SLAMCD285 Antonio Quijano Quartet – Songs from Another Blue Planet

The Antonio Quijano Quartet is an international collaboration that explores the fringes of improvised music in a variety of settings. Featuring saxophonist Paul Dunmall, guitarist Philip Gibbs and pianist Marco Anderson, alongside bassist Antonio Quijano.

This creative union features musicians who are totally committed to the art of improvisation and have the ability to come up with a voice of their own.

The players’ collective credits include Alice Coltrane, Steve Vai, Johnny Guitar Watson, Eddie Gomez, John Patitucci, William Parker, John Serry and Andy Sheppard, and their own musical preferences merge to form a style where jazz, rock, ambient and hip hop are all identifiable.

‘Songs from Another Blue Planet’ is a collection of first take improvisations recorded in Bristol, November 2009.

Antonio Quijano: bass
Paul Dunmall: soprano & tenor saxophones, clarinet, chanter
Philip Gibbs: guitar
Marco Anderson: piano
Jonathan Scott: djembe on track 6

“The music is basically ‘free jazz/rock’ rather than ‘free jazz’, owing as much to Soft Machine, electric Miles and perhaps even the more outré productions of Weather Report as to, say, Mujician or Dreamtime. Quijano plays a rich variety of bass foundations (by turns funky stutters, sonorous Jaco-tinged soaring, growling power) to anchor the characteristically inventive Dunmall, who fires off a series of gripping, passionate solos on soprano, tenor, clarinet and bagpipe chanter; Gibbs, who is spiky, howling or scrabbling as demanded by each collective improvisation; and Anderson, who pounds out a series of heavy electronic beats under it all. If this makes the whole thing sound a mite relentless, though, it’s misleading: there are quieter moments, even the odd folk-ish skirl or spacy meditative passage, so overall, the album provides a vibrant and absorbing set of spontaneous creations from four supremely accomplished improvisers.” – Chris Parker, London Jazz News

“Essentially this is expanded Free-form Rock with the accent on dialog between the four principals. Dunmall sounds terrific on soprano, wailing on top of the guitar-centric rhythmic outness, the thickly rolling bass and the variable throb of the post-DeJohnette variation Rock drumming…A fine showpiece for what free-flowing electric/acoustic Rock and world-tinged avant garde music can be these days. Recommended if that appeals to you.” – Grego Applegate Edwards, Cadence

“It is pretty rare to hear Mr. Dunmall play with an electric bassist and a someone who plays drum machine. Oddly enough, this music is still pretty adventurous and pushes Dunmall & Gibbs into some odd areas. “Staggering” has a sly, somewhat funky groove with spiraling, serpent soprano from Dunmall and smokin’ Hendrix-like fuzz/wah-wah guitar from Phil Gibbs, a sound I’ve never heard from him before…Antonio Quijana is an impressive bassist, playing some quick and adventurous fretless lines and consistently working well with Anderson’s ever-changing drum machine playing, as well as interacting with the saxes and/or guitar at a high level of craftiness.” – Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery

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