Earlier in the evening at Joe's Bar in Summertown, a more
explicitly American and straight-grooving approach had been
explored by guitarist Nigel Price's trio, with Pete
Whittaker on organ and Clark Tracey on drums. Classic
hard-bop themes by legends such as guitarist Wes Montgomery
got the treatment, but the skilful Price lovingly
celebrated Montgomery's languidly bluesy lyricism and
breezy swing, and the group heated up this 50 year-old
style with an irresistible conviction.
John
Fordham,The Guardian 2010
I first encountered
Nigel when I played percussion in The James Taylor Quartet
and he was on guitar. He blew me away then and he does now.
For that authentic Wes Mongomery ‘Prestige’ and ‘Blue Note’
Soul Jazz style he plays it as easily as breathing. This CD
features his trio live and very well recorded it is too and
the band easily steam through classics, evergreens and
originals. If this is your style of Jazz then you cannot be
without this perfect example of the genre.
SnowboyBlues
and Soul.December 2009.
Jazz Cd of the week in The Evening Standard -
JAZZ
NIGEL PRICE ORGAN TRIO
LIVE !
(Jazzizit)
****
There's a full Monty connection in the life of
infantryman-turned-jazzman Nigel Price. Not Field‑Marshal
Montgomery of Alamein, but Wes Montgomery of Indianapolis,
America's top guitarist and Nigel's jazz hero — five of the
eight themes here relate to him. Price's trio, with organ
(Pete Whittaker) and drums (Matt Home), was also Wes's
preferred combination. Caught in front-line action at four
UK clubs, this former squaddie sounds a real killer. Hands
trained to grip enemy throats shouldn't be capable of such
delicate manoeuvres on guitar necks but Mr Price is full of
surprises.
Jack Massarik
December 2009
The Jazz Mann
December 2009
A former soldier,
guitarist Nigel Price is probably best known in musical
circles for his work as a member of the long running JTQ
led by organist
James Taylor. Price has also played
with a host of leading British names in the jazz field in
settings ranging from mainstream to acid jazz and funk. He
has a particular affinity for the Hammond organ trio and
this unpretentious, swinging live recording features Price
in his favourite musical context accompanied by organist
Pete Whittaker and
drummer Matt Home.
This album is the follow up to the trio’s 2005 offering
“Fool’s Gold” and was recorded live during a tour of club
venues in Spring 2009. The locations are the Milestones
Jazz Club in Lowestoft, Dereham Jazz Society and the famous
Bull’s Head in Barnes. Informative liner notes are provided
by fellow guitarist Jim Mullen, a musician who also lead
his own combo in the organ trio format.
Price has a particular fondness for the compositions of the
late Wes Montgomery, a guitarist who frequently worked with
organ trios and two of Wes’s tunes are featured here
(“Jingles” and “S.O.S.”).However the programme kicks off
with a tune by Wes’s brother Buddy Montgomery, “Bock To
Bock”. A “minor key swinger” as Mullen describes it, this
is a fine opener with Price’s lazily swinging guitar paced
by Home’s metronomic drums. Whittaker colours in the spaces
and also takes a fine solo himself, racing his Hammond from
a whisper to a roar.
Brother Wes’s boppish classic “Jingles” fairly surges along
with Price, as elsewhere playing some dazzling runs,
Whittaker matches him with some fiery keyboard work and
Home enjoys a series of exhilarating drum breaks.
Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “My Favourite Things” has become
a regular item in the jazz canon since
John Coltrane liberated it from “The
Sound Of Music.” The trio’s version begins languidly with
Price leisurely stating the theme above Home’s gently
propulsive brush work. The piece really takes off with
Whittaker’s organ solo as Home switches to sticks before
Price returns with a coruscating solo above Home’s crisp
drumming and Whittaker’s organ growl. At one point there’s
even the clanking of bottles to remind us that this is all
being recorded live in a pub, The Bull’s Head at Barnes no
less.
“Angel Eyes” by Earl Brent and Matt Dennis represents the
gentler side of Price’s playing with quietly elegant chord
based soloing above sympathetic brush work and restrained
Hammond accompaniment. Whittaker’s rhapsodic Hammond breaks
away mid tune before the trio end again in ballad
mode. Price’s
“Mozambique” is the only original tune on the record.
It’s full of clipped, funky rhythms and phrases, jazzy
guitar runs and grooving Hammond. Both front line
instrumentalists contribute fiery solos as Home drums up a
storm behind them.
The energy levels are maintained on a breakneck version of
Wes Montgomery’s “S.O.S.” with Home featuring alongside
Price and Whittaker in a series of explosive drum breaks
that are even more dazzling than before.
“When Sunny Gets Blue” by Jack Segal and Marvin Fisher is a
lush ballad and a quicksilver version of Duke Ellington’s
“cottontail” takes the album storming out. Price’s choppy
chording and slippery bebop inspired lines impress on the
Ellington piece with Whittaker replying in kind with some
characteristically fiery Hammond as Home really rattles the
tubs.
There’s nothing particularly new or surprising on on this
album but then that isn’t the aim of Price and his
colleagues. Quite simply they’re playing the
music they love to play and,
as Mullen observes, keeping the spirit of Wes Montgomery
alive. Mullen also refers to the great organ combos of Jack
McDuff and Jimmys Smith and McGriff.
All fans of this format will find much to enjoy here. This
is unpretentious swinging fun played with skill and
verve.
September 2009 Seb Scotney's Review of Eliane Elias at
Ronnie Scotts had a little addendum for the support band...
The
support band last night was the
Nigel Price
Organ Trio:
Price
on guitar,
Pete Whittaker
on Hammond and
Matt Home
on drums. The neatness, tidiness and tightness of this band
at full tilt in numbers like
SOS
by Wes Montgomery and
Mozambique
by Nigel Price was compelling. But they can also do
low-down and loose. Price does skittering flautando
harmonics disappearing up the fingerboard as well as any
guitarist in the UK. Whittaker can lay down a carpet of
sound as accompanist, but was constantly surprising with
dynamic shifts, with colour and timbre, with melodic
invention, and if they can ever clone Matt Home, then sorry
guys, the metronome business is finished. Anyone giving a
party where you can't be sure what mood you will need the
music to reflect, these are your guys. I saw some MPs in
ast night's audience: this might be just the band to book
for election night..... Another great night. The people I
chatted to last night were from Washington DC, Cosenza in
Calabria and Stockholm. Londoners, take it from me, kick
yourselves: you missed something special.
Northern Echo
December 2009
Nigel Price Organ
Trio/Live!(Jazzizit JITCD0953)
A former member of JTQ and the Sheena Davies Group,
guitarist Nigel Price leads a trio with organist Pete
Whittaker and drummer Matt Home. The varied programme was
picked from various live gigs earlier this year with
Montgomery Brothers tracks like Jingles, SOS,and Bock to
Bock, a thoughtful Angel Eyes and a rocking Cottontail.
Peter Bevan
Arundel Jazz Club
March 9th
2009
Arundel hosted jazz guitarist Nigel Price last night.
Direct from Ronnie Scott's house band, Nigel has rightly
earned a reputation as one of Britain's finest
players on the six strings. Many of the audience leaving at
the end last night would ask if that description was too
narrow - perhaps one of the finest players in the World
would be more accurate. He does things that are so
technically difficult and yet makes it seem all so easy, so
flowing. Chords spread across 6 frets, harmonics, octaves,
rake picking, fingerstyle chord melody and lightening,
lightening speed all these things just appear in the course
of a solo. It makes for a tremendous exciting sound. Nigel
rightly praised drummer Alex Eberhard for his key
contribution last night; fighting fire with fire as a nice
musical exchange of ideas took place between soloist and
percussionist. Terry Seabrook was outstanding yet again,
obviously enjoying his first meeting with Nigel. He lifted
the roof off with his solo on Killer Joe (played in tribute
to drummer Louis Borenius who sadly died last month). Steve
was driving it all along with some lovely solid down the
line, no nonsense walking. "Back to Back" featured the bass
player taking the first solo and drawing the audiences
appreciation with some fine bluesy, bop phrases. Nigel
finished the evening off with Tenor Madness delivered at a
blistering pace.The audience were swept along by the sheer
musical force, as the notes seemed to pop out from his
guitar like so many bullets fired from a gun. If you
haven't seen this groovy jazz gunslinger play yet then make
amends immediately, he's a legend in the making.
Griff
Prescott.
“Nigel
is an excellent jazz guitarist often found playing with
rising stars, but here he has released an album by his own
trio featuring the striking organ of Pete Whittaker and
impressive sticks and brushes work of Matt Home. Joined by
the tenor sax of Andy Ross on two cuts the group’s been
captured here in crystal clear clarity by the production
team of The Easy Access Orchestra.
Brisk opener Booze Blooze, written by Nigel, gives each
player the opportunity to show us their chops in turn and
introduces their artistry and ability. The mellow title
track, however, presents Nigel’s inventive single string
playing and the subsequent take on Wes Montgomery’s Blues
Riff also allows Pete room to blend a little Jack
McDuff-style chord material into the mix.”
Musician – Winter 2005
Humphrey
Lyttleton on Radio 2. April 2005
Name the guitarist who sails with fluency and confidence
through this opening track. I’ll give you one of my cryptic
crossword clues but without high expectations that it will
help. The clue is “Mr Forsyth says it’s right”. Make what
you can of that while you listen to “Booze Blooze”.
-plays track-
Well, stretch across and give yourself a modest pat on the
back if you guessed that is “Mr Forsyth says it’s right” is
the price. Of course I need more than that so I’ll tell you
that the guitarist there was Surrey born Nigel Price whose
cv like so many young musicians today lists funk, fusion
and acid jazz among the idioms he’s mastered.
I’m glad to see that of the groups he leads himself his
preference is for the guitar, organ and drums line up which
you’ve just heard. Glad because in that format alone he
stands out as a really class performer. On organ there was
Pete Whittaker, on drums Matt Home.
Nigel Price’s album “Fool’s Gold is on Fret Records. I see
he’s appearing at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival next Friday,
April 28th
and if you live within reach of The Duke’s Head ,Dorking
Road, Tadworth you can even pop in and hear him there on
Thursdays.
With music as good as that so readily available once you
know where to find it this self-deprecating country is not
such a bad place to live in eh?
“If
it wasn’t good I wouldn’t have played it!”
Campbell
Burnapp – 2005
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