When the World Was One

The Manchester trumpeter, composer and all-round northern new-music enabler Matthew Halsall might be a man with the open ears and eclectic energy to run a broad-based contemporary record label - but he's also a disciple of the meditative 1960s music of John and Alice Coltrane, which significantly steers his own ventures. Halsall's personal projects often come close to the Coltranes' most reflective later works, but his Gondwana Orchestra (including regular partners Rachel Gladwin on harp and soulful local saxophonist Nat Birchall) is an expanded band featuring Japan's zither-like koto and the haunting sound of the bansuri flute, which creatively broadens the palette toward a far eastern-inspired world-music. From the McCoy Tyneresque piano vamp, soprano-sax theme and streaming harp counterpoint of the title track, to the spreading-ripples harp intro and quivering flute of Far Away Place, or the harp embracing Birchall's bell-clear soprano tone on the soft-swinging Falling Water, it all bears Halsall's personal stamp - while pianist Taz Modi and Cinematic Orchestra drummer Luke Flowers also crisply catch his contrasting fascination with the gospelly 1960s hard-bop sound.
Matthew Halsall trumpet
Nat Birchall Saxophone
Lisa Mallett flute
Keiko Kitamura koto
Rachael Gladwin harp
Taz Modi piano
Gavin Barras bass
Luke Flowers drums