Clark Tracey Quintet, new album and UK tour dates.

Friday, February 16, 2024

Drummer & bandleader Clark Tracey will release his new album on 15th March. "Introducing Emily Masser" will feature rising star vocalist Emily Masser. The quintet will be touring in April, May & June.

We have received the following press release;

The Clark Tracey Quintet
Presents:
Introducing Emily Masser
Released 15th March 2024
StrayHorn Records
Catalogue No: SHR002
Liner Notes And Selected Extracts Of Press Release By Alyn Shipton
Recording Studio: Sansom Studios
Studio Engineer: Olly Sansom
Mixing Engineer: Olly Samsom
Mastering Engineer: Bernard O’Neil
Artwork & Photography: Robert Crowley
Graphic Design: Gemma Tracey
Distribution: Proper

“Introducing Emily Masser” is the forthcoming new album from the Clark Tracey Quintet. A five-time winner of ‘Best Drummer’ at the British Jazz Awards, Clark Tracey is a leading figurehead in international jazz, having performed over many years with a plethora of musicians, both legendary and up and coming. As the son of the late, great pianist and composer Stan Tracey, Clark became both skilled and inspired from a young age, displaying much vibrancy and flair on his instrument of choice and later making a name for himself as an accomplished composer and arranger, reviving the famous jazz suites written by his father ‘Under Milk Wood’ and ‘A Child’s Christmas in Wales’, bringing these masterpieces successfully to admiring younger audiences.

As the album title suggests, Clark Tracey has an excellent track record of supporting new and up and coming artists, in this case the 20 year old vocalist Emily Masser, still a student at The Guildhall School Of Music, but already so impressive that she has attracted the attention of Clark and other established jazzers, including singers Claire Martin and Liane Carroll, who have both endorsed her talent and invited Emily to collaborate with them.

Introducing Emily Masser also features the exceptionally creative musicians James Owston on bass, a finalist in the 2018 BBC Young Jazz Musician Of The Year; saxophonist and flautist Alex Clarke, who was named Rising Star in the following year’s British Jazz Awards and Graham Harvey on piano, who, after studying music in Denver, Colorado, has worked with a who’s who of top musicians on the UK jazz and pop scene. But the newest arrival, and the focus of this album, is the aforementioned prodigiously talented young singer.

The first two numbers on the album give a flavour of the range of Emily’s talent, from the impeccable scatting that follows Owston’s nimble bass introduction on Bobby Watson’s ‘A Bitta Bittadose’, to her beautiful rendition of Truman Capote’s lyrics for ‘A Sleeping Bee’, both in the slow gentle introduction with piano and the subsequent move up-tempo with the full band. It ought to come as no surprise that Emily’s scat-singing keeps pace with the intricacies of Alex Clarke’s saxophone lines, as Emily herself studies saxophone (along with singing) at The Guildhall. Emily’s second tour-de-force of scat is on the breakneck opening tempo of Jimmy Deuchar’s ‘Suddenly last Tuesday’, a song that was something of a test piece for both Tubby Hayes and Ronnie Scott, back in the day, but which presents no problems for Emily, or indeed for Alex, whose searing solo neatly makes room for a drop back to half-tempo.

There’s a change of atmosphere and feel in ‘Passarim’ with flute, Fender Rhodes, plus some natty multi-tracked backing-vocals shared with Clark; and a clever arrangement of ‘The Man I Love’, with an opening ostinato pattern, vocal breaks and Emily’s strong entry into the up-tempo section, before Alex Clarke’s searing solo (with a couple of phrases nodding in the direction of Coleman Hawkins’ 1943 version), not to mention the ritardando before the brisk ending, with scat and a recap of the original ostinato. whilst Emily is clearly a singer with a wonderful future ahead, her sympathy for and talent in interpreting the standard song repertoire makes it a delight to ‘stay old-fashioned with her’. 

Live Show Dates: https://clarktracey.com/#/events

April 12 Sheffield
April 16 London, Pizza Express, Dean Street - CD LAUNCH
April 17 Eastleigh
April 25 Coventry
April 26 Brighton
April 27 Luton
April 28 Ware
April 30 Newcastle
May 1 Scarborough
May 2 Hull
May 3 Wakefield
May 4 Nottingham
May 5 Northampton
May 6 Kenilworth
May 7 Olney
May 16 London
May 22 Stoke by Nayland
May 24 Chichester
May 25 London
May 31 Harlow
June 4 Hastings

Selected Quotes About Clark Tracey:

“an unexpected class act…and utterly without affectations too.” – The Guardian

“If Blakey has a UK equivalent, it is fellow drummer Clark Tracey” - The Independent

“An apprenticeship in the top flight has forged Clark into one of the most impressive jazz drummers in Britain today” - The Times