For over a decade, composer, trumpeter, producer, DJ and founder of Gondwana Records, Matthew Halsall has consistently been at the forefront of UK’s thriving jazz scene. His 2012 masterpiece Fletcher Moss Park was named one of BeatCaffeine’s best albums of the decade. He returns with his first full-length recording as a leader since 2015, titled Salute To The Sun, featuring a brilliant new band that includes some of the finest young musicians currently residing in Manchester.

Inspired by ambient rainforest, jungle field recordings and the sounds of nature, this seven-track recording has an overall earthy and organic tone, beautifully blending Halsall’s brilliant trumpet playing with deep spiritual jazz grooves, hypnotic harp melodies, and atmospheric percussion rhythms featuring kalimba, marimba, shakers, and more.

This stellar new band that Halsall assembled for this recording includes flautist and saxophonist Matt Cliffe , harpist Maddie Herbert, pianist Liviu Gheorghe, drummer Alan Taylor, percussionist Jack McCarthy, and long-time collaborator, bassist, Gavin Barras. The group were all based in Manchester so that they could rehearse every week at Halsall’s home studio, which is the same place that the album was recorded. As heard on recording, all the rehearsal time definitely payed off, with the musicians almost telepathically locked in to one another.

Overall, this is truly an incredible recording and arguably one of Halsall’s best and most complete sessions to date. From the crisp feeling of early Autumn mornings to the sound of light rainfall and lush ambient tropical tones, Salute To The Sun captures the essence of nature’s atmospheric beauty and spiritualism.

Matthew Halsall — ‘Salute to the Sun’
(Gondwana Records)

1. Harmony with Nature
2. Joyful Spirits of the Universe
3. Canopy & Stars
4. Mindfulness Meditations
5. Tropical Landscapes
6. Salute to the Sun
7. The Energy of Life

BUY RECORD

• Jazz
• New Releases
• Spiritual Jazz