Loz Speyer Quartet

Loz Speyer - trumpet, flugelhorn

Hannes Riepler - guitar

Andrea DiBiase - bass

Dave Storey - drums

 

"IN THE KEY OF MONK"

A fine new band with a really fresh and open sound, playing the music of the great Thelonious Monk, interspersed with Speyer's own compositions.

Ahead of its time, Monk's music showed the way from blues to bebop to beyond. Deeply influenced by Monk's music (ever since being immersed in it in the 80s), Speyer's own music takes off from there with rhythmical patterns and changes never used before.

Both sets of music demand something extra of the musicians, in the way of being centred, in the moment, in real time.

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“An excellent, gutsy, hard edged quartet session...” - John Lewis, Time Out

 

"Sparky, open, attractive jazz with all the punch and accessibility customarily associated with rock music.” - Chris Parker, the Times

 

“The conversational energy of the performers, and the hipness of Tony Bianco's drumming, lift the music above the regular classic-jazz homage. Speyer, who has listened to Miles Davis’ pre-electric style with intelligence and imagination, is excellent throughout.” - John Fordham, the Guardian

 

"A set of immaculate hard bop compositions… bright trumpet with a tone combining generous doses of Brownie and hints of Woody Shaw or mid-period Miles… The band is both fluid and tight, able to navigate the quick-shifting rhythms and accents of Speyer’s songs quite nimbly.”

David Lewis, Cadence USA

 

(these reviews from album "Two Kinds of Blue" by Loz Speyer Quartet, with guitarist Andy Jones and NYC drummer Tony Bianco - recorded on the back of a 13 date UK tour and released on 33 Records in 1999.)