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CD
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KK 129CD
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A kind of hush pervades throughout Standards Vol. VI, the latest release by The National Jazz Trio of Scotland, the ironically named project helmed by Falkirk's musical polymath, Bill Wells, that is neither a trio, nor a jazz band. If this collection of ten covers probably comes closest to the latter in its late-night renditions of actual standards, the presence of long-term NJToS member and collaborator Aby Vulliamy as the record's lone vocalist adds to its solitary air. Vulliamy played viola on Everything's Getting Older, Wells's 2011 collaboration with Arab Strap vocalist Aidan Moffat. Wells went on to play melodica on Vulliamy's solo record, Spin Cycle (KK 108CD/LP, 2018). With the intent of producing the saddest heartbreak record ever made, Wells sourced a back catalog of miniature epics, reinterpreting each tale of everyday yearning to make a canon of melancholy loungecore designed for nights in alone, if not always lonely. Beyond the concept of isolation behind Standards Vol. VI, practical concerns added to the affair, with Wells recording backing tracks at home in Glasgow, while Vulliamy added her voice from her home in Yorkshire. Shades of Margo Guryan and Claudine Longet abound in Vulliamy's delivery over Wells's woozy, low-slung guitar and piano, with samples culled from a session with Teenage Fanclub's Norman Blake. Little electronic percussive clicks and hisses lend things an even more otherworldly air on a record bookended by opener, Donovan's proto hippy classic, "Catch The Wind", and Dixieland miniature, "Careless Love". The eight points in between take in a first half led by The Beatles' normally jaunty "We Can Work It Out", flipping the loveable perky optimism for something more soul searching. This is followed by "I Wish You Love", Albert Beach's English language version of French songwriter Charles Trenet's evergreen, "Que reste-t-il de nos amours". The Bee Gees lost classic, "To Love Somebody", is next, with more impossible to answer questions coming in "Why Can't I?" The latter is a Rodgers and Hart composition that first appeared in the duo's 1930 Broadway musical, Spring is Here. The second half of Standards Vol. VI leads with the much-covered evocation from the 1964 hit musical, Fiddler on the Roof. This is followed by Billy Rose and Dave Dreyer's showbiz staple, "Me and My Shadow". While made famous by showbiz double acts ranging from Frank and Sammy to Robbie and Jonathan, here it flies decidedly solo. Johnny Mercer and Hoagy Carmichael's "Skylark" comes next, a song inspired by Mercer's yearning for Judy Garland. The most downbeat take on Bacharach and David's "The Look of Love" comes next, ushering in the short farewell of "Careless Love".
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LP
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KK 129LP
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LP version. Edition of 300. A kind of hush pervades throughout Standards Vol. VI, the latest release by The National Jazz Trio of Scotland, the ironically named project helmed by Falkirk's musical polymath, Bill Wells, that is neither a trio, nor a jazz band. If this collection of ten covers probably comes closest to the latter in its late-night renditions of actual standards, the presence of long-term NJToS member and collaborator Aby Vulliamy as the record's lone vocalist adds to its solitary air. Vulliamy played viola on Everything's Getting Older, Wells's 2011 collaboration with Arab Strap vocalist Aidan Moffat. Wells went on to play melodica on Vulliamy's solo record, Spin Cycle (KK 108CD/LP, 2018). With the intent of producing the saddest heartbreak record ever made, Wells sourced a back catalog of miniature epics, reinterpreting each tale of everyday yearning to make a canon of melancholy loungecore designed for nights in alone, if not always lonely. Beyond the concept of isolation behind Standards Vol. VI, practical concerns added to the affair, with Wells recording backing tracks at home in Glasgow, while Vulliamy added her voice from her home in Yorkshire. Shades of Margo Guryan and Claudine Longet abound in Vulliamy's delivery over Wells's woozy, low-slung guitar and piano, with samples culled from a session with Teenage Fanclub's Norman Blake. Little electronic percussive clicks and hisses lend things an even more otherworldly air on a record bookended by opener, Donovan's proto hippy classic, "Catch The Wind", and Dixieland miniature, "Careless Love". The eight points in between take in a first half led by The Beatles' normally jaunty "We Can Work It Out", flipping the loveable perky optimism for something more soul searching. This is followed by "I Wish You Love", Albert Beach's English language version of French songwriter Charles Trenet's evergreen, "Que reste-t-il de nos amours". The Bee Gees lost classic, "To Love Somebody", is next, with more impossible to answer questions coming in "Why Can't I?" The latter is a Rodgers and Hart composition that first appeared in the duo's 1930 Broadway musical, Spring is Here. The second half of Standards Vol. VI leads with the much-covered evocation from the 1964 hit musical, Fiddler on the Roof. This is followed by Billy Rose and Dave Dreyer's showbiz staple, "Me and My Shadow". While made famous by showbiz double acts ranging from Frank and Sammy to Robbie and Jonathan, here it flies decidedly solo. Johnny Mercer and Hoagy Carmichael's "Skylark" comes next, a song inspired by Mercer's yearning for Judy Garland. The most downbeat take on Bacharach and David's "The Look of Love" comes next, ushering in the short farewell of "Careless Love".
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KK 113CD
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A masterclass in nuance, interpretation and the purifying power of the human voice, Standards Vol. V represents another captivating chapter in the career of a singular figure in contemporary music, Bill Wells. For his fifth album as the mischievously named National Jazz Trio Of Scotland, prolific jazz outsider Wells posits yet another collaborator in the diffuse light cast by his tender chord shifts and understated arrangements. Where Standards Vol. IV (KK 106CD/LP, 2018) spun around the vocal talents of Kate Sugden with contributions from Gerard Black and Aby Vulliamy, the voice on Standards Vol. V is that of Black, whose other musical activities include the band Babe, François And The Atlas Mountains, Rozi Plain, and Charlotte Gainsbourg. For much of Standards Vol. V, Black's unstained tenor is the paint with which Wells fills the canvas on songs including four originals -- among them the beatific wordless chorale "Gradual Inclination" and the contrasting "So Much Power," an energetic stomp propelled by keyboard brass and drum machine -- and versions of songs from the musical Fiddler On The Roof and George and Ira Gershwin's Of Thee I Sing ("Sunrise, Sunset" and "Of Thee I Sing" respectively). As ever with Wells' work, whether under the NJTOS moniker or his own name (which typically appears alongside those of collaborators including Yo La Tengo, Jim O'Rourke, and Annette Peacock), the melodic and lyrical elements are embellished with jazz-accented piano, samples and keyboards, with minimal rhythmic accompaniment other than electronic percussion. Adding to the intrigue on Standards Vol. V are a new arrangement of the Scots/Irish ballad "I Know Where I'm Going" (from which Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger took the title of their 1945 film of the same name), an entirely new musical interpretation of "Sigh No More Ladies" from Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing and the album's appropriately named finale, "A Quiet Goodbye," with words by Aidan Moffat, Wells' partner on Everything's Getting Older (2011) -- winner of the inaugural Scottish Album Of The Year award -- and follow-up The Most Important Place In The World (2015).
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KK 113LP
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LP version. Includes download code; Edition of 300. A masterclass in nuance, interpretation and the purifying power of the human voice, Standards Vol. V represents another captivating chapter in the career of a singular figure in contemporary music, Bill Wells. For his fifth album as the mischievously named National Jazz Trio Of Scotland, prolific jazz outsider Wells posits yet another collaborator in the diffuse light cast by his tender chord shifts and understated arrangements. Where Standards Vol. IV (KK 106CD/LP, 2018) spun around the vocal talents of Kate Sugden with contributions from Gerard Black and Aby Vulliamy, the voice on Standards Vol. V is that of Black, whose other musical activities include the band Babe, François And The Atlas Mountains, Rozi Plain, and Charlotte Gainsbourg. For much of Standards Vol. V, Black's unstained tenor is the paint with which Wells fills the canvas on songs including four originals -- among them the beatific wordless chorale "Gradual Inclination" and the contrasting "So Much Power," an energetic stomp propelled by keyboard brass and drum machine -- and versions of songs from the musical Fiddler On The Roof and George and Ira Gershwin's Of Thee I Sing ("Sunrise, Sunset" and "Of Thee I Sing" respectively). As ever with Wells' work, whether under the NJTOS moniker or his own name (which typically appears alongside those of collaborators including Yo La Tengo, Jim O'Rourke, and Annette Peacock), the melodic and lyrical elements are embellished with jazz-accented piano, samples and keyboards, with minimal rhythmic accompaniment other than electronic percussion. Adding to the intrigue on Standards Vol. V are a new arrangement of the Scots/Irish ballad "I Know Where I'm Going" (from which Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger took the title of their 1945 film of the same name), an entirely new musical interpretation of "Sigh No More Ladies" from Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing and the album's appropriately named finale, "A Quiet Goodbye," with words by Aidan Moffat, Wells' partner on Everything's Getting Older (2011) -- winner of the inaugural Scottish Album Of The Year award -- and follow-up The Most Important Place In The World (2015).
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CD
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KK 106CD
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On their latest album, Standards Vol. IV, the National Jazz Trio Of Scotland continue their engagement with classic and outsider pop traditions, subtly building on their characteristic blend of beguiling melodies and spare arrangements. There is even, dare we say it, a hint of jazz. Oblique visions of jazz aside, the album's most striking development is its focus on a single lead vocalist in Kate Sudgen, who has an understated approach with a real emotional pull. This is the first in a proposed series of albums to feature one singer from the NJTOS, with Gerard Black and Aby Vulliamy to follow. In 2012, Wells won the inaugural Scottish Album Of The Year award for Everything's Getting Older (2011), a collaboration with Arab Strap's Aidan Moffat. In 2011 he released Lemondale, recorded with Japan-based musicians, including Jim O'Rourke and Saya of Tenniscoats. Four years later, he assembled a stellar cast of musicians including Annette Peacock and Yo La Tengo for Nursery Rhymes, an exploration of the darker side of children's songs. Wells's penchant for détournement and bittersweet irony crops up throughout Standards Vol. IV. Take "Tinnitus Lullaby", where Sudgen softly sings over the melancholy twinkling of a music box like synth. "Anticipated Sentence" makes a wry reference to the Sinatra standard "I've Got The World On A String", a song Wells dislikes intensely. In Wells's song. Kohler's cheerful refrain of "What a world, what a life!" is twisted into something altogether darker, with the string around the protagonist's finger becoming a noose around their neck. "Move" is a vivid portrait of depression, where the protagonist spends all day in bed, listening to the sounds of helicopters buzzing overhead. Yet Wells animates the song with bossa nova guitar and clave rhythms, creating an effect that is, depending how you read it, ironic or uplifting. In addition to the ten Wells originals and a new version of the Aidan Moffat collaboration "Far From You", Standards Vol. IV features a cover of Richard Youngs's "Summer's Edge" from the latter's 2005 masterpiece Summer Wanderer. Wells has known Youngs since the 1990s, when they worked together with Future Pilot AKA. The National Jazz Trio's version taps into the uncanny pastoralism of the original, with Sudgen's clear reading of the melody set against Wells's glistening keyboard samples. Standards Vol. IV is an album characterized by its gorgeous blend of sophistication and vulnerability.
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LP
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KK 106LP
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LP version. Includes download code. On their latest album, Standards Vol. IV, the National Jazz Trio Of Scotland continue their engagement with classic and outsider pop traditions, subtly building on their characteristic blend of beguiling melodies and spare arrangements. There is even, dare we say it, a hint of jazz. Oblique visions of jazz aside, the album's most striking development is its focus on a single lead vocalist in Kate Sudgen, who has an understated approach with a real emotional pull. This is the first in a proposed series of albums to feature one singer from the NJTOS, with Gerard Black and Aby Vulliamy to follow. In 2012, Wells won the inaugural Scottish Album Of The Year award for Everything's Getting Older (2011), a collaboration with Arab Strap's Aidan Moffat. In 2011 he released Lemondale, recorded with Japan-based musicians, including Jim O'Rourke and Saya of Tenniscoats. Four years later, he assembled a stellar cast of musicians including Annette Peacock and Yo La Tengo for Nursery Rhymes, an exploration of the darker side of children's songs. Wells's penchant for détournement and bittersweet irony crops up throughout Standards Vol. IV. Take "Tinnitus Lullaby", where Sudgen softly sings over the melancholy twinkling of a music box like synth. "Anticipated Sentence" makes a wry reference to the Sinatra standard "I've Got The World On A String", a song Wells dislikes intensely. In Wells's song. Kohler's cheerful refrain of "What a world, what a life!" is twisted into something altogether darker, with the string around the protagonist's finger becoming a noose around their neck. "Move" is a vivid portrait of depression, where the protagonist spends all day in bed, listening to the sounds of helicopters buzzing overhead. Yet Wells animates the song with bossa nova guitar and clave rhythms, creating an effect that is, depending how you read it, ironic or uplifting. In addition to the ten Wells originals and a new version of the Aidan Moffat collaboration "Far From You", Standards Vol. IV features a cover of Richard Youngs's "Summer's Edge" from the latter's 2005 masterpiece Summer Wanderer. Wells has known Youngs since the 1990s, when they worked together with Future Pilot AKA. The National Jazz Trio's version taps into the uncanny pastoralism of the original, with Sudgen's clear reading of the melody set against Wells's glistening keyboard samples. Standards Vol. IV is an album characterized by its gorgeous blend of sophistication and vulnerability.
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CD
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KK 080CD
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The National Jazz Trio Of Scotland is neither jazz nor a trio, although it is at least partly Scottish. Bill Wells has been part of the Scottish jazz scene since the late '80s, but has always enjoyed working with musicians in the indie sector, including stints as a collaborator and arranger with Isobel Campbell, Jad Fair, Kevin Ayers, Future Pilot AKA and Maher Shalal Hash Baz. He has also worked with German electronica artists Stefan Schneider and Barbara Morgenstern and recorded Lemondale, an experimental, pop-tinged collection recorded with an eclectic cast of local musicians in Japan in 2011. The National Jazz Trio Of Scotland consists of Wells on samples, with a trio of female vocalists: Aby Vulliamy, Kate Sugden and Lorna Gilfedder. Onstage, Aby plays viola, Kate marimba and other potential live players include Teenage Fanclub guitarist Norman Blake and Babe vocalist Gerard Black. The group's debut recording The National Jazz Trio Of Scotland's Christmas Album (KK 070LP), was released in late 2012, followed by Standards Vol. II (KK 074CD/LP) in 2013. Their new album is titled Standards Vol. III, although the description isn't strictly accurate. "Well, it's partly a nod towards the more standard way of songwriting, although structurally most of these songs aren't actually written in a similar way," says Wells. "To me the best ideas are strong melodies on interesting changes, going back to the classic songwriters. It's a pretty old fashioned idea and I don't think that it's the way that most people write these days when using computers." Wells' music had always been hallmarked by a directness and economy of musical line, and the fact that his pop music is pared down to just vocals and a lean musical accompaniment is, in fact, one of its strengths. Wells wrote all the songs on the album with the exception of The Beach Boys' "With Me Tonight" and the lyrics to "Surprising Word," written by Saya from the Japanese band, Tenniscoats, and "Trying to Escape You," written by Lorna Gilfedder. The material on Standards Vol. III hints at a diverse range of influences: the bossa nova of Antônio Carlos Jobim, the simple piano accompaniment of Brian Wilson, and the wider vocabulary of chord changes in the songs of Laura Nyro and in Todd Rundgren's earlier work. Wells also admits that some of his electronica may well be influenced by Stefan Schneider's work with Mapstation. And as he plays samples, Wells is keen that his soundworld avoids anything too generic, and that there is a little bit of grit in the mix. One of the most striking aspects of Standards Vol. III is its mix of pure-toned singing and cryptic, bittersweet, sometimes darkly humorous lyrics, as on the twinkly, music box-like "Unguarded Moment" with the lines, "Got me when I least expected/Found it where I didn't look/Hit me like a block of concrete on a hook." On "Alive and Well," rather than being metaphorical or a fanciful notion, the lines, "It's been the hottest summer that we've had for a while/The shower isn't working because of a broken tile," were an accurate summary of the facilities in the bathroom of Wells' Glasgow tenement home last year, where the album was recorded.
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LP
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KK 080LP
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LP version. Includes download code. The National Jazz Trio Of Scotland is neither jazz nor a trio, although it is at least partly Scottish. Bill Wells has been part of the Scottish jazz scene since the late '80s, but has always enjoyed working with musicians in the indie sector, including stints as a collaborator and arranger with Isobel Campbell, Jad Fair, Kevin Ayers, Future Pilot AKA and Maher Shalal Hash Baz. He has also worked with German electronica artists Stefan Schneider and Barbara Morgenstern and recorded Lemondale, an experimental, pop-tinged collection recorded with an eclectic cast of local musicians in Japan in 2011. The National Jazz Trio Of Scotland consists of Wells on samples, with a trio of female vocalists: Aby Vulliamy, Kate Sugden and Lorna Gilfedder. Onstage, Aby plays viola, Kate marimba and other potential live players include Teenage Fanclub guitarist Norman Blake and Babe vocalist Gerard Black. The group's debut recording The National Jazz Trio Of Scotland's Christmas Album (KK 070LP), was released in late 2012, followed by Standards Vol. II (KK 074CD/LP) in 2013. Their new album is titled Standards Vol. III, although the description isn't strictly accurate. "Well, it's partly a nod towards the more standard way of songwriting, although structurally most of these songs aren't actually written in a similar way," says Wells. "To me the best ideas are strong melodies on interesting changes, going back to the classic songwriters. It's a pretty old fashioned idea and I don't think that it's the way that most people write these days when using computers." Wells' music had always been hallmarked by a directness and economy of musical line, and the fact that his pop music is pared down to just vocals and a lean musical accompaniment is, in fact, one of its strengths. Wells wrote all the songs on the album with the exception of The Beach Boys' "With Me Tonight" and the lyrics to "Surprising Word," written by Saya from the Japanese band, Tenniscoats, and "Trying to Escape You," written by Lorna Gilfedder. The material on Standards Vol. III hints at a diverse range of influences: the bossa nova of Antônio Carlos Jobim, the simple piano accompaniment of Brian Wilson, and the wider vocabulary of chord changes in the songs of Laura Nyro and in Todd Rundgren's earlier work. Wells also admits that some of his electronica may well be influenced by Stefan Schneider's work with Mapstation. And as he plays samples, Wells is keen that his soundworld avoids anything too generic, and that there is a little bit of grit in the mix. One of the most striking aspects of Standards Vol. III is its mix of pure-toned singing and cryptic, bittersweet, sometimes darkly humorous lyrics, as on the twinkly, music box-like "Unguarded Moment" with the lines, "Got me when I least expected/Found it where I didn't look/Hit me like a block of concrete on a hook." On "Alive and Well," rather than being metaphorical or a fanciful notion, the lines, "It's been the hottest summer that we've had for a while/The shower isn't working because of a broken tile," were an accurate summary of the facilities in the bathroom of Wells' Glasgow tenement home last year, where the album was recorded.
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CD
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KK 074CD
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Following the release of The National Jazz Trio Of Scotland's Christmas Album on Karaoke Kalk, the Berlin label now presents the second album by acclaimed pianist Bill Wells' latest project The National Jazz Trio Of Scotland; Standards Vol. II. While the previous record focused on seasonal classics, Standards Vol. II is comprised almost exclusively of Bill Wells' original compositions. Just for the record, The National Jazz Trio Of Scotland don't play jazz, nor are they a trio. And while their status as national ambassadors is not exactly official, Bill Wells has, however, worked with many of the key players in the Scottish indie scene from the likes of Isobel Campbell and Future Pilot AKA to the magnificent collaboration with former Arab Strap vocalist Aidan Moffat on Everything's Getting Older on Chemikal Underground. Indeed, a host of Glasgow's finest have contributed to the new NJTOS album with Norman Blake from Teenage Fanclub responsible for additional studio work and lending his voice to "Winter Breaks and Back to Spring." Belle & Sebastian's Chris Geddes and Stevie Jackson also helped with the recording. Yet despite these impressive rock solid credentials and all the big names with whom Wells works, what sets the National Jazz Trio Of Scotland apart is the vocal performances by Lorna Gilfedder, Aby Vulliamy, and Kate Sugden. While these girls may not be professional singers their voices posses an honest quality which fits Well's compositions to a tee. The sparse arrangements are understated yet outspoken while the lyrics tell of everyday moments, walking a fine emotional line between melancholy and optimism. The majority of the songs on Standards Vol. II are written and composed entirely by Bill Wells, and there are two covers including a version of the traditional Scottish folk song "Mary of Argyle" and a delightful cover of the Moondog tune "My Tiny Butterfly" with Gilfedder, Vulliamy and Sugden singing in a round to great effect. Already his fifth album on Karaoke Kalk, and including previous collaborations with Stefan Schneider aka Mapstation (the bassist from To Rococo Rot), Barbara Morgenstern, and the Japanese improvised free-jazz ensemble Maher Shalal Hash Baz, Standards Vol. II marks another milestone release for the Glaswegian musician.
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LP
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KK 074LP
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LP version. Following the release of The National Jazz Trio Of Scotland's Christmas Album on Karaoke Kalk, the Berlin label now presents the second album by acclaimed pianist Bill Wells' latest project The National Jazz Trio Of Scotland; Standards Vol. II. While the previous record focused on seasonal classics, Standards Vol. II is comprised almost exclusively of Bill Wells' original compositions. Just for the record, The National Jazz Trio Of Scotland don't play jazz, nor are they a trio. And while their status as national ambassadors is not exactly official, Bill Wells has, however, worked with many of the key players in the Scottish indie scene from the likes of Isobel Campbell and Future Pilot AKA to the magnificent collaboration with former Arab Strap vocalist Aidan Moffat on Everything's Getting Older on Chemikal Underground. Indeed, a host of Glasgow's finest have contributed to the new NJTOS album with Norman Blake from Teenage Fanclub responsible for additional studio work and lending his voice to "Winter Breaks and Back to Spring." Belle & Sebastian's Chris Geddes and Stevie Jackson also helped with the recording. Yet despite these impressive rock solid credentials and all the big names with whom Wells works, what sets the National Jazz Trio Of Scotland apart is the vocal performances by Lorna Gilfedder, Aby Vulliamy, and Kate Sugden. While these girls may not be professional singers their voices posses an honest quality which fits Well's compositions to a tee. The sparse arrangements are understated yet outspoken while the lyrics tell of everyday moments, walking a fine emotional line between melancholy and optimism. The majority of the songs on Standards Vol. II are written and composed entirely by Bill Wells, and there are two covers including a version of the traditional Scottish folk song "Mary of Argyle" and a delightful cover of the Moondog tune "My Tiny Butterfly" with Gilfedder, Vulliamy and Sugden singing in a round to great effect. Already his fifth album on Karaoke Kalk, and including previous collaborations with Stefan Schneider aka Mapstation (the bassist from To Rococo Rot), Barbara Morgenstern, and the Japanese improvised free-jazz ensemble Maher Shalal Hash Baz, Standards Vol. II marks another milestone release for the Glaswegian musician.
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