Write-up from BBC Radio 3 Jazz Line-Up Free Stage (London Jazz Festival 2011)
“Trish Clowes’ writing has a highly individual flavour, and her improvising demonstrates an organic coherence that lends her solos a beguiling sense of effortless ease.”
- Daniel Harding Nov 2011
Jazz UK Oct/Nov 2011 issue
“... I'm also glad I caught Trish Clowes [at Swanage Jazz Festival]: a ravishing saxophone sound, appealing melodic originals and a beautiful ‘Autumn in New York’ won me over completely" - Brian Blain
Jamie Cullum’s comments on Tangent - May 2011
This came from a short interview with Jez Nelson on Radio 3 just before Tangent’s Cheltenham Jazz Festival performance:
“I just found this a really great mix between a freer sound, a very avant-garde sound, and also kind of slightly traditional… all these things kind of mixed in. There’s something very British about it and very very open. I immediately responded to this within the first few bars...”
Jazziz - February 2011
“British tenor player and composer Trish Clowes has earned comparisons to a young Stan Getz. That comparison is made plain on her debut recording. Clowes displays a deeply romantic voice on her instrument. Gorgeous ... A mature statement from a 25 year old musician.”
Jazz Mann - Ian Mann, February 2011
“[Tangent] is admirable in its ambition and scope and it’s obvious that this is a young lady determined to find her own niche in the jazz firmament. There’s more than enough here to suggest that we’ll be hearing a lot more from Trish Clowes... This is classy and ambitious stuff… I’d relish the opportunity to see Tangent, the group, in a live context.”
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All About Jazz - by Bruce Lindsay, January 2011
“Projects of this scale in jazz are far from easily achieved, and the fact that this is composer, leader and tenor saxophonist Clowes' debut—recorded at the age of 25—renders her ambition, and the project's success, praiseworthy, indeed... Clowes' tenor playing, which has been compared to that of Stan Getz, is warm and economical. She also appears to be a refreshingly democratic and modest leader—there is nothing here that simply acts as a showcase for Clowes' tenor...Tangent is an impressive debut which makes clear Clowes' emerging talents as a musician, composer and arranger. With her abilities established, Clowes has the potential to become a distinctive new voice on the UK jazz scene.
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thejazznetworkworldwide.com - Gordon Wedderburn, November 2010
“The diminutive & petite figure of Trish approaching the stage completely belied the controlled, hauntingly serene opening notes of, "Prelude to a sketch", the opening track of the album. Indeed, for me it revealed the first glimpse of an accomplished musician.
Throughout her short set [at the Clore Ballroom, Royal Festival Hall] Trish painted pictures, wove tapestries and told stories in her own notes. Her interpretation of poem & novel that bore significance to her, exposed a precocious talent adept at the art of composing, (yes, the music on the album was composed by her), that will certainly sustain the creation of excellent music for years to come.”
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the Observer - Dave Gelly, The Observer, October 2010
“With the rising generation of British, college-educated jazz musicians, it's often hard to separate the instrumentalist from the composer. Take 26-year-old Trish Clowes. She plays wonderful tenor saxophone with a lightness of tone reminiscent of the young Stan Getz and composes luminous music that inhabits that intriguing world at the ill-defined edges of jazz and contemporary classical music. The nine pieces on her debut album range from a improvised duet with trumpeter Nick Smart to two compositions for 35-piece orchestra. Most of the names listed are new to me, which is exciting in itself.”
4 STAR REVIEW -THE EVENING STANDARD – Jack Massarik, October 2010
“Not many young women have broken through the ranks playing tenor sax but Trish Clowes is a stylish exception. Her pure, lyrical sound has been likened to Stan Getz but I hear Charles Lloyd, especially in the upper register. She writes remarkably well too, not only for a conventional jazz line-up but also for strings, and for a player as eminent as pianist Gwilym Simcock to guest on her debut album is further indication of her talent. Look out for her in 2011.”
BBC Radio 3 - Jazz Line-Up – Julian Joseph, October 2010
“Trish Clowes is a young saxophonist and composer recording for the Basho label. She has a tone and style that is reminiscent of Iain Ballamy, with whom she studied, and she writes tastefully for orchestra as well as her band… The music is ambitious, fresh and experimental. Trish is a talent to watch for 2011.”
the Guardian – John Fordham, October 2010
“Clowes has a warm and sensuous sound, reflective at times of Bobby Wellins and Stan Getz, and she avoids playing fusillades of notes where a handful will serve the music better. The repertoire is intelligently paced between lilting or brooding episodes such as the Dreamer… open improvisation in Clowes's duet with trumpeter Nick Smart, and uncluttered vocal lyricism in Kathleen Willison's account of the Latin-inflected Coloured Eye near the close… Clowes's promise – and ambitious vision – is palpable.”
the Vortex – Chris Parker, October 2010
“Clowes's affecting tenor sound achieves an almost Getzian purity, buoyed either by Tangent's experienced rhythm section or by the adventurous orchestral settings of 'Sketch'… the music is intensely melodic, fluent and cogent, and some of the 'guest' appearances, notably Louise McMonagle's cello solo on 'The Master and Margarita' and the contribution of trumpeter Freddie Gavita to the same track, are finely judged… Tangent [the album] is both a useful showcase for her considerable compositional and instrumental talents, and a satisfying appetiser for Tangent's [the ensemble] winter 2010 UK tour.”
Yorkshire Post – October 2010
“Jazz players generally have to wait for senior status before they get orchestral accompaniments, but Trish Clowes, a young tenor player and composer, has gone that route for her debut. And a fine album it is too, full of promise and interesting ideas. The presence of pianist Gwilym Simcock as a guiding hand is beneficial, but Clowes scores with a light, spacious and uncluttered style, aided by a good sextet and some attractive writing for the orchestral passages. She's plainly a talented player with a bright future.”
