Big Visit Emma Rawicz & Gwilym Simcock

• 1 His Great Adventure 07:30
• 2 The Shape of a New Sun 07:29
• 3 The Drumbledrone 06:39
• 4 Optimum Friction 08:47
• 5 Visions 09:44
• 6 You've Changed 05:01
• Total Runtime 45:10

Info for Big Visit

The duo setting can be like a breath of fresh air, particularly for musicians who normally deal with the complexity and intricacy of much larger ventures. Saxophonist Emma Rawicz, whose star has been rising all over Europe since she joined the ACT label last year, runs and directs her own big band. Pianist Gwilym Simcock, whose ACT album “Good Days At Schloss Elmau” was nominated for the Mercury Prize, and has toured the world with Pat Metheny, will at any one time be working on a whole array of orchestral composition commissions.

So, when both these musicians approach this new duo project, they do so in an energised and enthusiastic spirit: “It’s a really joyful experience and a positive environment, says Simcock, who adds: “we just get on so well, her writing is so advanced, her attention to detail extraordinary.” Simcock says he not only appreciates Emma Rawicz’s technical mastery of the instrument, particularly her ease in the upper registers, there are musical consequences too: “With her, the ideas just flow from person to instrument, and that’s the ideal we all aspire to.”

The respect is mutual. “I was already a fan,” remembers Emma Rawicz, “so playing in a duo really is a dream come true for me.” Despite coming from different musical generations, there are strong affinities in their musical pasts: Simcock and Rawicz even studied with some of the same teachers at the same institutions.

“That means we have some very similar reference points in our musical make up,” says Rawicz. “Keith Jarrett, Jan Garbarek, Ralph Towner, as well as the whole folk-inflected lineage of British jazz lineage through John Taylor, Kenny Wheeler and Norma Winstone. All of that had a big impact.” And both concur that the act of bringing improvisation into the duo of a melody instrument and piano – a setting with classical music associations – reconnects them with the classical music which runs deep in both of their pasts.

The original opportunity for the two to meet properly for the first time came at a concert in February 2023 at the Royal Academy of Music, a belated celebration of Simcock’s 40th birthday, for which he had been commissioned to write new music. Rawicz’s memories are of first being excited that she had been picked to play on such a special project, but then of being mesmerized by Gwilym’s astonishing directive energy and eye for detail. Later they talked, both liked the idea of a duo, which was also being actively encouraged by ACT boss Andreas Brandis. The duo brings out commitment, enjoyment and a sense of forward momentum for both of them. “It’s special when we meet,” says Simcock. “We have met up as often as possible, and the duo has evolved every time we got together,” Rawicz enthuses.

The critics have loved their early performances. “Rawicz and Simcock excelled, both in the calmer pieces and their more energetic forays. Their communication and conversational interaction were superb,” wrote Polish writer Krzysztof Komorek of their first concert in London. For Deutschlandfunk Kultur, their Jazz Baltica appearance was an undoubted highlight of the 2024 festival.

The album was recorded in the quietly idyllic surroundings of Curtis Schwarz’s studio in the West Sussex countryside in Southern England – and on the Steinway “D” which Simcock originally selected for the studio. The mood at the sessions was “relaxed, easy,” Simcock remembers. They had the freedom to work throughout long days and to take breaks when they wanted. The result is an album in which they have successfully achieved fascinating contrasts between moods of calm on the one hand, and “going for it big-time” on the other – an approach which they allude to in the album's title, “Big Visit”.

The track titles on “Big Visit” often have a playful element. Gwilym Simcock’s “His Great Adventure”, the opening track, is written in dedication to the boldness of the pianist’s young son. Rawicz’s “The Drumbledrone” uses the Devonian word for a bumblebee; it reminds her of a time as a small child, before she had learned to distinguish Devonian – which her grandmother spoke – from standard English. Simcock’s “Optimum Friction” is a reference to the piano riff at the beginning having some “grindy” inner harmonies. There is a more wistful side too: “Shape of a new Sun” is a quote from the novel ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’ by Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Stevie Wonder’s “Visions” has a clever rhythmic twist. The final track, the ballad “You’ve Changed”, Rawicz says, "brings back to me a particularly happy memory of having learnt the tune by ear as a student."

What’s not to like? Emma Rawicz and Gwilym Simcock clearly both enjoy the duo setting. Critics and audiences are loving it. Their repertoire is growing all the time. They have started with a very strong album. It will be fascinating to watch this like-minded duo as it develops.

Emma Rawicz, tenor- and sopransaxophone
Gwilym Simcock, piano

Produced by Gwilym Simcock & Emma Rawicz Recorded in the U.K at Curtis Schwartz Studio by Curtis Schwartz on the 29th & 30th July 2024, Edited and mixed by Gwilym Simcock, Mastered by Curtis Schwartz

Emma Rawicz
Despite her young age of 22, she has already achieved an enormous amount: at 19 Rawicz independently released her critically acclaimed debut album, “Incantation” and singlehandedly managed an extensive UK release tour, including headline appearances at prestigious venues including the Jazz Cafe and Ronnie Scott's. Since then her international career has flourished, playing in over 15 countries, with extensive tours in Germany and Scandinavia in particular. In 2023 she made her label debut with one of the most important jazz labels in the world today, ACT, releasing her album “Chroma” to international acclaim, notably with the album being selected as the Guardian Album of the Month: “With ‘Chroma’ young British jazz star Emma Rawicz is taking admirable risks and continuing her warp-speed evolution ****” . ​

Rawicz’s achievements have been recognised: she is a winner of a Parliamentary Jazz Award, finalist at the Jazz FM Awards and the BBC Young Jazz Musician Competition. The Royal Academy of Music recently awarded Rawicz the Musician’s Company Silver Medal for excellence and contribution to the institution, an award not previously given to a jazz student. ​

Rawicz’s musical endeavours are broad: she tours with a range of projects, from duo with internationally renowned pianist Gwilym Simcock, to her regular touring quartet made up of stars of the UK jazz scene, to her 20-piece Jazz Orchestra, which she singlehandedly manages as well as composing and arranging exciting original music. ​

Rawicz has already had the privilege of working in important roles with some high profile festivals and established ensembles: in 2023 she was the Cambridge Jazz Festival’s Artist in Residence, a role that involved multiple appearances in the festival programme, culminating in a concert leading the Cambridge University Jazz Orchestra in a triumphant end to the festival, playing an all-original programme of Rawicz’s jazz orchestra music as well as a brand new commission for the ensemble. In addition to this, she has featured as a soloist with the BBC Concert Orchestra at Queen Elizabeth Hall in the 2022 London Jazz Festival, and with the German SWR Radio Big Band at a sold out Berlin Philharmonie in February 2024. ​

Looking ahead to later in 2024 and beyond, the future already promises to be exciting for Rawicz, as she heads into the studio twice more to record new music with previously unrecorded ensembles. 2024 will also see Rawicz graduate from the prestigious Royal Academy of Music and throw herself into a busy touring and recording schedule as her career continues to develop.

Rawicz is also a passionate educator, and is already in demand as a masterclass leader, most recently leading workshops in Denmark, Lithuania and Norway, as well as having a strong educational presence in the UK for musicians of all ages.

Jamie Cullum calls British saxophonist Emma Rawicz "an astonishing talent", Jazzwise Magazine "a force to be reckoned with", and the BBC: "the name Emma Rawicz is on everyone's lips right now".

Gwilym Simcock
has carved out a career as one of the most gifted pianists and imaginative composers on the European scene. He moves effortlessly between jazz and classical music, with a ‘harmonic sophistication and subtle dovetailing of musical traditions’. Gwilym has been hailed as a pianist of ‘exceptional’, ‘brilliant’ and ‘dazzling’ ability, and his music has been widely acclaimed as ‘engaging, exciting, often unexpected, melodically enthralling, complex yet hugely accessible’, and above all ‘wonderfully optimistic’.

Gwilym’s influences are wide ranging, from jazz legends including Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea, Jaco Pastorius and Pat Metheny, to classical composers including Maurice Ravel, Henri Dutilleux, Béla Bartók and Mark-Anthony Turnage. Although principally a jazz artist, Gwilym has composed numerous works for larger Classical ensemble that combine through-composed elements with improvisation, creating a sound that is distinctive and very much his own.

In the last few years, Gwilym has become renowned for his solo performances, releasing a critically acclaimed album ‘Good Days at Schloss Elmau’ in 2011 and touring throughout Europe and to places as far afield as Australia, the USA, Canada, Korea and China to name but a few.

Gwilym has toured extensively with the cream of British and international jazz artists including Dave Holland, Kenny Wheeler, Lee Konitz, Bill Bruford’s Earthworks, Bob Mintzer and Bobby McFerrin. He co-leads the Anglo-American Supergroup ‘The Impossible Gentlemen’ with British Guitar legend Mike Walker, Steve Rodby and Adam Nussbaum. He has toured with Classical virtuoso Nigel Kennedy. He toured for five years with U.S. guitar legend Pat Metheny, Antonio Sanchez and Linda May Han Oh. In 2024 he celebrates 20 years working with Tim Garland’s Lighthouse Trio and is about to release an album with rising star saxophonist Emma Rawicz.

Gwilym’s career is unique in spanning a huge range of musical settings. Testament to this is the fact that he was the first BBC New Generation Artist from a Jazz background, and that his album “Good Days at Schloss Elmau” was an album of the year in 2011 at the prestigious British music award the ‘Barclaycard Mercury Prize’. He has performed with orchestras, choirs, big bands, dancers as well as performing with musicians from diverse backgrounds including the classical, jazz, folk and rock traditions. Gwilym has also written music that has appeared on television and on stage, most recently composing the music for an adaptation of Edward Albee’s classic ‘A Delicate Balance’ at the Almeida theatre in London. He has frequently appeared on British television and radio and was guest presenter on ‘Saturday Classics’ on BBC Radio 3, and recently mentored and accompanied the finalists at the first BBC Young Jazz Musician of the Year awards on BBC4 TV.

Gwilym has led and recorded a variety of different projects. His debut album “Perception” was nominated for Best Album in the BBC Jazz Awards 2008 and has been critically acclaimed at home and abroad. Subsequent albums have featured various projects, and have been universally praised with reviews citing his work as “sublime”, “flawless”, “impressive” “a marker that few others are likely to equal”.

Awards include ‘Best Band’ at the Perrier Award, ‘Rising Star’ at the BBC Jazz Awards and the British Jazz Awards, and both “Jazz Musician of the Year” and “Best Band” (with The Impossible Gentlemen) at the Parliamentary Jazz Awards. His impressive formal education includes Trinity College of Music (London), Chetham’s School of Music (Manchester) – where he studied classical Piano, French Horn and composition – and the Royal Academy of Music (London) where he graduated from the jazz course with first class honours and the coveted ‘Principal’s Prize’ for outstanding achievement. Gwilym is Professor of Jazz Piano at the Royal Academy of Music, and is very much in demand for his teaching and masterclasses.

Booklet for Big Visit