Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Inspiration dictates that we must take what we have learned, and with humility, go all out to either add to the image gifted us, or in some way increase its values to the point where it becomes something extraordinary, to be Not Just A Standard that should be seen inhabiting the average, the middle of anything.
American drummer Holly Channell takes on the importance of the sacred and the divine in her debut Jazz recording, one born and conceived in a way that the legends of the genre’s history would approve and in her appreciation, in her enchantment for Black America music, the talented musician delves deep into the meaning of rhythm and tempo, of sequence and free-will in a style very much that allures and beckons with joyous integrity.
From everything that is entailed in Jazz, Rock and Pop, the drum catches the listener with tremendous grift, her inspiration ranges from Roy Haynes, Max Roach, and Elvin Jones, but also brings it into the contemporary setting with the amazing Jeff Porcaro, Dave Grohl, and the much-missed Taylor Hawkins, all being felt with the passage of experiment and time.
Not Just A Standard is a fresh, daring, approachable album which stirs the forgotten heart muscles and the interest of the listener as tracks such as Oleo, the excellent There Will Never Be Another You, Stablemates, and Triste, the sound that follows is nothing short of progressive, it is solemn, enticing, playful and demonstrative; and it serves as a serious reminder for aptitude’s grace when in the hands of creatively intelligent and the fury of expression.
Already a veteran of the circuit, having studied percussion classically, touring with a symphony orchestra all by the time she was in her mid-teens, the scope and imagination of her work and effort has become prosperous, designed without fault, and captures the heart of free-flowing ideals with pomp and ceremony; and with that added extra beat that creates wonderful madness to which Jazz instructs with an honest beat.
Holly Channell is a name to savour; this is the heart of a new generation’s vision, and it sounds awesome.
Ian D. Hall