REVIEWS
THINKING
ALLOWED
‘His
masterful adaptations of pieces from the classical repertoire are accomplished,
insightful and endlessly fascinating .... he moves seamlessly between the
written and improvised and takes the music in fresh and unexpected
directions.’
Stuart
Nicholson, Jazzwise
‘The
David Rees-Williams Trio have just got better and better …… their new
recording of jazz forays into the classical repertoire is just magical.'
Guy
Dammann, The Guardian
‘Rees-Williams
can cast a Bach prelude in exotic colours, but he and his colleagues are equally
at home with Scarlatti, Grieg and Cesar Franck - they deserve a wider audience
among jazz fans and classical diehards.’
Clive
Davis, Sunday Times
‘Rees-Williams
has taken the Jacques Loussier style of swinging Bach way further, tackling
Franck, Grieg and Ravel with his piano trio while adding
Sholto
Byrnes, First Post
‘Jacques
Loussier may have done it first but David Rees-Williams does it better. This
trio continually presents us with startlingly new perspectives on old
compositions, without making fun of the composers. They capture the romanticism
of Grieg as well as the implicit lyricism of Bach and the playfulness of Mozart.
It is to be hoped that this CD and their previous albums will make them much
more widely known. They certainly deserve it.’
Tony
Augarde, MusicWeb
'This piano trio delight in putting the improvisation back into classical music.'
Editor's Choice, HMV Choice
‘David
Rees-Williams’ rendition of ‘When I am laid in earth’ by Henry Purcell
literally stole my breath….I have been reduced to a groupie….David played a
magical set of syncopated Stanford, Bach and the ethereal Purcell…the trio far
outstrips anything achieved by Jacques Loussier or the Swingles. They are
on another plane and deserve huge recognition’
Jon
Snow, Evening Standard
‘The
third release by the David Rees-Williams Trio, whose speciality is to place
classical themes in the context of the jazz piano trio, is the best by far.’
Independent
on Sunday
‘David
Rees-Williams excellent trio breathes new life into work by composers who were
themselves improvisers…..the Rees-Williams disc is a delight.’
The
Independent
‘the
ingenuity of the arrangements: Purcell’s Ground in E minor and a Buxtehude
gigue, not to mention Elgar’s Chanson de Matin, turn out to be fertile
material for the pianist and his partners……..provocative fare for the
general listener…this is a set that yields its secrets at its own
discreet pace.’
Sunday
Times
‘The
Canterbury-based pianist must be weary of hearing the comparisons with Jacques
Loussier. His intelligent improvisations on Ravel, Bach and Purcell have a
character all their own.’
Sunday
Times Top 10 of 2004
‘….fresh
and inspiring music.’
Jazzwise
Magazine
‘…Hidden
Colours…walks a tightrope between classical and jazz, reworking existing tunes
to stunning effect….they have a contender for album of the year.’
Editor’s
Choice, HMV Choice
‘..an
accomplished pianist whose repertoire contains some of the most gracefully
eloquent themes ever composed…he is clearly an impassioned collector of great
tunes, wherever they come from.’
The
Guardian
‘these
are not jazzed-up classics but genuine reinterpretations that never lose sight
of their musical roots’
Rob
Cowan, BBC Radio 3
‘Rees-Williams
is an improviser with a voice of his own. It may be the fate of Hidden Colours
to become hip background music but this album is much smarter than that.’
The
Times
‘...all
but the cloth-eared will find the Rees-Williams disc a delight.’
Sholto
Byrnes, Independent on Sunday
‘It
was delightful to hear these exceptionally gifted musicians exploring and
re-inventing a whole range of unlikely music.’
Xenophone
Kelsey, Ripon Gazette