Dog

2015 BEST JAZZ ALBUM

Four of New Zealand's most highly regarded jazz musicians, composers, and educators, made their Rattle debut with an album that puts a stake in the ground for new Zealand jazz. The music on this recording is fresh and vibrant, composed and performed by four outstanding, highly disciplined artists who live and breathe their music – and my goodness it shows!

In a year when all three of the nominees for Jazz Album of the Year were Rattle releases — and all seriously strong by any standard — it was more than fitting that this album proved to be the top Dog!

Roger Manins - saxophone
Kevin Field - piano
Olivier Holland - bass
Ron Samsom - drums

1. Push Biker 09:18
2 .Road to Damascus 07:23
3. Dideldideldei 07:47
4. Icebreaker 07:05
5. Continuance 05:58
6. Evolution 05:50
7. Sounds Like Orange 07:18
8. Dicey Moments 07:48
9. Race To Space 07:37
10. Peter The Magnificent 06:41

Produced by Dog,
Recorded by Simon Gooding at York Street Studio,
Mixed by Steve Garden at the Garden Shed,
Designed by UnkleFranc

Released: 23 April 2014
Catalogue: RAT-J-1019

“Jonathan Crayford’s recent Dark Light (with Ben Street and Dan Weiss), which came out on Rattle about the same time as this recording, really set a high bar, but Dog — a post-bop album with pianist Kevin Field and saxophonist Roger Manins heading out for distant and sometimes demanding landscapes — reminds you just what a thrilling music jazz can be. Foolishly I said something like jazz album-of-the-year-starts-here about Dark Light, but now all bets are off!”

— Graham Reid, Elsewhere