Following the acclaimed quartet release ‘Vista’ and the influential co-led Partisans album ‘Nit de Nit’, Siegel solidifies his reputation as one of Europe’s most celebrated artists working across jazz and improvised music.

Siegel has appeared as a member of some of the great large ensembles – he lists Hermeto Pascoal, Mike Gibbs, Kenny Wheeler, Django Bates and NDR Bigband amongst extensive performing credits. Now, the instrumentalist turns leader:‘Tales from the Jacquard ‘is Siegel’s first record at the helm of a large ensemble.

On the half-hour ‘Tales from the Jacquard’, history fuses with technique. The

piece is rooted in the East Midlands, where Siegel’s parents owned a lace-

making business. “It seemed like a natural thing to try and explore the lace

making process and use this research to inspire new music.” Experimentation

with Jacquard cards played a key role in his compositional process. “The fact

that each card contains numbers as well as rhythms gave me lots of musical

ideas.” Having originally translated its card language into lace, the Jacquard now informs musical construction, creating melodies, rhythms, orchestrations and harmonic structures.

This exploration continues with “Blues”, grounded by a heavy bass line over

which Jason Yarde and Trevor Mires dazzle. “Song” and “The Goose” appeared

on Siegel’s quartet album ‘Vista’ and both get a full expansion here, opening

up the structures for solo adventures from Mark Nightingale, Percy Pursglove

and Stan Sulzmann. The other tracks include “The Missing Link”, emerging from

a dark opening into an energetic boppy swinger that features trumpeter Claus

Stötter, invited over from the NDR Big Band Hamburg.

Julian Siegel – tenor & soprano saxophones, bass clarinet, composition, ar-

rangements

Nick Smart – conductor

Tom Walsh, Percy Pursglove, Henry Lowther & Claus Stotter – trumpets

Mark Nightingale, Trevor Mires & Harry Brown – trombones

Richard Henry – bass trombone, tuba

Mike Chillingworth – alto saxophone

Jason Yarde – alto & soprano saxophones

Stan Sulzmann – tenor saxophone

Tori Freestone – tenor saxophone, flute

Gemma Moore – baritone saxophone, bass clarinet

Mike Outram – guitar

Liam Noble – piano

Oli Hayhurst – double bass

Gene Calderazzo – drums