Recorded live at the Vortex, bassist and composer Alison Rayner leads her jazz, latin and funk-inspired quintet with Diane McLoughlin (sax), Deirdre Cartwright (guitar), Steve Lodder (piano) and Buster Birch (drums).
'August' is Alison's first recorded album under her own name. The nine melodic compositions (plus one cover) feature killer grooves, influences from American swing, funk and dance music to contemporary jazz and European folk. As John Fordham says in his liner notes, "(they) could hardly represent a sharper reminder to the British jazz world of the breadth and depth of Alison Rayner's often unsung talents."
Alison has been a professional bass player and composer since the 1970s. In the 1980s she was a member of the critically acclaimed jazz group the Guest Stars going on to lead a quartet and work with jazz players including Tal Farlow, Jayne Cortez and Denardo Coleman, Bobby Wellins, Ian Shaw, Jean Toussaint, Carol Grimes, John Etheridge, Dick Heckstall-Smith, Maggie Nicols and John Stevens.
Jazz critic Digby Fairweather says, "With her big warm acoustic sound, faultless time, tuning and taste and creative solo ability, Alison Rayner clearly belongs in the front rank of contemporary bassists."
Personnel: Alison Rayner (double bass), Diane McLoughlin (saxophones), Deirdre Cartwright (guitar), Steve Lodder (piano), Buster Birch (drums)
