Metta, by Matt Ridley

Metta

by Matt Ridley

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Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
High quality, velvet finish 6-panel digipak with unique artwork by Azeri artist Kabira Alieva

Includes unlimited streaming of Metta via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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Full Digital Discography

6

releases

Get all 6 Matt Ridley releases available on Bandcamp and save 20%.

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of 'The Antidote: Live at the London Jazz Festival', The Antidote Reloaded, Thymos, Metta, The Antidote, and The MJQ Celebration. , and , .

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1.	Music to Drive Home To 06:07	buy track
2.	Lachrymose 08:49	buy track
3.	Mental Cases 08:01	buy track
4.	Strange Meeting 07:08	buy track
5.	The Labyrinth 06:36	buy track
6.	Metta 05:50	buy track
7.	Ebb and Flow 07:39	buy track

about

As a leader, British double bassist and composer Matt Ridley is a specifically investigative musician whose artistry is derived from a desire to create a strong, meaningful and structural purpose out of each initial glint of inspiration.

Following up his debut release on Whirlwind (Thymos, 2013), his new album Mettã – a title and concept referencing themes of benevolence and goodwill – finds him progressing his shared creativity again with his quartet of pianist John Turville, drummer George Hart, and soprano saxophonist Jason Yarde, who appears here in a fuller, more centrally melodic role. Captured within a single day, this is a studio recording brimming with passion and spontaneity.

The seven extended originals of Mettā arise from an almost strategic, compositional plan which inspires engaging extemporisation from all players. Removed from any notion of a conventional head/solo approach, Ridley’s musical landscape is one of focused rhythmic, chordal and improvisational invention which can both challenge and delight – as in storytelling opener 'Music To Drive Home To', whose steady, end-of-day journeying, led by Jason Yarde’s colorful soprano dialogue and John Turville’s spangled ostinati, is punctuated by unpredictable pauses and meanderings.

That spirit is key to the magnetism of this album’s performances, its title track mysteriously building Ridley’s desired sense of amity through the elevated, free expression of his lucid bass soloing, George Hart’s fiery drum and cymbal elaborations, and the soulful cries of Yarde. 'Lachrymose', too, overflows with sensitive expression, Turville’s crystalline piano brightly tempering Yarde’s mournful theme; and 'Strange Meeting’s' romanticism coruscates unexpectedly to crisp, percussive slivers and bewitching soprano imaginings.

A contrasting tour de force is the snappy, chaotic vigour of 'Mental Cases', as the quartet relentlessly pushes the commotion with quick-fire syncopation, pulsating bass momentum, modal pyrotechnics and piano pandemonium. Perpetuating Ridley’s aspirations for engaging music-making, 'The Labyrinth' becalms a similar state of panicky disorientation with elegant-yet-animated combined arco bass and soprano phrases which teasingly and eventually prompt an infectiously wide swing; and to close, classically-inflected 'Ebb and Flow' glints, jewel-like, summing-up this band’s impressive diversity and ebullience.

Matt Ridley describes his quartet’s offering as "considered, composed/improvised music which might transport and entertain both listeners and players, creating and involving all in an awareness of the present – that’s something I feel strongly about.” The immersive experience of these fifty-or-so minutes suggests that intention is excitingly on-track.

PRESS HIGHLIGHTS

"A very organic and at times crystalline sounding quartet."
★★★★ The Scotsman

"Contemporary lyricism with an infectious percussive undercurrent from the eloquent bassist.”
Jazzwise Magazine

"A very good album by an excellent quartet."
★★★★ All About Jazz

"Ridley’s gently melodic but rhythmically sophisticated themes provide ideal vehicles for some superb group interplay and some inspired individual soloing."
★★★★ The Jazz Mann

"This highly absorbing and accessible recording is full of high quality improvising with strong original themes performed by one of our very best contemporary jazz quartets."
Jazz Views

"Leader, composer and bassist Matt Ridley's structures work to everyone's strengths with very satisfying contributions from saxophonist Jason Yarde, pianist John Turville and drummer George Hart.
The Northern Echo

"At times moody and intense, at others jaunty and upbeat... Evocative and entertaining throughout."
London Jazz

"An engaging and satisfying experience."
Sandy Brown Jazz

"The musicianship is accomplished."
Jazz Journal

“An album of exceptional quality.”
Written In Music

credits

released October 29, 2021

PERSONNEL

Matt Ridley - double bass
Jason Yarde - soprano saxophone
John Turville - piano
George Hart - drums

All compositions by Matt Ridley

ALBUM CREDITS

Recorded December 16, 2014 at Curtis Schwartz Studios, Ardingly
Edited, mixed and mastered by Curtis Schwartz 2015
Produced by Matt Ridley
Executive Producer - Michael Janisch

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about

Matt Ridley London, UK

Matt Ridley has performed across the UK and internationally with a wide cross section of artists,
most prominently the Darius Brubeck Quartet, of which he has been a member since 2006. As band
leader, he has released two critically acclaimed albums on 'Whirlwind Recordings', in a quartet
featuring Jason Yarde, which toured numerous times and performed at leading
jazz festivals across the UK. ... more

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