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Release Date: 24 January 2025
Label: Earshift Music
Packaging Type: Digipak
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 9324690411498
Genres: Jazz Instrumental
Description
On Elementa award-winning New Zealand composer-guitarist Callum Allardice showcases his distinctive style of cinematic composition and dynamic jazz quartet interaction featuring Luke Sweeting on piano, Tom Botting on bass, and Hikurangi Schaverien-Kaa on drums. The album displays Callum's signature sound, with folksy, song-like melodies supported by evocative harmony and fierce rhythmic energy. The music is driven by the precise yet organic interplay between guitar and piano, with agile melodies and lush harmonies that balance each other in subtle, effective ways.
Elementa features the singles "Solitude" and "Peaceful," and is a testament to Callum's journey as a composer and musician. The album was born out of a composer residency at Te Koki New Zealand School of Music, where Callum was able to expand on ideas that had been evolving in his mind for years. This led to the creation of two distinct projects: the Cinematic Light Orchestra, released earlier this year, and this more intimate quartet project.
Callum is joined by long-time collaborators Luke Sweeting on piano, Tom Botting on bass, and Hikurangi Schaverien-Kaa on drums - musicians he deeply admires and trusts. The quartet setting allowed Callum to explore the interplay between composition and improvisation, blending the strengths of both large ensemble and small group dynamics. Highlights include Tom's melodic bass solo on "Solitude," Luke's unaccompanied piano solo on "Odyssey," and Hikurangi's ferocious drumming on "Elementa."
Known for his evocative and complex jazz compositions, Callum has been honoured with the APRA Best Jazz Composition award three times for his works Sons of Thunder (2016), Deep Thought (2017), and Chungin (2019). His group, The Jac, won the Recorded Music NZ Best Jazz Artist award in 2020 for their album A Gathering. In 2022, Callum was named the inaugural jazz composer-in-residence at Te Koki New Zealand School of Music.
Tracklisting
The Vampires
Kristin Berardi
Trichotomy
Vazesh
Matthew Ottignon
Visions of Nar
The Vampires
Peggy Lee & Cole Schmidt
Callum Allardice
