Sun Swells Corrie Dick

• 1Warehouse05:24
• 2Fingers Full of Meaning03:40
• 3Sinking04:38
• 4She Speaks05:00
• 5Says Who?02:00
• 6Everything the Light Touches05:19
• 7Golden Flowers05:07
• 8We Were Green03:50
• 9Light Blue Igloo02:10
• 10The River03:10
• Total Runtime40:18

Info for Sun Swells

Corrie, a musician and composer specialising in euphoric, sonically-inventive drumming, is at the rhythmic epicentre of a new era of innovative British jazz. He is lauded for his dynamism, his melodic slant and for his playfully subversive take on style and genre. An artist of prolific and varied output, Corrie has long been an essential component of Laura Jurd’s music including Mercury Prize shortlisted Dinosaur; is a crucial co-pilot in Elliot Galvin Trio and Rob Luft Group; and co-writes music with an abundance of artists including alternative Indie band Ink Line. His 2015 release Impossible Things which skilfully fused Celtic folk and contemporary jazz with new takes on African rhythms culminated in sold out touring and concerts across the UK. Now Corrie resets for an album which further embraces the eclectic whims of a child of the iPod shuffle generation - finding cohesion among disparate elements.

As a multi-instrumentalist who has recorded on piano, vocals, synth, guitar and trumpet, Corrie’s writing is uniquely colourful and his playing shaped by many perspectives. The new album Sun Swells showcases all of this. Anchored by a rock guitar trio but with layers of fruity surprises, surging vocal melodies are counterpointed by mercurial horn playing. There is captivating prose written by guest vocalists Dave Malkin of the English folk tradition and Greek-Norwegian Marianna Sangita.

Now an active participant in South East London’s evergreen arts scene, Deptford, the young master of contemporary drumming has studied traditional music in Ghana and Morocco where the grooves are rich and layered, and in his home land, Scotland, where rhythm and melody have melded for centuries.

Alongside his ensemble work, Corrie has been exploring solo drum and percussion, most recently performing at King’s Place and Newcastle Festival of Improvised Music. Here he demonstrates fresh perspectives of an instrument that glows with possibility, embracing the full gamut of dynamics and textures with slanted nods to music traditions of the world.

Corrie has been mentored by the likes of Mark Guiliana and Kendrick Scott, as well as kpanlogo master Saddiq Addy, nephew of the legendary Mustapha Tettey Addy. He has studied the traditional and modern music of Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Benin and DR Congo alongside his prodigious creative companion, guitarist Rob Luft.

In short, Corrie is an original, open-minded, questing talent who is extending the parameters of what it means to be a drummer.

Concerning the idea behind Sun Swells, his latest project, Corrie explains: “I wanted to write a jazz album that had rock instrumentation at its core: guitar-bass-drums. Rob Luft (guitar), Tom McCredie (bass) and I have been improvising and writing together for years and years and we’ve forged a sound that is uniquely crunchy yet summery, so I wanted that sound at the centre but decorated with all sorts of elements. I basically wanted to make folk-rock-jazz but treat it how electronic music producer Mura Masa treats his tracks--chucking the whole damn fruit bowl at the thing but somehow keeping space and air in the arrangement and the mix.”

The music on Sun Swells is highly unique in a way that is becoming a trademark for the highly gifted artist. Corrie continues: “This is outsider jazz; it’s extremely listenable music that has lots of very current, familiar ingredients but put together in a way you may not be familiar with. Some key elements include soaring folkish melodies, Scandinavian free jazz, 90s-kid grooves, a playful shunning of conventional jazz roles and form, stillness, turbulence, beautiful and ugly-pretty sounds, warmth, stunning lyrical imagery, climate change, feminism, and eclectic guests. It’s an album that embraces contrasts and spectra and that can be listened to in so many ways. It finds cohesion in the disparate.”

The cast on the album comprises a venerable A-list of musicians in the young, dynamic segment of the always-morphing London jazz scene. Corrie explains: “The band is packed with prolific, special artists. The core of this group are musicians with whom I have loads of history in other groups - Laura Jurd (Dinosaur), Rob Luft, Tom McCredie (Elliot Galvin Trio), Joe Wright, Alice Zawadzki, Matt Robinson, Joe Webb. It’s unusual to have such pure synergy between so many musicians at the same time.”

Concerning his newly established relationship with Ubuntu Music, Corrie gives his view: “As far as I’m concerned Ubuntu is the perfect home for this music--it’s got that special balance between supportive guidance and allowing for artistic freedom and integrity. I feel very privileged to be working alongside Martin Hummel and his team for this album.”

Martin Hummel, Director of Ubuntu Music, concludes: “Wow, where do you begin with this one? Corrie is a ferociously independent breed of artist who forges his own musical path which renders his music exceedingly unique while being shamelessly accessible to all. When Corrie’s talent is combined with an exceptional array of gifted musicians--a number of whom can be found on Ubuntu recordings--the end result is a sonic cocktail for the senses. It's just what the doctor ordered. We’re ecstatic that Corrie has joined the Ubuntu Music Family.”

“Corrie is the perfect drummer/percussionist… colouring each piece with precision, complex rhythms/techniques and visible enjoyment” (London Jazz News)

“Remarkably mature and moving song writing” (Splinter Jazz)

“Corrie Dick contributes songs that are romantic and full of feeling in the best way” (Music OMH) “I thank the heavens that [this] superhero musician has come into my life” (Laura Jurd)

“The trumpeter [Laura Jurd] herself and expressive drummer Corrie Dick are both sensations who have made big names for themselves straight out of the blocks. Compared to other genres, jazz doesn’t really thrive on hype. Their secret is just that they’re really, really good.” (London Jazz News)

Laura Jurd, trumpet
Rebecka Edlund, voice
Rob Luft, guitar
Tom McCredie, bass
Corrie Dick, drums, percussion

Corrie Dick
is the name of a UK-based musician specialising in euphoric, sonically-conscious groove drumming. He is lauded for his touch, uniquely fresh approach to style and melodicism. He is an essential component of any project lead by Laura Jurd including Mercury Prize Shortlisted Dinosaur; provides the intricate and fluent stick work in the Elliot Galvin Trio; brings intense, free colours to Danish powerhouse bassist Jasper Høiby’s exciting Fellow Creatures; writes deep and spiritual music for Blue-Eyed Hawk; and provides the full spectrum of rhythmic elements for guitar wunderkind Rob Luft’s ensemble. He also leads his own joy-inducing supergroup, releasing his debut album with the ensemble in November 2015, selling out concerts across the UK ever since. The album displays Corrie’s striking abilities as composer/lyricist by skilfully fusing Celtic folk and contemporary jazz with new takes on African rhythms.

Since his graduation as a gold medal student from Trinity Laban’s prestigious jazz course, Corrie has honed his playing and composing from his base in South East London’s hub of creativity. The young master of contemporary grooves has studied traditional music in Ghana and Morocco where the rhythm is rich and layered, and also in his home land, Scotland, where rhythm and melody have melded for centuries.

His investigations in rhythm have lead to a series of solo drum and percussion concerts at venues like Vortex and King’s Place. Here he demonstrates untapped perspectives on an instrument that bathes in potential, as Corrie puts it, “here’s an instrument that holds in it a bold combination of cultures - marching bass and snare drum, West-African toms and Turkish cymbals, it’s genius, and it’s healthy to celebrate where these elements came from.”

A winner of no shortage of accolades - Corrie picked up BBC’s ‘Young Scottish Jazz Musician of the Year 2013’ prize, a Mercury Prize 2017 shortlist, Scottish Jazz Awards ‘Up and Coming Artist’ in 2012, countless others during his time at college and has attended countless other award ceremonies as a nominee for the likes of Jazz FM’s ‘Jazz Act of the Year’, and the UK Parliament’s ‘Best Newcomer’ and ‘Album of the Year’ - Corrie owes his talents to the many supportive communities he has himself been crucial to. He is an alumni of both Tommy Smith Youth Jazz Orchestra and the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland and has been mentored by the likes of Mark Guiliana and Kendrick Scott as well as Ghanaian kpanlogo master Saddiq Addy, nephew of the legendary Mustapha Tettey Addy. He has also studied the traditional and modern music of Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Benin and DR Congo alongside his prodigious creative companion, guitarist Rob Luft.

Corrie is an original, open-minded, questing talent who is extending the parameters of what it means to be a drummer.

This album contains no booklet.