John-Paul Muir: 'Home Now'
When I began my podcast, Harmonious World, it was with the intention of featuring music across genres and from around the world. 'Home Now', the new album from London-based New Zealand pianist and composer John-Paul Muir on Ubuntu Music ticks all of those boxes with panache.
Unashamedly a jazz album, Home Now is nevertheless proud of its classical influences. That is true of the compositions and the performances of Muir himself and also his fellow band members.
Unashamedly a jazz album, Home Now is nevertheless proud of its classical influences. That is true of the compositions and the performances of Muir himself and also his fellow band members.
John-Paul’s many accolades across both classical and jazz disciplines include winning the Kerikeri International Piano Competition, the New Zealand National Concerto Competition and the New Zealand National Young Performer of the Year Awards. His move to London to study with senior professor Joan Havill at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama inspired a shift in focus to jazz and improvisation, resulting in the stunning Home Now.
The five pieces - Sunlight, Home Now, Silent Acknowledgement, Balm and Overjoyed - are a wonderful collaboration between Muir (piano), Brigitte Beraha (vocals), George Crowley (bass clarinet, tenor saxophone), Jakub Cywiński (double bass) and Eric Ford (drums). The atmospheric Balm and the title track in particular are evocative in different ways, showing off the entire ensemble and Muir's compositional skills, with his beautiful piano playing acting as sonic glue, holding it all together.
John-Paul says: "The title track Home Now paints a picture of waking up in a new and exciting city, and simultaneously feeling a nostalgic pull from the past; ultimately finding a sense of peace and home within that isn’t necessarily tied to a physical place. It is a good representation of the way the record shines a light on some very specific yet hard to describe aspects of human experience. It also showcases my collaboration with lyricist Anjali Bhat, and the compositional style that I have arrived at after a journey collecting inspiration from many stops along the way. The record is imbued with the warmth and joy of that arrival."
The five pieces - Sunlight, Home Now, Silent Acknowledgement, Balm and Overjoyed - are a wonderful collaboration between Muir (piano), Brigitte Beraha (vocals), George Crowley (bass clarinet, tenor saxophone), Jakub Cywiński (double bass) and Eric Ford (drums). The atmospheric Balm and the title track in particular are evocative in different ways, showing off the entire ensemble and Muir's compositional skills, with his beautiful piano playing acting as sonic glue, holding it all together.
John-Paul says: "The title track Home Now paints a picture of waking up in a new and exciting city, and simultaneously feeling a nostalgic pull from the past; ultimately finding a sense of peace and home within that isn’t necessarily tied to a physical place. It is a good representation of the way the record shines a light on some very specific yet hard to describe aspects of human experience. It also showcases my collaboration with lyricist Anjali Bhat, and the compositional style that I have arrived at after a journey collecting inspiration from many stops along the way. The record is imbued with the warmth and joy of that arrival."
It will be exciting to see where the freelance life of a pianist takes John-Paul. He has already become Senior Programme Manager of the Bloomsbury Festival, alongside a weekly jazz night at Bloomsbury's Goodenough College featuring guest musicians from the UK jazz scene and beyond.
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