Stirring Stuff, 29 May 2006
Took a couple of spins to get into, but this really is a tremendous and rousing collection. Take No Prisoners is an awesome album that initially out-punches Outside In, but once played a few times, reveals a true gem of CD. It has lived in the car multi-changer for nearly four months now, and is simply too good to put to one side. Expertly arranged by Derek Nash, this album features some of the best sax you will ever hear - from Nash himself, Gary Plumley, Scott Garland and Nelson Rangell, but the whole line-up is superbly talented. Brilliant!

Deliciously languid and smooth!!, 18 May 2002
I love this album-it got me into the genre, and it's delicious!! I particularly love Dimanche Matin, and Two Of A Kind. Sax Appeal have a very smooth and languid sound a lot of the time, which makes for really enjoyable listening-especially for someone like me for whom Jazz can sometimes really be frustrating to listen to when there are thousands of notes to take in!! Some of the tunes didn't grab me though, for example, the first track I found I didn't like, but on the whole this album is very enjoyable.

Stirring Stuff, 29 May 2006
Took a couple of spins to get into, but this really is a tremendous and rousing collection. Take No Prisoners is an awesome album that initially out-punches Outside In, but once played a few times, reveals a true gem of CD. It has lived in the car multi-changer for nearly four months now, and is simply too good to put to one side. Expertly arranged by Derek Nash, this album features some of the best sax you will ever hear - from Nash himself, Gary Plumley, Scott Garland and Nelson Rangell, but the whole line-up is superbly talented. Brilliant!

Deliciously languid and smooth!!, 18 May 2002
I love this album-it got me into the genre, and it's delicious!! I particularly love Dimanche Matin, and Two Of A Kind. Sax Appeal have a very smooth and languid sound a lot of the time, which makes for really enjoyable listening-especially for someone like me for whom Jazz can sometimes really be frustrating to listen to when there are thousands of notes to take in!! Some of the tunes didn't grab me though, for example, the first track I found I didn't like, but on the whole this album is very enjoyable.

Encore, 02 Jan 2008
This is a beautiful album which reaches all the spots that I've been dying to have touched for years. It is rich, deep and intelligent - UK Jazz always was/is.
It is heartening to know that the future of UK Jazz is in the like of such virtuosic hands - it's time the broader public realised what an absolute treasure we have in Curios and their ilk.

Let's not waste this Jazz generation as we have previous ones - buy this and those 'other people bought'

Stirring Stuff, 29 May 2006
Took a couple of spins to get into, but this really is a tremendous and rousing collection. Take No Prisoners is an awesome album that initially out-punches Outside In, but once played a few times, reveals a true gem of CD. It has lived in the car multi-changer for nearly four months now, and is simply too good to put to one side. Expertly arranged by Derek Nash, this album features some of the best sax you will ever hear - from Nash himself, Gary Plumley, Scott Garland and Nelson Rangell, but the whole line-up is superbly talented. Brilliant!

Deliciously languid and smooth!!, 18 May 2002
I love this album-it got me into the genre, and it's delicious!! I particularly love Dimanche Matin, and Two Of A Kind. Sax Appeal have a very smooth and languid sound a lot of the time, which makes for really enjoyable listening-especially for someone like me for whom Jazz can sometimes really be frustrating to listen to when there are thousands of notes to take in!! Some of the tunes didn't grab me though, for example, the first track I found I didn't like, but on the whole this album is very enjoyable.

Encore, 02 Jan 2008
This is a beautiful album which reaches all the spots that I've been dying to have touched for years. It is rich, deep and intelligent - UK Jazz always was/is.
It is heartening to know that the future of UK Jazz is in the like of such virtuosic hands - it's time the broader public realised what an absolute treasure we have in Curios and their ilk.

Let's not waste this Jazz generation as we have previous ones - buy this and those 'other people bought'

made my Christmas musically, 03 Jan 2009
'Suite' generally worries me - too pretentious or indulgent but not this time. Just look at the personnel and you'll know that this will be good. In fact, it is genuinely great. pointless to list influences or say 'it's like suchabody' because it collects and reforms references and ideas and creates new poetry from a generally familiar language.

Listen to track 8, an exquisite elegiac piece with two of the greatest saxophonists and you will be moved so that you'll buy the cd. I use the track to show younger musicians or others still stuck in technicalities, how to express emotion. I'm an old man with thousands of tracks and this one is probably among the most exquisitely balanced, plangent, heart-rending of them all.

An original idea that yielded superb results--Bobby Wellins, the great Scottish tenor saxophonist, recording an instrumental version of Billie Holiday's 1958 album Lady In Satin. Although she was nearing the end of her life, with her voice reduced to a husky croak, this album has always possessed a curious and unique power. Many jazz musicians, Bobby Wellins included, have named it among their favourites. The idea works largely because Wellins has a heartbreakingly beautiful tone and a lyrical turn of phrase. All 12 songs deal with the desolation of lost love and the lyrics, although never actually heard, seem to come through his playing, casting a subdued light over the whole performance. Wellins is magnificently supported by pianist Colin Purbrook, bassist Dave Green and drummer Clark Tracey. It would be difficult to think of a better selection of material-- "I'm A Fool To Want You", "But Beautiful", "For All We Know", "The End Of A Love Affair"--all songs that, when treated with this degree of flair and sensitivity, reach emotional depths far beyond the range of most popular music. --Dave Gelly

Stirring Stuff, 29 May 2006
Took a couple of spins to get into, but this really is a tremendous and rousing collection. Take No Prisoners is an awesome album that initially out-punches Outside In, but once played a few times, reveals a true gem of CD. It has lived in the car multi-changer for nearly four months now, and is simply too good to put to one side. Expertly arranged by Derek Nash, this album features some of the best sax you will ever hear - from Nash himself, Gary Plumley, Scott Garland and Nelson Rangell, but the whole line-up is superbly talented. Brilliant!

Deliciously languid and smooth!!, 18 May 2002
I love this album-it got me into the genre, and it's delicious!! I particularly love Dimanche Matin, and Two Of A Kind. Sax Appeal have a very smooth and languid sound a lot of the time, which makes for really enjoyable listening-especially for someone like me for whom Jazz can sometimes really be frustrating to listen to when there are thousands of notes to take in!! Some of the tunes didn't grab me though, for example, the first track I found I didn't like, but on the whole this album is very enjoyable.

Encore, 02 Jan 2008
This is a beautiful album which reaches all the spots that I've been dying to have touched for years. It is rich, deep and intelligent - UK Jazz always was/is.
It is heartening to know that the future of UK Jazz is in the like of such virtuosic hands - it's time the broader public realised what an absolute treasure we have in Curios and their ilk.

Let's not waste this Jazz generation as we have previous ones - buy this and those 'other people bought'

made my Christmas musically, 03 Jan 2009
'Suite' generally worries me - too pretentious or indulgent but not this time. Just look at the personnel and you'll know that this will be good. In fact, it is genuinely great. pointless to list influences or say 'it's like suchabody' because it collects and reforms references and ideas and creates new poetry from a generally familiar language.

Listen to track 8, an exquisite elegiac piece with two of the greatest saxophonists and you will be moved so that you'll buy the cd. I use the track to show younger musicians or others still stuck in technicalities, how to express emotion. I'm an old man with thousands of tracks and this one is probably among the most exquisitely balanced, plangent, heart-rending of them all.

Brilliant, 06 Oct 2006
Like much of jazz the interpretation of the song often brings much more to the music than was there, note John Coltrane's treatment of My Favourite Things. In this case, however, there is so much weight of expectation covering such an iconic album in total. It is a tribute to Wellins and his band that they pull this off so brilliantly. Wellins tone and phrasing have always dripped with raw emotion, note his playing on Stan Tracey's Under Milkwood, and he is clearly playing to his stregths here. This is a saxophonist who is recognised amougst his peers as a brilliant player and interpreter of songs; he deserves a wider recognition as a national musical treasure. There is aple evidence for this on this album alone.

Stirring Stuff, 29 May 2006
Took a couple of spins to get into, but this really is a tremendous and rousing collection. Take No Prisoners is an awesome album that initially out-punches Outside In, but once played a few times, reveals a true gem of CD. It has lived in the car multi-changer for nearly four months now, and is simply too good to put to one side. Expertly arranged by Derek Nash, this album features some of the best sax you will ever hear - from Nash himself, Gary Plumley, Scott Garland and Nelson Rangell, but the whole line-up is superbly talented. Brilliant!

Deliciously languid and smooth!!, 18 May 2002
I love this album-it got me into the genre, and it's delicious!! I particularly love Dimanche Matin, and Two Of A Kind. Sax Appeal have a very smooth and languid sound a lot of the time, which makes for really enjoyable listening-especially for someone like me for whom Jazz can sometimes really be frustrating to listen to when there are thousands of notes to take in!! Some of the tunes didn't grab me though, for example, the first track I found I didn't like, but on the whole this album is very enjoyable.

Encore, 02 Jan 2008
This is a beautiful album which reaches all the spots that I've been dying to have touched for years. It is rich, deep and intelligent - UK Jazz always was/is.
It is heartening to know that the future of UK Jazz is in the like of such virtuosic hands - it's time the broader public realised what an absolute treasure we have in Curios and their ilk.

Let's not waste this Jazz generation as we have previous ones - buy this and those 'other people bought'

made my Christmas musically, 03 Jan 2009
'Suite' generally worries me - too pretentious or indulgent but not this time. Just look at the personnel and you'll know that this will be good. In fact, it is genuinely great. pointless to list influences or say 'it's like suchabody' because it collects and reforms references and ideas and creates new poetry from a generally familiar language.

Listen to track 8, an exquisite elegiac piece with two of the greatest saxophonists and you will be moved so that you'll buy the cd. I use the track to show younger musicians or others still stuck in technicalities, how to express emotion. I'm an old man with thousands of tracks and this one is probably among the most exquisitely balanced, plangent, heart-rending of them all.

Brilliant, 06 Oct 2006
Like much of jazz the interpretation of the song often brings much more to the music than was there, note John Coltrane's treatment of My Favourite Things. In this case, however, there is so much weight of expectation covering such an iconic album in total. It is a tribute to Wellins and his band that they pull this off so brilliantly. Wellins tone and phrasing have always dripped with raw emotion, note his playing on Stan Tracey's Under Milkwood, and he is clearly playing to his stregths here. This is a saxophonist who is recognised amougst his peers as a brilliant player and interpreter of songs; he deserves a wider recognition as a national musical treasure. There is aple evidence for this on this album alone.

Jazz Singer Trudy Kerr!, 12 Aug 2002
A spine tingling start to the album with beautiful ballad, "My Old Flame" Trudy's intimate and warm style makes you feel that you're listening "Live". Her sense of phrasing is a delight to hear, never hurried or rushed but taking her time to allow you to really enjoy the meaning of the song and the array of wonderfully musical ideas.
Trudy's love and deep respect for the music of Chet Baker is apparent when hearing her sing. This recording displays many dimensions of Trudy, the beautiful and haunting ballad singing, especially on "While my lady(baby)sleeps" and "Look for the Silver Lining", then you get to experience the "Swing Factor" which is extremely exciting, including some marvellous vocalese on "Bernies Tune", with lyrics written by Trudy.
For an extra treat, Trudy is Joined by guest, Georgie Fame on a couple of tracks, my favourite being "You Make me feel So Young" the two voices blending in beautiful harmony and coupled with really "swinging phrasing".
This album also features some wonderful musicians,the rapore between them and Trudy is great, making the fabulous arrangements come alive.
My Old Flame is an album that excites, touches and contains musical surprises that will make you want to listen and enjoy.

Stirring Stuff, 29 May 2006
Took a couple of spins to get into, but this really is a tremendous and rousing collection. Take No Prisoners is an awesome album that initially out-punches Outside In, but once played a few times, reveals a true gem of CD. It has lived in the car multi-changer for nearly four months now, and is simply too good to put to one side. Expertly arranged by Derek Nash, this album features some of the best sax you will ever hear - from Nash himself, Gary Plumley, Scott Garland and Nelson Rangell, but the whole line-up is superbly talented. Brilliant!

Deliciously languid and smooth!!, 18 May 2002
I love this album-it got me into the genre, and it's delicious!! I particularly love Dimanche Matin, and Two Of A Kind. Sax Appeal have a very smooth and languid sound a lot of the time, which makes for really enjoyable listening-especially for someone like me for whom Jazz can sometimes really be frustrating to listen to when there are thousands of notes to take in!! Some of the tunes didn't grab me though, for example, the first track I found I didn't like, but on the whole this album is very enjoyable.

Encore, 02 Jan 2008
This is a beautiful album which reaches all the spots that I've been dying to have touched for years. It is rich, deep and intelligent - UK Jazz always was/is.
It is heartening to know that the future of UK Jazz is in the like of such virtuosic hands - it's time the broader public realised what an absolute treasure we have in Curios and their ilk.

Let's not waste this Jazz generation as we have previous ones - buy this and those 'other people bought'

made my Christmas musically, 03 Jan 2009
'Suite' generally worries me - too pretentious or indulgent but not this time. Just look at the personnel and you'll know that this will be good. In fact, it is genuinely great. pointless to list influences or say 'it's like suchabody' because it collects and reforms references and ideas and creates new poetry from a generally familiar language.

Listen to track 8, an exquisite elegiac piece with two of the greatest saxophonists and you will be moved so that you'll buy the cd. I use the track to show younger musicians or others still stuck in technicalities, how to express emotion. I'm an old man with thousands of tracks and this one is probably among the most exquisitely balanced, plangent, heart-rending of them all.

Brilliant, 06 Oct 2006
Like much of jazz the interpretation of the song often brings much more to the music than was there, note John Coltrane's treatment of My Favourite Things. In this case, however, there is so much weight of expectation covering such an iconic album in total. It is a tribute to Wellins and his band that they pull this off so brilliantly. Wellins tone and phrasing have always dripped with raw emotion, note his playing on Stan Tracey's Under Milkwood, and he is clearly playing to his stregths here. This is a saxophonist who is recognised amougst his peers as a brilliant player and interpreter of songs; he deserves a wider recognition as a national musical treasure. There is aple evidence for this on this album alone.

Jazz Singer Trudy Kerr!, 12 Aug 2002
A spine tingling start to the album with beautiful ballad, "My Old Flame" Trudy's intimate and warm style makes you feel that you're listening "Live". Her sense of phrasing is a delight to hear, never hurried or rushed but taking her time to allow you to really enjoy the meaning of the song and the array of wonderfully musical ideas.
Trudy's love and deep respect for the music of Chet Baker is apparent when hearing her sing. This recording displays many dimensions of Trudy, the beautiful and haunting ballad singing, especially on "While my lady(baby)sleeps" and "Look for the Silver Lining", then you get to experience the "Swing Factor" which is extremely exciting, including some marvellous vocalese on "Bernies Tune", with lyrics written by Trudy.
For an extra treat, Trudy is Joined by guest, Georgie Fame on a couple of tracks, my favourite being "You Make me feel So Young" the two voices blending in beautiful harmony and coupled with really "swinging phrasing".
This album also features some wonderful musicians,the rapore between them and Trudy is great, making the fabulous arrangements come alive.
My Old Flame is an album that excites, touches and contains musical surprises that will make you want to listen and enjoy.

In the Zone and hitting the mark !, 17 Feb 2008
Long awaited album from British tenor sax maestro Dave O'Higgins is a real delight.To be fair, probably not his best album as it lacks the cut and thrust of his most recent albums "Push" and "Fast foot shuffle" but is a more straight ahead jazz album.The commercial gloss of "Push" is gone with O'Higgins going for a more hard edged and raw sound on this album which is a bit of a throw back to some of the sixties Blue Note albums.There is a good selection of tunes with four O'Higgins originals with "In the zone" a nice soulful/be-bop tune and "Fiasco" being the only soprano track and taken at a brisk tempo being the pick of his own compositions.He can still play it tender on the ballads with "Theme for Ernie" and "Young at heart" coming across as with warmth and tenderness.There's a couple of real burners in "Operation Yardbird" and Steve Grossman's "Take the D-Train" and the album rounds of beautifully with Lee Morgan's lovely calypso "Ca-Lee-So". Trumpeter Martin Shaw provides some variation on the four tracks that he appears on and Tom Cawley chips in with some great solos with a couple of them being quite adventurous for this type of music.
Not vintage O'Higgins but nicely played by all.

Stirring Stuff, 29 May 2006
Took a couple of spins to get into, but this really is a tremendous and rousing collection. Take No Prisoners is an awesome album that initially out-punches Outside In, but once played a few times, reveals a true gem of CD. It has lived in the car multi-changer for nearly four months now, and is simply too good to put to one side. Expertly arranged by Derek Nash, this album features some of the best sax you will ever hear - from Nash himself, Gary Plumley, Scott Garland and Nelson Rangell, but the whole line-up is superbly talented. Brilliant!

Deliciously languid and smooth!!, 18 May 2002
I love this album-it got me into the genre, and it's delicious!! I particularly love Dimanche Matin, and Two Of A Kind. Sax Appeal have a very smooth and languid sound a lot of the time, which makes for really enjoyable listening-especially for someone like me for whom Jazz can sometimes really be frustrating to listen to when there are thousands of notes to take in!! Some of the tunes didn't grab me though, for example, the first track I found I didn't like, but on the whole this album is very enjoyable.

Encore, 02 Jan 2008
This is a beautiful album which reaches all the spots that I've been dying to have touched for years. It is rich, deep and intelligent - UK Jazz always was/is.
It is heartening to know that the future of UK Jazz is in the like of such virtuosic hands - it's time the broader public realised what an absolute treasure we have in Curios and their ilk.

Let's not waste this Jazz generation as we have previous ones - buy this and those 'other people bought'

made my Christmas musically, 03 Jan 2009
'Suite' generally worries me - too pretentious or indulgent but not this time. Just look at the personnel and you'll know that this will be good. In fact, it is genuinely great. pointless to list influences or say 'it's like suchabody' because it collects and reforms references and ideas and creates new poetry from a generally familiar language.

Listen to track 8, an exquisite elegiac piece with two of the greatest saxophonists and you will be moved so that you'll buy the cd. I use the track to show younger musicians or others still stuck in technicalities, how to express emotion. I'm an old man with thousands of tracks and this one is probably among the most exquisitely balanced, plangent, heart-rending of them all.

Brilliant, 06 Oct 2006
Like much of jazz the interpretation of the song often brings much more to the music than was there, note John Coltrane's treatment of My Favourite Things. In this case, however, there is so much weight of expectation covering such an iconic album in total. It is a tribute to Wellins and his band that they pull this off so brilliantly. Wellins tone and phrasing have always dripped with raw emotion, note his playing on Stan Tracey's Under Milkwood, and he is clearly playing to his stregths here. This is a saxophonist who is recognised amougst his peers as a brilliant player and interpreter of songs; he deserves a wider recognition as a national musical treasure. There is aple evidence for this on this album alone.

Jazz Singer Trudy Kerr!, 12 Aug 2002
A spine tingling start to the album with beautiful ballad, "My Old Flame" Trudy's intimate and warm style makes you feel that you're listening "Live". Her sense of phrasing is a delight to hear, never hurried or rushed but taking her time to allow you to really enjoy the meaning of the song and the array of wonderfully musical ideas.
Trudy's love and deep respect for the music of Chet Baker is apparent when hearing her sing. This recording displays many dimensions of Trudy, the beautiful and haunting ballad singing, especially on "While my lady(baby)sleeps" and "Look for the Silver Lining", then you get to experience the "Swing Factor" which is extremely exciting, including some marvellous vocalese on "Bernies Tune", with lyrics written by Trudy.
For an extra treat, Trudy is Joined by guest, Georgie Fame on a couple of tracks, my favourite being "You Make me feel So Young" the two voices blending in beautiful harmony and coupled with really "swinging phrasing".
This album also features some wonderful musicians,the rapore between them and Trudy is great, making the fabulous arrangements come alive.
My Old Flame is an album that excites, touches and contains musical surprises that will make you want to listen and enjoy.

In the Zone and hitting the mark !, 17 Feb 2008
Long awaited album from British tenor sax maestro Dave O'Higgins is a real delight.To be fair, probably not his best album as it lacks the cut and thrust of his most recent albums "Push" and "Fast foot shuffle" but is a more straight ahead jazz album.The commercial gloss of "Push" is gone with O'Higgins going for a more hard edged and raw sound on this album which is a bit of a throw back to some of the sixties Blue Note albums.There is a good selection of tunes with four O'Higgins originals with "In the zone" a nice soulful/be-bop tune and "Fiasco" being the only soprano track and taken at a brisk tempo being the pick of his own compositions.He can still play it tender on the ballads with "Theme for Ernie" and "Young at heart" coming across as with warmth and tenderness.There's a couple of real burners in "Operation Yardbird" and Steve Grossman's "Take the D-Train" and the album rounds of beautifully with Lee Morgan's lovely calypso "Ca-Lee-So". Trumpeter Martin Shaw provides some variation on the four tracks that he appears on and Tom Cawley chips in with some great solos with a couple of them being quite adventurous for this type of music.
Not vintage O'Higgins but nicely played by all.

Outstanding jazz grooves from the welsh bass wonder, 29 Oct 2001
If you like any modern jazz (Brecker Bros, Weather Report), "acid" jazz (Brand New Heavies, Tower of Power), or jazz/funk, you need this album. It's one of the most outstanding works I've heard of this style of music, and all recorded live! The atmosphere is incredible, the musicians amazing, the solos excruciatingly good, and the pieces themselves are second to none for their kind. If you do not know this artist, get to know him.

Also recomended - "5 seasons" by the same man.