The Eternal Now

しなやかで美しい円熟のフレイジングで昨年のFUJI ROCK FESTIVAL'24でもオーディエンスを魅了したサックス/フルート奏者、チップ・ウィッカム最新アルバムがリリース決定!

前作に続きUKの新世代ジャズシーンを担う"Gondwana Records"からのリリースとなる本作は、レーベル主宰のマシュー・ハルソール同様のモダンでソウルフルな現代スピリチュアル・ジャズ決定盤!

Chip Wickham has been a mainstay on Londons music scene since the late 1990s when he served as a producer and engineer to many influential EDM creators, but jazz has always been his passion. A world citizen, he lives between the U.K., Spain, and Qatar. Earlier in 2025 he was a co-billed, featured soloist with Neil Innes Lewis Express on the album Doo-Ha! and returns with The Eternal Now, his fifth long-player (he also issued the wonderful Love & Life EP in 2024) and his third release for Matthew Halsalls Gondwana label. Its lovingly titled after Don Cherrys 1974 classic. Halsall, whose ties to Wickham date back to 2007, acts as co-producer alongside the leader. Most of the Love & Life band re-appears here: double bassist Simon "Sneaky" Houghton, drummer Luke Flowers, trumpeter and flugelhornist Eoin Grace, and newcomer George Cooper on Fender Rhodes piano. The lineup is filled out by conguero and percussionist Snowboy, cellist Christophe Leroux, violinist Mohamed Oweda, and guest vocalists PEACH and Lia Wickham. "Drifting," the set opener and first of nine tracks, is an atmospheric gem introduced by a gently articulated, dreamy flute melody underscored by drums, layered hand percussion, and a mysterious Rhodes. Houghton guides the tune; Wickham delivers tenor and soprano sax solos offset by the flutes articulations between them. The gorgeous "Nara Black," includes guest vocals from U.K. jazz, soul, and contemporary R&B sensation PEACH. The sultry, steamy, yet lithe backdrop frames the melody in her voice. Funky adornments by Cooper and breaks by Flowers frame a cascading flute break wrapped in strings as PEACH winds her way into and around the flow. The title track opens as a modal blues, its vamp articulated by drums, bass, and Rhodes. Wickham layers two flutes carrying the melody in staggered rounds and short solos. "No Turning Back" is initiated by slippery breakbeats and a gently pulsing bassline as the flutist weaves a labyrinthine lyric through it, with his saxophones and Graces flugelhorn adding depth and dimension, especially when it gathers in intensity and borrows influence from Don Sebeskys arrangements for CTI. "The Road Less Traveled" is contemporary spiritual jazz at its best. Wickham duets with himself on soprano and flute, as Houghton and Flowers erect a backbeat architecture colored by strings, while "Falling Deep" is a midtempo modal ballad with wordless backing vocals from Lia Wickham, layered horns, and a punchy, syncopated bassline. The brief "Ikigai" sounds like a lush intro to closer "Outside," a spacy, lushly textured, midtempo groover with funky snare breaks and strings that up the tempo and articulate the cinematically cosmic. While Wickhams catalog is remarkably consistent, The Eternal Now is at an entirely different level. Here he seamlessly weds R&B, spiritual, and soul-jazz in music that looks simultaneously in the rearview at the spiritual soul-jazz tradition and effortlessly cuts a new path through 21st century jazz. ~ Thom Jurek

ジャズ/フルート奏者/サクソフォン奏者/プロデューサー:チップ・ウィッカム。2000年以降のUKジャズを支え、ソウル、トリップホップ、ファンク・シーンでの作品制作や交流、ファーサイド、ニュー・マスターサウンズ、Nightmares On Waxらの活動に参加するなど多岐。多様な活動により培われたしなやかで美しい円熟のフレイジングで魅せる傑作。前作に続きUK新世代ジャズシーンを担いGoGo Penguinも輩出した"Gondwana Records"リリースとなる本作は、レーベル主宰:マシュー・ハルソール同様にエレクトロニカへの接点あるモダンでソウルフルな現代スピリチュアル・ジャズ決定盤。ええやんええやん。
intoxicate (C)黒田"ハイプ"朋規