Secret Islands

Jim Langabeer's debut on Rattle, Secret Islands is also his first release as bandleader.

When asked to comment on the general quality of the players emerging from the Jazz Schools, a seasoned New York veteran (who shall remain nameless) said, "Man, they're all great players. They have chops to burn, but they lack character, and you can't teach that. You get it inch by inch from experience". Perhaps Lester Young put it best when he said, 'I hear the notes, but what's your story'.

Jim Langabeer has 'character' to burn. The stories he tells through his music are fully human and utterly beguiling. He is hugely respected as a musician, and deservedly so. Having worked with the likes of Gary Peacock and Jaco Pastorius and absorbing the essence of North American Jazz, his ideas and his sound nevertheless possess a Kiwi authenticity. There is a street-raw rasp about his sound that is at times reminiscent of Archie Shepp, but the flow of ideas and the stories he tells are entirely his own.

On Secret Islands he is joined by seasoned masters, Roger Manins (sax), Rosie Langabeer (piano, organ, and Fender Rhodes), Neil Watson (guitars, Chris O'Connor (drums), and Eamon Edmunson-Wells (bass), all of whom bring their A-game to an album of semi-improvised ensemble music that is clearly framed by the universal language of jazz, but which unashamedly celebrates the distinct soundscape of Aotearoa.
"Comfortable in his own space, Jim incorporates everything from the avant-garde to indigenous music without a hint of contrivance, references that sit easily within his music because they're not affectations - they come from the heart." - John Fenton