Orquestra Mahatma
Stay Cool
BDV 2557

TrackListing

1. The Mooche (Duke Ellington) mp3
2. Sunrise in Montreal (Rabih Abou-Khalil)
3. Goodnight Waltz (trad American)
4. Jota De Porto (trad Spanish)
5. Flower of Mexico (trad American)
6. Gankino Horo (trad Bulgarian)
7. Stay Cool (Victor Claiya)
8. Moliendo Café (Prado) mp3
9. Alma Llanera (Gutierrez)
10. Longa Farfisa (Riyad al-Sinbati)
11. Bavno Pomashko (trad Macedonia )
12. Melancholie (trad French)
13. Una Noche Una Valse(trad Venezuelan) mp3
14. Appalachian Waltz (Sonia Slany)
15. Alabama Jubilee (Cobb/Yellen)
16. Golden Slumbers (Gay arr Arguelles/Bates)

PRESSRead reviews in The Guardian / Time Out
"...this trio has a warmth of tone and a delight in melody that marks them out" (Charlie Gillett Nov 2005)

"Stirring experiments in jazz without frontiers" The Sunday Times  “A little miracle of home-grown British jazz” The Independent

**** Orquestra Mahatma are one of British jazz's quirkiest groups. They're musical nomads mixing up tunes, melodies and rhythms from America to Macedonia and Arabia to Venezuela and beyond and this live recording is the perfect entry point to their charmingly jumbled-up musical world in which Ellington rubs shoulders with Perez Prada and Rabih Abou-Khalil and traditional tunes provide the basis for some fun jazzy improvisations on violin, guitar, bass and percussion. Lovely. Kerstan Mackness - Time OutOne of the few truly original bands working within the world and jazz crossover territory, Orquestra Mahatma cannot be shoehorned into a single category or genre. Combining musical influences from every corner of the globe; the group has a versatile and exciting sound that has gained them widespread critical acclaim. Stay Cool – the group's third album - continues these jazz gypsies' exploration of music from around the world. The band's own compositions nestle between inimitable improvisations on songs native to Spain , Macedonia , France , Bulgaria and Venezuela amongst others.

Of these, Stuart Hall transcribed the slow Macedonian tune track 11 'Bavno Pomashko' and it has become a definitive version transcribed from the impassioned and expressive clarinet playing of Nikola Parov, ‘Nikola and Friends - Traditional Music From the Balkans'.

The passion and pleasure of these musicians make them fantastic travelling companions and guides. As with their two previous albums, Orquestra Mahatma introduce the listener to tunes and styles which they might not otherwise have been aware of, using melodies from every culture to entertain, enrapture, and entrance with its sheer enjoyability.

Orquestra Mahatma comprises Paul Clarvis on drums & percussion, Stuart Hall on strings (guitars and fiddle), Sonia Slany on violin and Thad Kelly on bass. The group has been together for over a decade, releasing their acclaimed debut album A Young Person's Guide on The Babel Label in 1996, and their follow up The Nightingale of a Thousand Joys - a collaboration with Sonia Slany's Solid Strings - in 1999.

Biographies

 Paul Clarvis brings his unique style of music to many genres. He can be heard on recordings by John Williams, Victoria Mullova, Andy Sheppard, Kenny Wheeler, Fred Hersch, Mick Jagger, Karl Jenkins "Adiemus", Richard Thompson, Moondog, John Adams, Elton John, McFly, Sam Rivers, Paul McCartney, John Harle, Sting, Gwyneth Herbert, Harrison Birtwhistle, Annie Lennox, Matthew Herbert and Hugh Masekela. As one of the most requested session musicians, he has played on numerous films including Star Wars, Thunderbirds, The Passion, Troy, King Arthur, Kingdom of Heaven, Around the World in 80 Days, Alien v Predator, Lord of the Rings, Madagascar, On a Clear Day, Spy Games, Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Shakespeare in Love, G.I.Jane, James Bond, Billy Elliot, Notting Hill, Harry Potter and many others. He regularly gigs with Mose Allison, has played with Nina Simone, Herbie Hancock and was Leonard Bernstein's favourite percussionist when in London . He has judged the BBC Young Musician of the Year several times, and has been made an HonRAM. Stuart Hall plays stringed instruments including the guitar, ‘ud, pedal steel, bouzouki, saz, banjo, kemence, tres, violin, lyra & gudulka. As well as running a jazz course at Middlesex University , he has worked with Steve Arguelles, Django Bates, Tim Berne, Loose Tubes, Billy Jenkins, Hermeto Pascoal, John Dankworth, Martin Speake and the Ritz Tea Dance Band. He performs medieval music in Belinda Sykes' Joglaresa, and formed the Hermetologists, playing the music of Hermeto Pascoal, with Huw Warren, Eddie Parker and Martin France. Sonia Slany has worked as a violin soloist with many artists including Ryuichi Sakamoto, Peter Gabriel, Massive Attack, Mark Knopfler, Phillip Glass, Laurie Anderson, Egberto Gismonti, Jim Hall, Salif Keita, Michael Nyman, William Orbit, Burt Bacharach, Elvis Costello and Bjork. She formed the Solid Strings, Electra Strings, and a band integrating classical and jazz musicians called Bubbling Under, and has written arrangements for many bands including Super Furry Animals, Gyorky Zygotics, the Cranberries, Andreas Scholl, Mark Knopfler and Transglobal Underground.

Thad Kelly is a stalwart of the London jazz scene, known for his work with Bobby Wellins, Claire Martin, Billy Jenkins in his Blues Collective, Huw Warren, Christine Tobin, Iain Ballamy, The Partisans, Phil Robson, and Julien Siegel amongst others.