune titles including See You Suddenly, Crout’n Confusion, and Oh Yeah, Great, Thanks. This last piece was inspired, Rattigan told the audience, by the thought of a younger generation inheriting a parched planet spoiled by environmental chaos. There could hardly be a more serious subject, but the title Oh Yeah, Great, Thanks, always seems to make people laugh, said Jim. Well, that’s irony for you.

Other inspired pieces from the new album, and the earlier release Strong Tea (Pavillon Records), included Sweet Tamarind – with a triple-time beat rushing headlong into a fast 4/4 – and Horn Call, with the ensemble on a thrilling musical knife-edge between control and chaos.

We really must hear much more of this band in the years to come.

Pavillon’s current UK tour continues on 22 November at the Bear Club, Luton, and concludes on 17 January 2020 at Fleece Jazz, Stoke-by-Nayland, Colchester.

All rights acknowledged London Jazz News

Steve Harris’ review of The Freedom of Movement in the April issue of Hi-Fi News & Record Review

 

All rights acknowledged www.hifinews.com

Jim Rattigans’ Q&A in the November 2019 issue of Sussex Jazz Magazine

 

All rights acknowledged www.sussexjazzmag.com

The Freedom of Movement 09/19

Jim Rattigan’s PAVILLON

THE FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT

Release date: 18 October 2019

 

6th October – Herts Jazz, St. Albans

11^th October – Wakefield Jazz

15^th October – Norwich Jazz Club

19^th October – Jazz Cafe Posk, London (album launch)

5th November – Hastings Jazz Club

7^th November – Birmingham East Side Jazz Club

22^nd November – The Bear Club, Luton

17^th January 2020 – Fleece Jazz at Stoke by Nayland, Colchester

 

Jim Rattigan’s Pavillon returns with a new album and tour following the success of their debut release Strong Tea.  “I chose the title The Freedom of Movement to reflect my career, not only travelling the world performing but also moving between many different genres of music,” explains Rattigan.  “The freedom to do both these things has always excited me as a musician and in all the truly wonderful experiences that I have had, the highlight has undoubtedly been forming the group Pavillon.”

 

Rattigan has composed and arranged nine new compositions for Pavillon.  The 12-piece band features the following leading musicians, each one of a player of note: Martin Speake, Andy Panayi and Mick Foster on saxophone; Percy Pursglove, Steve Fishwick and Robbie Robson on trumpet; Mark Nightingale on tenor trombone; Sarah Williams on bass trombone; Hans Koller on piano; Dave Whitford on double bass and Martin France drums.  “It is a joy to write for these amazing and creative jazz musicians and I leave space in the compositions for creativity through improvisation,” says Rattigan.  “The music in The Freedom of Movement is reflective at times but also optimistic and I hope, uplifting.”

 

Ends

 

Notes

Jim Rattigan: www.jimrattigan.com

Jim Rattigan is one of the UK’s leading French horn players and widely recognised as a pioneer of the jazz French horn.  He has performed with many globally renowned artists including, Michael Brecker, Bill Frisell, Carla Bley, Charlie Haden, Paul McCartney, George Michael and Adele.  Rattigan has recorded with all the London symphony orchestras including soundtracks for the James Bond and Lord of the Rings series and he was a member of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra from 1989 to 1995.  After leaving the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Rattigan started playing jazz full time with the likes of Hans Koller, eventually forming his own quartet with Koller, Dave Whitford and Gene Calderazzo.  Working with musicians such as Percy Pursglove and Robbie Robson in various ensembles run by Mike Gibbs inspired Rattigan to form his own 12-piece band, named Pavillon after the French word for the bell of the French horn.