Album Notes

The Jeff Chambers Variable n-tet is a 14 piece band whose sound is skewed toward the brass end of the spectrum. All the music is composed by Jeff Chambers and draws on the depth and richness of the brass chorale, the harmonic language of modern jazz and the quirkiness and humour of popular music.

Its influences range from Kenny Wheeler, Mike Gibbs and Loose Tubes to early Mothers of Invention and Hatfield and The North, the best band to have come from the intensively creative ‘Canterbury Scene’ of the 60s and 70s. In other words, this music is sonorous, with full and rich modern jazz harmonies underpinning memorable melodies and exciting jazz solos.

Three pieces give an idea of the breadth of styles in the music:

· ‘A Man of Kent’ which was written around the hymn ‘We Plough the Fields and Scatter’. It pays respect to the generation who not only often ended up in the Workhouse but who also fought for King and Country in the First World War.
· By contrast ‘The Music of Unemployment’ makes clear reference to early Mothers of Invention, pays dues to some modern jazz big band composers and fades out to the accompaniment of Duane Eddie-like surf music.
· ‘O Barnsley’ employs simple harmony in the style of a brass chorale to develop its theme in stages and to underpin a beautiful solo on soprano saxophone.

Humour belongs in music... but music is first.