Tom Arthurs. Richard Fairhurst
Mesmer
BDV 2767



Beautiful Indifference (Tom Arthurs) mp3
Up From Sloth (Tom Arthurs)
Anguilla (Tom Arthurs)
Keepsake (Richard Fairhurst) mp3
The Great Unwashed (Tom Arthurs)
Mesmer (Tom Arthurs)
Furuncle (Richard Fairhurst and Tom Arthurs) mp3
Warbler (Richard Fairhurst)
Infinite (Lothar Ohlmeier)

Tom Arthurs – flugelhorn
Richard Fairhurst - piano

"a subtle and beautifully performed dialogue between two composer/improvisers..." ( **** John Fordham, The Guardian)

"There's that old truism that young players start out showing off all the wares in their bag of talent and then, if they mature as they should, they start to realise which ones are the really meaningful ones and confine themselves to developing those. It's the principle of simplify and cut away. The youthful British flugelhorn player Tom Arthurs and the youthful British pianist Richard Fairhurst have arrived at that point with this quiet collection of duo pieces. The opener is little gem called Beautiful Indifference, and although it is written by Arthurs, it is played as a solo by Fairhurst. His touch on the keys is beautifully weighted and precise, and the sound of the piano is excellent. Arthurs, too, pays attention to tone, keeping it pure and not quite cool. The title track is a lovely private conversation between the two musicians, full of silences, sympathetic".
JAZZ CD OF THE WEEK **** Peter Bacon (Birmingham Post)

"This is music to hear pin drops by...in essence it's the chance to eavesdrop on two considerable intelligences communing without words - and that's not something you get everyday." (Jazzwise, May 2007)

'...a very English understatement. Fairhurst likes limitations; he's adept at spinning a long line over one tiny repeating harmonic pattern, and likes to restrict himself to one area of the keyboard. It must have been 20 minutes before he ventured below middle C. Arthurs is similarly ingenious in the way he can make a line seem at once rhapsodically free and focused'
[Ivan Hewett, Daily Telegraph]

'... a mature, brave and stark album featuring just flügelhorn and piano. Mesmer is simple sounding but subtle, with a mischievous, playful design. It is a sort of conversation, a game of chess or a debate in tongues that is comic and melancholy in equal measure. In places the flügelhorn and piano are so entwined you wonder if Arthurs and Fairhurst are possessed of superhuman powers of concentration ('Up From Sloth' and 'Anguilla' are examples). Elsewhere they play as solo ('Beautiful Indifference' and 'Keepsake') or occasionally at odds. This isn't an easy record and takes time to understand, meaning Parkinson won't be play-listing it any time soon. What it does achieve, though, is luxurious exposure for two beautiful instruments, both generously pitched in a vast, open space to accentuate their details. In Tom Arthurs the flügelhorn couldn't have a better ambassador, controlling the instrument with a tone that is both strong and eccentric. Fairhurst, meanwhile, plays delicately and with understanding, and has a hint of Bill Evans in his ability to play with intensity in a free, loose form. Between them, these two young players have made a confident record, rejecting the ideal of a grand, domineering debut in favour of a job well done.
(Adam Green Blues and Soul) ****

Tom Arthurs and Richard Fairhurst might appear almost fated to make music together: growing up in almost identical houses less than 30 miles apart, the left-handed lovers of Havaianas flip-flops, Turkish
pizza and Cabinet magazine finally met when Tom depped in Richard's group Nest at the 2004 BBC Jazz Awards.

Almost three years on, and after months of grabbing all spare days available to rehearse and develop material at Steinway Hall, Tom and Richard will release their debut album ‘Mesmer' on Babel in early 2007. Featuring original compositions by both artists, solo improvisations and a Morton Feldman-esque rendition of reeds-player Lothar Ohlmeier's (from Julie Sassoon's trio Azilut!) Infinite, the duo have set out to create an intimate, warm and open space full of colour and variety.

"Si usted está dispuesto a explorar territorios que le deparen intensidades desconocidas; si le atrae la música que prefiere los riesgos antes que la comodidad; si, en fin, quiere sumergirse en una experiencia sonora donde los rótulos y etiquetas naufragan, el álbum de estos dos británicos está hecho a su medida. Resulta extraño, aún dentro del universo del jazz, escuchar un dúo de piano y flugelhorn; más todavía, que la música que surja del encuentro no sea edulcorada ni complaciente. En este trabajo que comento, las posibilidades tímbricas y armónicas de ambos instrumentos se desarrollan al máximo. El  CD se abre con  Beautiful Indifference, un solo de piano donde Fairhurst teje una melodía en las notas agudas que se vuelve más desesperante  a medida que la combina con acordes espaciados, creando así una tensión que nunca se resuelve; y más que un sencillo clima de misterio o suspenso, el modo de tocar de fairhurst  genera una atmósfera propia de quien se mantiene despierto y lúcido en la noche, insomne. El quinto tema, The Great Unwashed, es una sorpresiva intervención de flugelhorn: Arthurs recorre largas notas graves que, lejos de conducir a melodías acostumbradas, se desvanecen en un soplido que acaba en chasquido, alternándose con vibrantes escalas en el extremo agudo. Así, Arthurs muestra los matices que es capaz de sacarle al instrumento y los contrastes que puede lograr. Elegí las dos piezas solistas porque son representativas de la labor de los músicos cuando tocan a dúo: improvisaciones que sostienen la tensión, frecuentes pausas, cambios de ritmo; todos los elementos del free jazz, conjugados con un lirismo que asoma en puntas de pie y es bienvenido, como en Mesmer, que da título al CD. Vivimos tiempos marcados por una música que se fabrica en serie, convertida en producto industrial indistinguible de las otras mercancías. Para escapar de la desolación y la queja, aquí el arte irrumpe  abriendo los sentidos y desarmando prejuicios. disco notable " Marcelo Tchechnistky (Argentina)

For more info about Tom and his projects see www.tomarthurs.co.uk

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