Stuart McCallum – ‘City’

Stuart McCallum2

Manchester guitarist and composer, Stuart McCullum is set to release ‘City’, his fourth album. His second on Naim Jazz Records, ‘City’ is a beautiful, ambient/electronica/jazz soundscape and features a raft of seasoned musicians, including McCallum on guitars, Robin Mullarkey on bass, Sean Foran on Rhodes and Richard Spaven on drums, synths and electronics. Violinist Emma Sweeney guests on ‘Trio Seven’.

Also featuring guest vocalists on four tracks, JP Cooper, Sharlene Hector, Fridolijn van Poll and Sophie Barker, it’s an altogether lush album, the perfect accompaniment to a glass of wine after a hard day’s work.

It’s hard to specify the space in which McCallum’s music fits – With a wide range of influences from Machinedrum, Lau and Martin Simpson to Debussy, Taylor McFerrin and Burial, it’s not difficult to see how this has come about. His 2011 Naim debut, Distilled, was a series of beautiful instrumental soundscapes and glorious melodies that owed as much to dance music as it did to jazz. Since then he has been busy with a wide range of other projects, including several collaborations with British artist Linder, scoring music for the Northern Ballet and working in an acoustic duo setting with Mike Walker.

Stuart McCallum will be touring the following dates and venues:

Aug 4 – RNCM, MANCHESTER – official album launch

Aug 19 – Matt & Phreds, MANCHESTER

Sept 24 – Grumbles, STAFFORD

Oct 7 – Lescar, SHEFFIELD

Oct 8 – Mash Guru, MACCLESFIELD

Oct 9 – Cafe Lento, LEEDS

Oct 10 – Zeferellis, AMBLESIDE

Oct 11 – Marsden Jazz Festival, WEST YORKS

‘City’ is set for release on 28th August. Listen to super-ambient track,  ‘T-Onics’;

 

About the author

Lisa has been writing for over 20 years, starting as the entertainment editor on her university newspaper. Since then she's written for Popwrapped, Maximum Pop, Celebmix, and ListenOnRepeat.

Lisa loves all good music, with particular fondness for Jedward and David Bowie. She's interviewed Edward Grimes (Jedward), Kevin Godley, Trevor Horn, Paul Young, Peter Cox (Go West), Brendan B Brown (Wheatus), Bruce Foxton (The Jam), among many many more. Lisa is also available for freelance writing - please email lisa@essentiallypop.com

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