Album Notes

The flamboyant trombone of Mark Bassey leads this dynamic jazz quartet playing original music full of strong thematic imagery. The band features the magnificent talents of Dave Frankel on piano, Simon Thorpe on bass and Sean Randle on drums.

"Mark Bassey's compositions combine storytelling, visual imagery and offbeat humour. Varied and evocative writing, the band prove their ability both individually and as an ensemble. Hats off to the Mark Bassey Quartet." Hugh Gledhill, Jazzwise.

The words [on the album] are variously sung, spoken and shouted: a cry of ‘Oi, you!’ punctuates the lurching, inventive quartet interplay of ‘Road Rage’; ‘Crazy Town’ is a poem flatly intoned over a simple drum accompaniment; while ‘People Watching People’ offers a distinctly dreamy sung contrast. The main sequence, the wordless ‘An Underwater Adventure’, is properly programme music – and very well played.

Mark Bassey:
"a superb, witty player" Dave Gelly
"raucous ..." John Fordham
"that boy can play" Humphrey Lyttelton
"exquisite sound and perfect phrasing" Brian Blain
"Fred Wesley on acid …" anonymous
"marvellous trombone player, somehow twinkly and fierce at the same time" Orlando Gough (The Shout)
"… trombonist Mark Bassey … particularly wired for passion … rasping with an agile sliding grace."
"… Bassey has an irrepressible character, and infectious sense of humour, and an astonishing agility around the instrument." Sebastian Scotney, London Jazz