Circeo is the Dave Storey Trio’s third full-length album, a collection of pieces which further confirms their status as a leading ensemble on London’s bristling creative jazz scene, showcasing not only their mastery of contemporary straight-ahead jazz but also ease at which they build their own structures within it.
While 2020’s Jouska found the band invigorated from time on the road, recording straight to tape at London’s Fish Factory Studios, this outing was recorded at the tail end of 2021, when performing opportunities had been far from abundant. The album – recorded in a day at North London’s independent creative hub New River Studios – has a focus which defies these challenging circumstances, and there is an emphasis on community; music played with friends, and recorded, mixed and mastered by a friend, London’s creative polymath Alex Bonney. It sounds live, warm, punchy and incisive, and the musical rapport of the three musicians is immediately evident from the first listen.
Like its predecessors, this album is a compelling and rewarding document of a jazz group at the height of its powers, taking collective inspiration from – but never shackled by – the great trios in jazz history.
James Allsopp - saxophone
Conor Chaplin - double bass
Dave Storey - drums
credits
released May 5, 2023
Released on Clonmell Jazz Social
Tracks 1,2,3,4,5 composed by James Allsopp
Track 6 composed by Johny Green
Recorded on 14th December 2021 at New River Studios
Recorded, mixed & mastered by Alex Bonney
Produced by Dave Storey
Artwork by Harry Christelis
Design by Pedro Velasco & Harry Christelis
I saw most of these guys play in many different lineups many years ago but here all together they show such inventiveness and telepathy and swing.
Great stuff. auster boy south
The bassist who's spent much of his career pushing against jazz traditions finds value in embracing them, to some degree, with a nimble quartet of fellows. Bandcamp Album of the Day Dec 7, 2016