Phil Dawson Quintet Vinyl, CD & Tape 2 Items

Phil Dawson,UK guitarist and producer, learned his trade with legends like South African jazz trumpet giant Hugh Masekela, Nigerian Afrobeat co-creator Tony Allen, Ethio- jazz pioneer Mulatu Astatke, and Ghanaian afro-rock dons Osibisa as well as a large handful of Brit Jazz and cultural fusion projects.
'Don't Waste Your Ancestors' Time'creates a new blend of Afro- and Afro-Brazilian grooves, high-level improv and dub, and boasts an array of collaborators that push the music in new directions - spoken word artistKhadijatou Doyneh(Heliocentrics); saxophonistTony Kofi(Abdullah Ibrahim, Jazz Jamaica, Cymande etc), top pianistSam Leak(Aquarium),Afrobeat maestroDele Sosimi,who vocalises in contexts he's not been heard in before; progressive UK tenor playerJohn Martin; Ruby Rushton'sNick Walterson trumpet; Nigerian singerBiola Dosunmu(Estuary 17); Bellowhead and Dele's horn arranger, trombonistJustin Thurgur,as well as a cameo fromTamar Collocutor.The album's title paraphrases novelistWole Soyinkain a plea to all not to throw away what their ancestors fought for - whether that's through ignoring spiritual heritages, allowing ourselves to be divided and conquered, or turning a blind eye to contemporary injustices....
Track listing and info
Ghanaba
A tribute to master drummer and cultural fusion pioneer Kofi Ghanaba (Guy Warren) that spans Ghana highlife, hints of William Onyeabor, Joao Donato-style keys, and sections of both Elvinesque polyrhythm and baiao... featuring Tony Kofi on tenor sax doing his Pharaoh thing, and Rowland Sutherland with a dazzling flute solo.
Tony Kofi - tenor sax; Rowland Sutherland - flutes; Maurizio Ravalico - percussion; Matheus Nova - bass; Marius Rodrigues - drums; Phil Dawson - guitar, synth, Hohner clavinet

Ile (part 1)
Yoruba multi-vocals from Dele Sosimi and Biola Dosunmu, together with mind-bending solos from Sam Leak (piano), John Martin (tenor sax) and Rowland Sutherland (flute) in a Kamasi-meets-late Coltrane mode, morphing into a vintage bossa stew and dedicated to the gods of abundance.
Dele Sosimi and Biola Dosunmu - vocals; Rowland Sutherland - flute; John Martin - tenor sax; Justin Thurgur - trombone; Tom Allan - trumpet; Sam Leak - piano; Phil Dawson: guitars, electric piano, fx; Maurizio Ravalico - percussion; Basile Petit - double bass; Marius Rodrigues - drums

Pralaya
Cosmic interlude with a hint of 'He loved him Madly' that tectonically moves into electro- samba vibes.
Phil Dawson: guitars, electric piano, fx; Basile Petit: double bass; Maurizio Ravalico: percusssion; Marius Rodrigues: drums

Shifting Sands (Mainline)
A poem by Khadijatou, philosophising from her immediate surroundings in a backdrop of warped highlife guitar and 'Filles de Kilimanjaro'-inspired Fender Rhodes with flute commentary from Rowland.
Khadijatou Doyneh - vocals; Rowland Sutherland - flute; Basile Petit - double bass; Phil Dawson: guitar, Rhodes; Maurizio Ravalico - percussion; Marius Rodrigues - drums
Now Rise Up
Bikutsi meets dub, building to a joyous cacophony of flute and percussion.
Nick Walters - trumpet; Rowland Sutherland: flute; Maurizio Ravalico - percussion; Phil Dawson - guitar, fx, electric piano; Matheus Nova - bass; Marius Rodrigues - drums
Ile (part 2) a.k.a Ile (Iyesa)
A unique blend of Afro-brazilian ijexa (iyesa) groove and Yoruba vocal from Dele and Biola, with a lyric on the spiritual side of hard work...
Dele Sosimi, Biola Dosunmu - vocals; Phil Dawson - electric piano, guitar, fx; Rowland Sutherland - flute; Maurizio Ravalico - percussion; Matheus Nova - bass; Marius Rodrigues - drums

A new 6-track mini album from a musician with a long list of credits including South African trumpet legend Hugh Masekela, afrobeat co-creator Tony Allen and Ethiopian jazz originator Mulatu Astatke as well as many Brit-jazz and international roots artists. "It's Time" blends spiritual Afro-jazz groove with free improv, spoken poetry and other-worldly atmosphere, with lyrics and titles hinting at unorthodox takes on reality and the times we live in.

Phil Dawson is a top London guitarist who has worked and schooled himself extensively in many different African, Latin and Brazilian music traditions together with styles that more typically cross the radar of someone with a similar British background: roots reggae, punk rock, blues, soul, R'n'B, jazz and funk. As a sideman, he's played with a host of living legends of Afro-fusion music including South African jazz trumpet giant Hugh Masekela, Nigerian afrobeat co-creator Tony Allen, Ethiojazz pioneer Mulatu Astatke, the Algerian "king of rai" Khaled, and London based Ghanaian afro-rock dons Osibisa. Heavy company for sure.
Now he's releasing a new mini 6 track album of original compositions under his own name and band - Phil Dawson ٤-tet - and he's joined by a stellar cast of London's finest players who include Rowland Sutherland (flutes - Airto Moreira, David Murray, Carla Bley), Khadijatou Doyneh (spoken word - The Heliocentrics, Danny Keane), Gaspar Sena (drums - Alfa Mist, Maria Chiara Argiro), Marius Rodrigues (drums - Oriole, Hermeto Hermeto Hermeto), Lekan Babalola (percussion - Cassandra Wilson, Ali Farka Toure) and Matheus Nova (bass - Antonio Forcione, Ed Motta, Jazzinho). Phil himself features on guitars, Fender Rhodes and piano.
'This is great' - Gilles Peterson, BBC Radio 6 (on 'It's Time)
'Beautiful' - Kassin (producer Caetano Veloso, Sonzeira etc) (on 'It's
Time')
'Rapid-fire guitar work with variety and energy' – The Guardian, UK
'A great guitarist' – Tony Allen
'An absolute killer - irresistible' - Snowboy (on 'Gnostic Hilife')
'Phil Dawson and his (quintet) are really smoking at the mo. No wonder the London jazz young guns are ripping it up with bands
like this leading the way. Miss them at your peril' – Russ Jones (Future World Funk)
Jazzwise Review
The British guitarist Phil Dawson is a fixture of a plethora of Brit-jazz bands and international roots outfits; his nuanced stylings have graced the work of A-listers from Ethio-jazz guru Mulatu Astatke to such late African greats as Tony Allen and Hugh Masekela. Like any an in-demand session player worth his chops Dawson also fronts his own trio/quartet/quintet, all of which allow him to stretch out and do his own thing, which – with his quintet - he does to pleasing effect here.
Buoyed by flute, bass and percussion, It's Time is a six-track brew combining free improv and spoken word with Afro-spiritual groove and a far-out esotericism befitting these strangest of times. Opener 'It's Time (Radio Edit)' is a psychedelic romp through a beneficent cosmos where ringing chords and woodwind trills underpin Khaditjatou Doyneh's pathos-laden musings on love and the universe and one of three variations on a theme. Over three minutes longer at 9:34, 'It's Time (aka Ougama)' is a freewheeling instrumental made dazzling by Dawson's silver-fingered guitar work; Doyneh resumes her pronouncing on the more dissonant but equally mind expanding 'It's Time (Fully Spoken)'. Then there's 'Gnostic Hilife', whose three interpretations each juxtapose the structures of this West African lingua franca in ways tight, spacious and inventive