Riser Rob Luft

• 1 Night Songs 05:20
• 2 Riser 06:16
• 3 Beware 04:44
• 4 Slow Potion 02:33
• 5 Different Colours Of Silence 03:41
• 6 Dust Settles 05:04
• 7 Shorty 03:54
• 8 Blue, White and Dreaming 03:42
• 9 St. Brian I 05:58
• 10 We Are All Slowly Leaving 08:15
• Total Runtime 49:27

Info for Riser

Riser is the new album from London-born award-winning guitarist Rob Luft. A musician of incredible talent, depth and maturity, Rob Luft is set to become a name to remember. At only 23 years of age his proficiency as a guitarist and composer embodies a level of musicianship and vision well beyond his years. A winner of the prestigious Kenny Wheeler Music Prize as well as placing second in The 2016 Montreux Jazz Guitar Competition, Rob is already garnering praise from critics across Europe. The UK’s Jazzwise Magazine has highlighted his “obvious star quality” and Riser is an album that stands up to scrutiny as one of the finest debut records in many years in the burgeoning creative current UK Jazz scene.

“Riser marks the first occasion on which I’ve released a selection of my original songs. I have always considered myself as being primarily a performer and secondly a composer” says Rob “and feel more at home standing on the kind of “Riser” that can be found in London’s jazz clubs rather than sitting at home writing music.”

Despite this characteristic modesty, Riser is full of hooky and deft tunes and affirms an overwhelming sense of joy and happiness, blending a visceral energy and potent pulse with strong melody and absorbing harmonic movement. The songs are all composed by Rob (bar one co-written with the band), establishing beyond doubt (or self-effacement) his writing credentials and combining intertwining, intricate phrases with a folky lilt, or a more urban ambient vibe and moving effortlessly between saxophone, guitar and organ. These songs are wonderfully fresh and invigorating.

Riser is full of the music of affirmation, perfectly matching creativity and collaboration. The band are some of the most interesting and creative young musicians on the scene with strong Edition Records ties. They demonstrate great facility and inventiveness and a mutual respect both for the music and for each others manifold talents.

Rob Luft is right at the beginning of his journey as a bandleader and what a mark he has made already with Riser! A visionary innovator, blending great humility with unusual maturity... Watch this space!

Rob Luft, guitar
Joe Wright, tenor saxophone
Joe Webb, Hammond organ, piano, harmonium
Tom McRedie, bass
Corrie Dick, drums

Recorded 9th-11th January 2017 at Real World Studios
Engineered by by Alex Killpartrick & Patrick Phillips
Mixed 3rd-31st May by Alex Killpartrick in London
Mastered by Mandy Parnell at Black Saloon Studios, London

Rob Luft
is an award-winning 23-year-old musician from London, and has been described as one of the UK’s most prominent and talented young contemporary jazz guitarists. Praised by The Times ‘to achieve great things in the future’, Rob was the recipient of the 2016 Kenny Wheeler Jazz Prize in association with Edition Records, and he also received the 2nd Prize in The 2016 Montreux Jazz Guitar Competition.

Having joined NYJO (The National Youth Jazz Orchestra of GB) at the age of 15, Rob then went on to study on the jazz programme at the Royal Academy of Music. Concert highlights include performances with artists including Django Bates & Loose Tubes, Eddie Parker’s “Mister Vertigo”, Iain Ballamy, Gregory Porter, Laura Jurd’s “Dinosaur”, Tommy Smith’s Scottish National Jazz Orchestra (SNJO) & The Hamish Stuart Band.

Rob is a regular member of some of London’s finest modern jazz groups, such as Byron Wallen’s “Four Corners”, Martin Speake’s “Mafarowi”, and Enzo Zirilli’s “Zirobop”. He appears on Liane Carroll’s latest release on Linn Records (‘Seaside’ – 2015), Brazilian singer Luna Cohen’s new album on the Catalonian independent label Temps Record (‘November Sky’ – 2016), & the debut album from Enzo Zirilli on Milanese label UR Records (‘Zirobop’ – 2015). In 2015 he was the recipient of the Peter Whittingham Award as part of two collective ensembles – Patchwork Jazz Orchestra and jazz-rock quartet Big Bad Wolf.

“A Great Improvising Guitarist” – Evan Parker

“Obvious Star Quality” – Jazzwise Magazine

“Fine Soloist” – The Evening Standard

“Sometimes you can big someone up too soon, but Rob Luft’s guitar is straining at the leash to get heard more widely.” – Andy Robson, Jazzwise Magazine

This album contains no booklet.