“The album evolved over a few years. I instinctively loved the marriage of jazz and ambient electronica, and sketched a few ideas whenever I could. This culminated in a 3-month phase when it became the focus of my attention. I scored horns, piano, bass and string parts, but the key players were given the freedom to improvise and these performances took the music to the next level.”
Bridging the Gap
The relationship between jazz and electronic music has been getting deeper in recent years. These days it’s more fruitful than ever. On the one hand, we have young acts like GoGo Penguin, The Kandinsky Effect, Hidden Orchestra or Chat Noir to name just a few, stretching and blurring boundaries, offering something fresh and uniquely their own. On the other hand, we have influential jazz veterans like Erik Truffaz, Nils Petter Molvaer and Bugge Wesseltoft again to name just a few, who have been engaging with the wonders of electronic music for years now, and recently have deepened that engagement with some fantastic genre-defying releases.
In June 2014, via Here And Now Recordings, a new creative force carrying the alias Ambient Jazz Ensemble joined this hybrid, bubbling arena, and made quite an entrance with its debut album, Suite Shop—a brilliant 10-track journey distinctively, effortlessly and intensely bridging the gap between jazz and electronic music. There is a mastermind behind AJE (musician and producer Colin Baldry), who also contributes guitars and keyboards on top of composing the music and sitting in the producer chair, but Suite Shop is a distinct collaborative effort, containing rich, multilayered, dynamic and unified sonic streams (suites) in which each member’s contribution serves as an integral part. Interaction and mutual intensification are two key elements that make each stream highly effective throughout. Although committed to the group effort, this battery of talented musicians—which besides drums, bass, keyboards and guitars also includes a brass section and a string section—generates plenty of space to let every member’s spell shine. And these guys are quite skillful and experienced. One of the main charms of Suite Shop is, without a doubt, its raw, live feel. Studio wizardry and electronic enhancement are quite involved, but just in the right doses to add more depth and spice while keeping the live energy, warmth and human touch effective. Had I stumbled across AJE in 2014, Suite Shop would have certainly been covered in the igloo pages earlier, and included in our Year End Best of List. Hopefully AJE is here to stay.
The story?
Baldry :: I am a producer & tv composer working from my studio near Oxford, UK. Originally from the Midlands, I spent most of my formative years in London, initially studying Double Bass at the Guildhall School of Music, then working as a session bass player in the rock and pop world. Via songwriting and production for labels & publishers including Virgin, Motown, Capitol & Warner Chappell, I started writing music for film and TV, and have been scoring music to a brief or to picture ever since. I guess, as relief from these constraints, there was always an instinct to write something more jazz influenced & AJE provided that along with the freedom to experiment.
I have had the privilege of working with the cream of UK session players and orchestras in my work as a TV and production music composer. Finn Peters (saxophone), Neil Cowley (piano and rhodes piano) and Ben Reynolds (drums) are 3 such players I’ve called on several times, so when it came to choosing players for AJE they made it an easy decision. Neil was great doing his thing and was a perfect match for the AJE vibe. I love Finn’s natural leftfield approach which prevented the sax contribution from being too bland in the AJE sound. Chris Hill was Jamie Cullum’s bassist at the time, a friend & recommendation of Ben’s, it meant I could be behind the board & produce. Ben had already played on a few of the tunes whilst over doing sessions for other projects and his playing was instrumental in how some of the tracks evolved.
I met JC (John Cunningham, label boss at Here And Now Recordings) through a mutual friend, a producer, at a party. He loved the album and, although it was on the fringe of the label’s core genre, he saw the value of the Electronica ingredient and its capacity for remixing. A creative two way relationship has emerged, AJE has influenced the label to look at the potential of a more cinematic sound, as well as the label influencing future AJE tracks and mixes.
Sound & style?
Baldry :: The AJE sound is predominantly a chilled ambient experience but most tracks build, expanding into more dense layers or chordal interest. Drums are key to keeping it light yet intricate, solo instruments are treated, subtle electronica gives it a modern dimension, and orchestral textures provide a cinematic intensity. Hopefully it works on many levels depending on the circumstances in which you’re listening.
The album?
Baldry :: The album evolved over a few years. I instinctively loved the marriage of jazz and ambient electronica, and sketched a few ideas whenever I could. This culminated in a 3 month phase when it became the focus of my attention. I scored horns, piano, bass and string parts, but the key players were given the freedom to improvise and these performances took the music to the next level. All sessions were recorded at my own studio apart from the strings which we did in London. It was then a case of choosing & editing takes, some great stuff falling by the wayside because of the constraints of the chilled nature of the tracks, but some beautiful moments coming from letting the guys play outside the box at times.
The album was mixed by George Shilling. I needed fresh ears, I’d lived with some of the tracks for a long time; I also needed an engineer’s experience of mixing the live instruments, so as his studio is close to mine it made it logistically simple. Mastering was done at Electric mastering by Guy Davie who I’ve used before & trust implicitly. They have an old 70s EMI desk which sounds beautiful, plus loads of valve outboard gear. The title ‘Suite Shop’ was just one of those phrases/puns I’d had in my subconscious, I always thought of the album as a group of suites, not a concept album but loosely connected pieces of music.
I mentioned how the album evolved; in the early stages the concept also evolved, I’d set out initially to be more arty, clever, but I realized the music needed to be accessible, to draw the listener in immediately so they would hopefully uncover the deeper layers on future listening.
Memorable reaction?
Baldry :: The most leftfield reaction came from an enthusiast in Detroit who got in touch with ‘Here & Now’ because he was so inspired by the track ‘Quiet Hero’ he wanted to use it as the backdrop to a documentary; it was to highlight the positivity of individuals (Quiet Heroes) rebuilding the infrastructure of Detroit, contrary to the downbeat negativity constantly being circulated about the city. He claimed he’d listened to it at least 300 times!
On heavy rotation?
Baldry :: A couple of albums that I’m listening to currently are the new Submotion Orchestra album ‘Alium’ & the Slowly Rolling Camera EP ‘Into The Shadow’, 2 British vocal projects that are close to the AJE vibe. Currently always played on the iPods are old favourites such as 70s Steely Dan tracks, and the Miles Davies 60s quintet albums, especially Miles In The Sky, Kilimanjaro and Milestones; pure nostalgia!
Live?
Baldry :: As yet AJE has not played live, although plans are in place. It’s an enticing prospect, a live set will give scope for more improvisation and a few surprises which will keep it fresh; but I’d like to keep it from getting over the top & let the grooves keep it exciting, percussion maybe key. Also, more orchestral outros such as the AJE ‘Jazz Face’ Remix or Quiet Hero would add intensity. I have sketched the 2nd album with this in mind and plan to rehearse the players for the recording of the next album together with rehearsing tracks for a live set. Festivals anyone …? Watch this space.
Future plans?
Baldry :: Currently, we have complied a fantastic set of reworks & remixes of the Suite Shop album. Every track has undergone magical & diverse transformations from a talented array of remixers… (and myself!). Again, George Shilling has been on hand with some of the mixes & yesterday we mastered the set of tracks at Electric Mastering. As an artist I was dubious about how some of those more special ideas & tracks might be ‘butchered’ but I’ve been impressed by the musicality and approach to the mixes; a few surprises, several new spins, but, on the whole, an incredible musical journey. The ‘reworked’ album is due to be released in May.
Ambient Jazz Ensemble | Bandcamp | Here And Now | CD: Juno / Amazon
