Edition Records are today announcing the release of a new album from Tim Garland, entitled Return to the Fire, which re-unites the same quintet which made a recording, “Enter the Fire” in 1995. Release date is October 2nd.

The band is the same core quintet:

– Tim Garland (tenor, soprano saxophones and bass clarinet)
– Gerard Presencer (trumpet and flugelhorn)
– Jason Rebello (piano and fender rhodes)
– Jeremy Stacey (drums)
– Mick Hutton (double bass).

Additional musicians also appear: Tom Farmer (bass), Laurence Cottle (electric bass), James Maddren (drums) and Ant Law (guitar).

It is an out-and-out jazz album in the lineage of the acoustic quintets of Miles Davis. As Tim Garland explains in this interview with Dave Stapleton of Edition, it is honest and organic, we need this in our over produced, auto-tuned world.” Here is the interview:

Dave Stapleton:How did this album come about?

Tim Garland: I had a more or less annual call from Jeremy Stacey over the years saying that we should do a follow up to Enter the Fire. After a few long tours with Chick Corea, I started to think about this more, because my chats with Chick tend be about the heritage of jazz, and our different takes on it. There were some ballads I’d wanted to approach for ages and it seemed like the right time to “Return To The Fire” especially as it turns out its a whole 20 years since this group last recorded.

Youve said that the first album with this quintet line-up, ‘Enter the Fire’ (Linn, 1995) was the album that originally sparked Chick’s interest in you as a player. How did that happen?

Chick was given the original disc by Billy Childs and got in touch soon after, wondering where I was from. He loved the freedom and the compositions. It was the first time I’d felt comfortable playing music with such an American style heritage. The strong rhythm section of Jason Rebello, Jeremy Stacey and Mick Hutton helped with that confidence as they work together amazingly well. There is a true joy in swing when it is in their hands.

I had almost given up finishing the album and finding a label, things were hard and jazz musicians will tell you, they still are! But we pushed through and got heard by someone who really could make a difference. The strong connection with the history of our music has been brought out more in me, I think, through all these years with Chick, he looks forward and back at the same time and that’s how I aspire to keep creating.

What is like working with these guys again almost 20 years later?

It is spooky how, on listening back, the band is still so unmistakably us, the same as 20 years ago, but hopefully a little better! I never forgot the freedom, the risk taking, the authenticity of swing and the near anarchic humour of this band, nothing has changed!

Why release on vinyl only?

The tracks that really worked got us to about 40 minutes of music, perfect for vinyl and moreover, the album has a strong tribute quality about it from the days when all I had was vinyl. This was a recording using equipment from the 50’s and 60s, including the piano, it is so right that such a project is on this old format too. Also I applaud the come back of vinyl as we can ritualise, once more, the listening experience, instead of just “using” music like turning on air ventilation or the light in the fish tank!

The album appears to both look back and celebrate the music and the musicians but also look forward. The last track includes Fender Rhodes, is that an indication to what’s is coming in the future?

If you check out albums like Water Babies (Miles Davis), they represent a collection of tracks documenting a musical evolution, as opposed to just a fixed genre. This time when electric instruments got taken up by jazz musicians was so exciting. Its quite possible to express 21st century musical ideas and refer to these seminal times, the music is intrinsically so open. I also love the fact we were so old-school about the way we recorded, it is honest and organic, we need this in our over produced, auto-tuned world!

YES, the future is an electric band, but led by the heart, and Jason Rebello is brilliant with keyboards. Ant Law is playing an 8-string guitar which employs a rich bass register, we cover the bass in very unique ways. It has a jazz-rock slant from my early influences such as Chick and the Bill Bruford bands.

LINKS:Edition Records website
Enter the Fire at Linn Records