Sugarwork - Sugarwork - CD

One of the UK music scene's most resourceful figures, Paul Harrison releases the debut album by his latest band, Sugarwork. Featuring four musicians whose work has been marked by a consistent thirst for enquiry, Sugarwork brings together saxophonist Phil Bancroft, guitarist Graeme Stephen and drummer Stuart Brown, with Harrison on keyboards as the main composer and producer. Harrison, Bancroft, Stephen and Brown are among the leading players in Scottish jazz circles and as a pianist Harrison alone has worked in classic jazz, with singer Carol Kidd, with Dave Liebman and the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra and in myriad other jazz situations including organ trios and the Brazilian-styled Trio Magico. Sugarwork draws on and continues this jazz experience in terms of improvisation, while avoiding any pat traditions, and embraces elements of atmospheric electronica, industrial looping, psychedelic exploration, and post-rock dynamics as well as the melodic style associated with European jazz. The music on the album is, at times, hauntingly melodic, at other times, thrillingly relentless and intense, and is the result of Harrison's decision to use studio production and manipulation in the style of electronica and rock producers rather than 'documenting' how the band sounds live.
'As well as being a jazz pianist, I've long been into all kinds of music, particularly electronica,' says Harrison. 'Having experimented with this element where I could in various projects, I wanted to bring it further into the foreground in a new context. I wanted to see if I could create a band that uses jazz harmony, improvisation, and loud electronic instruments without straying into jazz fusion. It's been a gradual and exploratory process but we had fun bringing it to fruition and hope that listeners will enjoy the sounds and contrasts we've created.'
The album includes a collaboration with Serbia-based artist David Stanley, whose photography is developed into extensive original artwork featured on the CD and band's website. Further collaboration is planned, including a music video for the track 'After The Forest, The Sky' later in the year.

1. Habit Control / 2. That Strange Summer / 3. After The Forest, The Sky / 4. Bad Data / 5. Goodbye Hello / 6. Short Story Long / 7. Spiral Confection / 8. The Stairs / 9. Astralgia / 10. Thev End One Day