DESCRIPTION:
Recorded at Livingston Studios, Wood Green by Jazzon3 for broadcast on BBC Radio 3.


Ruth Angell - violin & vocals
Kiki Chen - violin
Max Gittings - flutes & whistles

Mike Adlington - trumpet
Aaron Diaz - trumpet & fx
Rob Anstey - trombone

Lluis Mather - sop & alto saxophone
Huw Morgan - alto saxophone
Chris Morgan - tenor saxophone
Nick Rundle - baritone saxophone

Simon King - guitar
Alcyona Mick -piano
Jason Huxtable - marimba
Ryan Trebilcock - bass

Steve Yimga - African percussion
John Randall - drumkit

Buy La Fête at www.sidpeacock.com

The best new stuff I've heard in an age came from the Irish composer Sid Peacock, whose young, 16-piece big band played inspiring, wildly creative music of avant-garde bite yet emotional weight. Premiering works written while Peacock was on a recent residency at the Irish Cultural Centre in Paris, the orchestra (two violins, marimba and congas added to reeds and minimal brass), handled the difficult idioms with great skill.
His witty titles -- "Bronze Bling" (about the Olympics), "Pixel Rampage", "Hallucinogenic Garden" -- are pegs on which to hang intricately tesselated, complex cycles of competing motifs, as well as melodies that are both intellectually satisfying and funkily corporeal. You could mention Steve Reich, but this is actually enjoyable. Give Peacock an award, quick.
Phil Johnson - The Independent