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Ubuntu Music Signs Pianist Eddie Gripper For Debut Album Release
Eddie Gripper / Home
Release Date: 3rd March 2023
CD & Digital Formats / UBU0133
Eddie Gripper (Photographer: Muhammad Saad)
Ubuntu Music is delighted to announce the upcoming release of Home, the debut album from pianist/composer Eddie Gripper, which will be available from 3rd March 2023.
Born and raised in Burford, Oxfordshire, Eddie first started learning the piano at age 11. In 2019, he began to study Jazz under the tutelage of Huw Warren at Cardiff University, graduating with First Class Honours in 2021. Since then, Eddie has established himself as a prominent pianist/improviser, composer, and educator in the Southwest region, expressing a broad interest in musical styles, including jazz, folk and electronic music.
Home, Eddie’s debut album, consists of a traditional trio format and exhibits a keen rhythmic focus. The development of this vocabulary is evident from beginning to end; metrically challenging grooves are paired with rich, elegant harmonies, culminating in an outcome that is both provocative and gratifying. The stylistic range of compositions (through choice of instrumentation and arrangement) helps to support an overall, arcing narrative. Each track is a journey through time and space - beginning and finishing at a familiar and comforting destination before moving onto new or subtly developed ideas. The trio breathes together as one homogeneous sound, with individual players taking to the spotlight to elaborate on their own interpretations of the music at hand.
‘Home’ album cover image (Photographer: Chris Bowman)
Eddie explains: “This album really came out of nowhere for me. Once Covid hit and we all went into lockdown, that’s when I really started to take writing music seriously. All of the music featured on this album was written in the space of a year, starting in Spring 2021. It was never supposed to be an album or, at least, I never had that intention from the outset; the whole process was totally serendipitous! This record encapsulates a very important moment in my life - the exact moment where the line was crossed from wanting to write to needing to write.”
Eddie continues: “The past few years of my life have been particularly turbulent. Amongst all the personal experiences that have inspired the creation of this record, the idea of enjoying what you have while you have it and cherishing that fondness is the most significant. As a band, all three of us can certainly relate to this notion. At the time of recording the three of us were imminently due to go our separate ways for the indefinite future - with Ursula Harrison (bass) to Newfoundland and Isaac Zuckerman (drums) to Portland, OR. Our camaraderie and close friendship certainly shines through on this record and, for me, that is the real the icing on the cake. This album is an honest portrait of the events that have shaped not only who I am as a person but, more importantly, as an artist.”
Left to right: Ursula Harrison, Isaac Zuckerman, Eddie Gripper (Photographer: Muhammad Saad)
Eddie describes his new relationship with Ubuntu Music: “Having the opportunity to work with the team behind Ubuntu has been an absolute dream. Martin’s (Hummel) support and propriety throughout the whole creative process has encouraged me to go above and beyond. It is reassuring to know that ‘Home’ has found its right home - here at Ubuntu. I already have a handful of ideas for my next project, and I look forward to expanding and developing our relationship further in the coming years.”
Martin Hummel, Director of Ubuntu Music, concludes: “It was such a pleasure to connect with Eddie and to discover his music. Eddie is a talented, driven and determined individual whose music is a combination of innocence with depth and warmth throughout. From the first piece, it brought a smile to my face and joy to my heart. We are please to welcome Eddie to the Ubuntu Music Family.”
For further information, please contact:
Eddie Gripper (Artist): ed.gripper@gmail.com
Emma Perry (UK Publicity): emmasarahperry@gmail.com
Martin Hummel/Ubuntu Music (Worldwide): martin@ubuntumanagementgroup.com
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Ubuntu Music Signs Drummer Tristan Banks For Debut Album Release
Tristan Banks / View From Above
Release Date: 31st March 2023
CD, Digital & Vinyl Formats / UBU0131
Tristan Banks (self-portrait)
Ubuntu Music is delighted to announce the upcoming release of View From Above, the debut album from UK drummer/composer/producer Tristan Banks, which will be released on 31st March 2023.
Tristan draws on over 30 years of experience as a sideman for many Grammy award-winning and platinum selling artists. Mixing influences from the jazz, Latin jazz and fusion idioms, the music is a unique combination of high-octane virtuosic performance and sublimely melodic composition. Banks brings together his long-standing musical friends--Paul Booth (saxes), John Crawford (piano) and Davide Mantovani (bass)--to articulate his musical vision.
Left to right: Tristan Banks, Davide Mantovani, Paul Booth, John Crawford (Photographer: Kaw Regis)
Tristan explains: “The idea was to push the acoustic jazz quartet format to the limit, being able to re-image the possibilities that the classic saxophone, piano, bass, drums line-up can manifest, and by being conscious of the sonic traditions that are typically replayed to confirm the listeners tastes while avoiding the genres timbral clichés.”
Tristan continues: “I have always had an interest in music that makes you move as well as simulating the mind with musical interplay and deeper compositional concepts, so the idea was to select tunes that I had written over the last 15 years and record them in a live performance setting with no click track or isolation recording techniques. This created a perfect environment to generate and capture the musical energy of the performance.”
Tristan Banks (Photographer: Greg Heath)
Concerning his new relationship with Ubuntu Music, Tristan elaborates: “Ubuntu feels like the perfect fit for me, with many of my musical friends releasing their music through the label, and as the UK jazz scene goes from strength to strength, I’m really happy to be working with Martin (Hummel) to bring my music into the world.”
Martin Hummel, Director of Ubuntu Music, concludes: “I’ve been well-aware of Tristan’s excellent musicianship for some time. He had a key role in TRYPL’s debut album last year, and frequently plays with Paul Booth, who has released a number of albums on the label. We’re thrilled to have Tristan join the Ubuntu Music Family for his debut release. With an outstanding line-up of musicians, this will be one for all to thoroughly enjoy.”
For further information, please contact:
Tristan Banks (Artist): tribanks@gmail.com
Rupert Burley (Dynamic Agency): rupert@dynamicagency.co.uk
Martin Hummel/Ubuntu Music (Worldwide): martin@ubuntumanagementgroup.com
BIOGRAPHY
Tristan Banks has built a reputation as a knowledgeable, versatile and authentic world-class drummer and percussionist throughout his 30-year career as a recording artist and session musician. He has worked with many artists covering a wide field of musical genres including Roy Ayers, Steve Winwood, Dave Valentin, Beverley Knight, Hexagonal, David Gilmour, Peter King, Lewis Taylor, Guy Barker, Marcos Valle, Liane Carroll, Snowboy, Terry Callier, Da Lata, Jim Mullen, Carleen Anderson and Mayra Andrade, Ben Hillier (U2, Depeche Mode, Blur), Mike Lindup (Level 42), Hamish Stuart (Average White Band), Steve Howe (Yes), The Lion King (UK tour), Thriller Live (European, Brazilian tours), MC Conrad, Alexander O'Neal, Ive Mendes, Chico Cesar and Joe Lee Wilson (Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins).
As a touring artist he has performed in many of the world’s top venues including Royal Festival Hall, Central Park (NYC), Royal Albert Hall, Joe’s Pub (NYC), Queen Elizabeth Hall, Hammersmith Odeon, Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, North Sea Jazz Festivals, Shepherds Bush Empire, Blue Note (Tokyo), V Festival, Reading Festival, WOMAD Festivals and Glastonbury Festival.
Since 2022, Tristan has also been curator and venue manager at The Verdict Jazz Club in Brighton, UK, restarting the venue after its closure due to the global pandemic of 2020, The Verdict has already received a nomination for Parliamentary Jazz Award Venue of the Year 2022. Many top UK and International Jazz artists have most recently played the club including Larry Goldings, Sarah Jane Morris, Ari Hoenig, Jim Mullen, Tony Kofi, David Binney, Claire Martin, Tony Remy, Liane Carroll, Laurence Cottle, B D Lenz, Yolanda Charles, Ivo Neame, Tom Ollendorff, Simon Spillett, Hexagonal, Ant Law, Emma Rawicz, Jackson Mathod as well as a number of outstanding Ubuntu Music recording artists--Quentin Collins, Matt Ridley, Paul Booth, Alina Bzhezhinska, Brandon Allen, Nigel Price, TRYPL, QOW Trio, Andrew McCormack and Dave O’Higgins.
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