Julian Costello Quartet
Wednesday 19 September 2018
Between 7 and 7.30pm Julian and the band are offering a pre-gig open soundcheck and Q and A sessions at the concert. Those arriving early will be invited to see the band setting up, getting a good sound, discussing the set and rehearsing a few of the tunes. The session will be informal and the aim is to demystify what goes on behind the scenes, encourage new people to attend and so have a dialogue between audience and artists which will feed into a more intimate concert atmosphere later on. So if that side of a gig interests you then do come along early. Otherwise the music starts at 8.30pm as usual.
The Julian Costello Quartet featuring Julian Costello on Tenor and Soprano Sax, Maciek Pysz on Electric and Classical Guitars, Yuri Goloubev on Double Bass and Adam Teixeira on Drums/Percussion will be performing tunes from their highly acclaimed album Transitions released in September 2017. “It’s an inventive, good- humored album full of warmth and humanity…..The music encompasses free-form passages, flowing and often romantic melodies, insistent hooks (the lovely “Earworm” isn’t the only earworm on this album) and inventive soloing. Bruce Lindsay for All About Jazz. They are touring the UK and will be holding Q and A sessions with audiences and playing some new compositions. Tunes from the album have been featured on radio stations in France, Italy, Poland, Germany and the USA. Maciek and Julian played live in session on Jazzfm “Beautiful” Chris Philips and the US Critic ken Avis said “”Its one of those albums which creates it’s own mood, an album to listen to from beginning to end….and then come back to it, time after time. Musicianship in service of the music more than the ego”.
This quirky quartet loves to jam, is full of humour and has been playings concerts as a segue, a continious unbroken set. By the end of the first set, so much tension has built up that the release of pent-up applause by the audience is fantastic. They have been playing venues in London and the UK to sell out crowds.
Julian Costello is a London-based musician, composer and teacher. He has a scholarship from Trinity College of Music where he received a Postgraduate Certificate of Performance in the Saxophone. Julian writes the music for the Julian Costello Quartet, plays in a number of jazz big Bands, in a vocal/cello and guitar trio and in a world music trio that uses tabla, guitar/loops and soprano saxophone.
The critic Ian Mann wrote: “The combination of soprano saxophone and guitar was highly effective and Costello adopted a warm, clarinet like tone on his soprano … on an episodic piece that also featured some exquisite interplay between Pysz and Costello.”
“Julian Costello is a sax lyricist, telling his stories of life’s ups and downs with humour and even frailty at times. This is a great album.” Sammie Stein Jazz in Europe
“Once in a while, an album like this appears on the horizon, becoming the unputdownable “Earworm” that Costello portrays at the heart of his colourful recording”. Adrian Pallant London Jazz News
“It’s an inventive, good- humored album full of warmth and humanity…. inventive soloing”. Bruce Lindsay for All About Jazz
“Un très bon saxophoniste britannique…..nous avons trouvé des qualités à son disque. Groupe solide et musique captivante”. Culture Jazz France
“an intriguing album …….warm, playful, intimate, intricate, intense and most importantly not boring” Dave Jones in Jazz Journal.