Saxophonist and composer John Surman has, in his nearly 50-year career, played and recorded in as many settings as one might imagine. Whether it's experimental free music, rockist fusion projects, large ensembles, solo, duets, concept recordings, you name it. His ECM tenure has been a fascinating one. That said, no matter how far afield his explorations have taken him, the place he always returns to, is playing jazz - some might meritoriously argue the point that no matter what he does, jazz lies at its root. Brewster's Rooster is indeed a pretty straight-ahead jazz date. Accompanied by guitarist John Abercrombie, drummer Jack DeJohnette, and bassist Drew Gress. The sound on the recording, while contemporary, does hearken back to the heady days of ECM in the late '70s. Seven of the nine cuts here are Surman originals, the two covers are an utterly gorgeous reading of "Chelsea Bridge"…

It's been four long years since British composer and saxophonist John Surman issued a new recording for his longtime home label, ECM. In a loose way, The Spaces in Between is the mirror image of 2003's Free and Equal, recorded with drummer Jack DeJohnette and the London Brass (though that record was a mirror of the first teaming of Surman with his longtime collaborator, double bassist Chris Laurence and the then-new Trans4mation String Quartet). Surman has been writing, arranging for, and performing with Trans4mation since that time. Whereas Coruscating was far more formal in structure, and its textures and colorings plotted in advance, here there are more opportunities for the strings to improvise and add more freely to the mix…

John Surman is an artist with an amazing range and depth of style, from contemporary classical to jazz to electronic music. In few places is this more evident than on A Biography of the Rev. Absalom Dawe, on which Surman acts as a sort of one-man wind chamber ensemble, playing baritone saxophone (his signature instrument) as well as soprano sax, alto and bass clarinets, and keyboards. The electronic elements are few and unobtrusive, and the keyboard's bright tones are a good match for the fluid, breathy sounds of the wind instruments. The music itself is nearly always ethereal and atmospheric, without journeying into the territory of askeletal new age softness. Instead, the execution seems precise and intentional; each instrument was recorded separately and then mixed as individual units into the whole, giving Surman additional opportunities for crispness of sound…

During a period of his career that would feature some notable collaborations with luminaries such as Paul Bley, Bill Frisell, Elvin Jones, and Barre Phillips, John Surman also produced Road to Saint Ives, a gentle, introspective, yet adventurous solo work. The entire album is a one-man effort, from the composition to all of the instrumentation, with Surman building strata of sound over keyboard and percussion structures using bass clarinet and the soprano and bass saxophones he is known for. The resulting work communicates a unique vision and mood, unsullied by the conflicting interpretations of other performers.
The album centers around a portrait of the landscape and spirit of Cornwall, taking more than a few bits of inspiration from British folk music, but remaining firmly perched in the jazz tradition…

In short saxophone and church organ duets, John Surman and Howard Moody follow up their previous orchestral project, Proverbs & Songs from 1998, with this series of improvisations that track through occasional traditional themes, as well as new compositions that have older values and motifs in mind. Surman is his usual brilliant and staunchly individual self, whether playing his trusty baritone sax, bass clarinet, or at times, soprano, while Moody's keyboards provide more of a foundation rather than being on equal footing. Recorded in Oslo, Norway, moods from joyous and active to introspective or pensive are dotted throughout this program that seems like a musical biopic through the life of virtually anyone…

John Surman's debut as a leader for ECM is an atmospheric solo set that utilizes overdubbing (although leaving space for unaccompanied solo sections). Surman performs eight of his moody and often-introspective originals, playing soprano, baritone, bass clarinet and synthesizers. Fortunately there is enough variety in this generally quiet music to hold one's interest.

English multi-instrumentalist John Surman has been known on a worldwide level, but never recognized as he deserved to be in the United States. A collaboration with John McLaughlin, or fellow Brits on the fusion or free jazz scene increased his cache a bit, but being a part of the ECM label had to have increased his visibility to a larger degree. This quite different recording of overdubbed woodwind and electronics has a suitable palate and soundscape profile for the European label, enhanced by the immaculate production values of the Rainbow Studio in Oslo, Norway, and fortified by Surman's heady and spacy revelations on this project of deep, introspective, and divine music. At his most heartfelt from the outset, a haunting refrain with flutes and recorder above synthesizers underpins a lilting bass clarinet melody on "Portrait of a Romantic," while the reverse sentiment of emptiness in a Terry Riley or Cluster like minimalism identifies "Not Love Perhaps" under Surman's soprano sax. "Roundelay" is stunning and unique to this set, with bass clarinet as an ostinato bass, buoying a full array of overdubbed saxophones sounding like an interactive quartet in a laid-back frame of sheer beauty.

British saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer John Surman turned 80 in 2024. During six decades of laudable achievement, he has recorded and performed in dozens of configurations from solo to big band, chamber quintet to orchestra conductor. Words Unspoken is Surman's first ECM date since 2018's trio offering, Invisible Threads. It marks a reunion with the remarkable, Oslo-based American vibraphonist Rob Waring. Award-winning British guitarist Rob Luft (whose solo albums on Edition have won international praise) and Norwegian drummer Thomas Strønen balance the quartet. The bandleader brought some sketches into the studio and passed them out without specific instructions as to who would play what when. He wanted the recording to sound like the band created it spontaneously by wedding modern jazz, avant improv, and folk music in the moment.

The album title – Words Unspoken – alludes to the instant musical understanding found by the members of this nimble quartet assembled by great British reedman John Surman. „My idea was to put together some musical ideas that would offer a collective sense of purpose but still be open enough to allow each of us to suggest other ways of developing the material together. Everything fell into place immediately. But I soon realized it wasn‘t so much the musical ideas that made it work, it was the musicians.” Surman and US vibraharpist Rob Waring – both residents of Oslo – had previously collaborated in John’s Invisible Threads trio with Nelson Ayres, but the associations with Norwegian drummer Thomas Strønen and UK guitarist Rob Luft were new. With these four quick-witted players, all debate takes place in the music, stimulated by Surman’s strongly melodic themes and improvisational imagination. Words Unspoken is issued as the quartet gears up for international touring.

For this ECM project, John Surman (who plays soprano, baritone, clarinet, bass clarinet and piano) and conductor John Warren wrote a full set of original music for Surman's reeds, a seven-piece brass section and a rhythm section to interpret. This episodic set has its share of sound explorations but also contains swinging sections and an impressive amount of excitement. The colorful solos (mostly by Surman) and the unpredictable writing make this a highly recommended disc. (AMG)

The core of this group – John Surman, Alan Skidmore, Peter Lemer, Tony Reeves, and Jon Hiseman – recorded an LP titled Local Colour for ESP-Disk in 1966. The plan, conceived the year after the 50th anniversary of the recording session, was to reunite the original quintet, which had existed for six months back in '66, but unfortunately Nisar Ahmad (George) Khan, tenor saxophonist on the original album, came down with something and couldn't appear. Alan Skidmore (Lemer bandmate in SOS) was deputized and, as all familiar with his career would expect and you will hear, came through with flying local colors at the concert on February 20, 2018 at noted London jazz club Pizza Express. Four months later, Jon Hiseman passed away at age 73 after battling a brain tumor.

British multireed player John Surman has enjoyed a long career, making significant marks in free jazz, modal, and fusion, and also developing his own distinctive blend of folk and jazz elements. His ability to bridge styles has even extended to 1999's treatment of Renaissance-era composer John Dowland's songs, In Darkness Let Me Dwell with the Hilliard Ensemble's John Potter. Coruscating is another unusual venture, with Surman and regular associate bassist Chris Laurence improvising on eight of Surman's compositions with the string quartet Trans4mation. There's a seamless beauty here, composition and improvisation becoming one. Beginning with the baroque clarity of melody on "At Dusk," Coruscating develops often dark, looming textures. While Surman has made his baritone fly, here he emphasizes intense lyricism, whether with a true, full-bodied, baritone sound or a light upper register. "Stone Flower" is dedicated to the great Ellington baritonist Harry Carney, and Surman's breathy, overtone-rich sound invokes Carney's own recordings with strings.

Ukrainian pianist and composer Misha Alperin joins forces for the first time in session with British reedist John Surman (a last-minute replacement for Tore Brunborg) in this melodious, spontaneous set. Augmented by Arkady Shilkloper on French horn and flugelhorn, Terje Gewelt on bass, and Jon Christensen on drums, their hypnotic nexus breathes ounces of thematic life into the “Overture” in watery, stepwise motion. Surman’s reptilian soprano takes us in some unexpected directions throughout a holistic introduction, while his unmistakable baritone threads resilient cables through “Twilight house” and “City Dance.” The first of these is where the session truly comes to life through his interactions with Alperin, while the latter serves a touch of groove in a veritable trill buffet (think Snakeoil). “Movement” features classical percussionist Hans-Kristian Kjos Sørensen (heard previously on No Birch) in a spindly improv, the pointillism and melancholy draw of which only thinly veil its composed undercurrent. A lovely solo from Shilkloper on French horn rises like a paper lantern lit and offered to the sky.

Artists’ greatest inspiration often comes from sources that once surrounded them in their native communities. Pianist Lucian Ban, violist Mat Maneri and woodwind master John Surman come from different backgrounds but are connected by their focus on improvised music along with their appreciation of folkloric and classical styles.