To the Earth Dinosaur

• 1 To The Earth 07:26
• 2 Slow Loris 07:25
• 3 Mosking 07:31
• 4 Held By Water 03:24
• 5 Absinthe 06:47
• 6 Banning Street Blues 05:37
• 7 For One 03:04
• Total Runtime 41:14

Info for To the Earth

Dinosaur’s latest offering finds them in a more acoustic setting, presenting brand new material that reflects on 10 years of miraculous interplay, whilst maintaining the sonic elasticity of their previous, more “plugged-in” album ‘Wonder Trail’. Playing the compositions of bandleader and multi-award winning composer, Laura Jurd, Dinosaur explores Laura’s distinctive yet ever-evolving music with playful abandon and technical prowess, earning them a reputation as some of the most remarkable UK jazz musicians of their generation. Having played at some of the world’s most iconic jazz festivals including North Sea, Molde and Montréal, the band goes from strength to strength as they enter their 10th year of trumpet-led, improvisatory magic.

Mercury-nominated, British Jazz supergroup Dinosaur return with the announcement of their highly anticipated 3rd album ‘To The Earth’, which is due for release on Edition Records this May.

The new record celebrates a decade of music-making as a band and is accompanied by a further announcement of new EU and UK tour dates, including their most ambitious UK show to-date at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London.

‘To The Earth’ is vertiginous in its scope carrying the listener through a vast array of moods and themes, whilst also taking the band into new territories across moments of revelatory spontaneous composition. Tracks such as ‘Slow Loris’ see clarinet-like synth blend seamlessly with Conor Chaplin’s bassline whilst the band effortlessly flit between tumultuous and mellifluous motifs. Whereas further into the album tracks such as ‘Held By Water’ sees the band lean the acoustic sound of the new record into new London jazz crossover domain with drummer Corrie Dick’s drum machine-esque rhythms and pianist Elliot Galvin’s almost ambient electronic swells before developing into a more Middle Eastern based Trumpet groove. These intricacies and multifarious journeys are described by jazz pianist Liam Noble in the album’s liner notes as being “peculiarly British” with “a lightness of touch and occasional flirtation with silliness, but never too much.”

Laura cites British musicians such as Liam Noble, Chris Batchelor and Huw Warren as well as Norwegian piano trio ‘Moskus’ and more historic artists such as Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus and Miles Davis all as key influences on this music. However, it’s clear that the significance of these influences is found in Laura and the band’s ability to build on these ideas throughout their flexible career of achievements rather than mimic them.

Speaking about the new album, Laura says:

“My discography to date, as Dinosaur and albums under my name, is the result of an unavoidable necessity to express and share a wealth of musical interests – from folk influenced counterpoint, to song-writing, Stravinsky-inspired harmony to the use of analog synthesis and looped grooves. Whilst this may well dizzy the narrative surrounding my output, jazz (in its most typical form) has always played a huge role in my life and the life of this band.

‘To The Earth’ is simply a collection of joyfully crafted melodies, which we can dive into and explore as improvisers. It makes so much sense that this is the music to surface after a decade of playing together. This way of making music has been there from the very beginning and something we have developed together over the last 10 years.

I am constantly knocked out by the musicianship and sense of ensemble I experience in Dinosaur. Playing with Elliot, Corrie and Conor, feels like putting on the most comfortable pair of shoes – where anything from sitting back in the warmth of it all, running with the smallest of ideas to taking risks can be executed with utmost presence … trust. A space in which the sounds take care of us and we take care of them.”

Laura Jurd, trumpet
Elliot Galvin, piano
Conor Chaplin, double bass
Corrie Dick, drums

Laura Jurd
is one of the hottest instrumentalists in jazz at the moment and BBC New Generation Artist for 2015-2017. Her band Dinosaur is a group of extraordinary young musicians who have been playing together for six years and share improvisational skills, musical influences ranging from folk to minimalism, jazz to rock music, and a freshness and inspiration that will make you love music all over again. Tonight they perform music from their new album released with Edition Records, Together, As One.

Jurd embraces melody, harmony and groove as much as she provokes with blasts of dissonance and gutsy angularity. It’s the combination of sweet and grinding, soothing and fiery that makes for such compelling listening. (AllAboutJazz)

This album contains no booklet.