After being featured as an integral part of Matthew Halsall’s Gondwana Orchestra, Welsh harpist Amanda Whiting steps out on her own to release a brilliant and mesmerizing new full-length album on Jazzman Records, titled After Dark.

Highly influenced by jazz harp pioneers Alice Coltrane and Dorothy Ashby, this remarkable 11-track album captures the nocturnal mood suggested by the album’s title, featuring a selection of beautiful compositions that are spiritual, meditative, and soulful. Whiting is backed nicely on the session by bassist Aidan Thorne and drummer John Reynolds, whom provide a nice foundational groove throughout the recording. Madrid-based flautist Chip Wickham, who is also one of the most forward-thinking artists currently in jazz, also gust appears on three of the tracks. The album flows nicely from track to track, making this the kind of album that you want to listen to from start to finish in one setting.

Definitely one of the standout recordings of the year, and what I expect to be just the beginning of great music to come from this incredible artist. It’s really great to see harpists like Whiting, Brandee Younger (who will also be releasing a new album on Impulse! later this year) making waves and elevating the instrument in jazz, and building off the groundbreaking foundation that Alice Coltrane and Dorothy Ashby established during the sixties and seventies.

Amanda Whiting — ‘After Dark’
(Jazzman Records)

1. Time Stands Still
2. Messed Up
3. Who Knows
4. Stay For One
5. Strut Your Stuff
6. After Dark
7. Leave Me Be
8. The Feist
9. Gone
10. Just Blue
11. Back To It

BUY RECORD

• Jazz
• Spiritual Jazz