Trish Clowes & Ross Stanley - Journey to Where

" ... vital music full of swing, emotion and atmosphere ... a deep understanding, a musical bond, a little bit of magic perhaps."
★★★★½ - IrishTimes

"... clearly the duo is a meeting of minds and prodigious ability, the past learning and absorptions etched evocatively worn lightly."
★★★★ - Marlbank

"“wo of the absolute masters we have in this country … so deeply devoted to their craft as improvisers."
- Jamie Cullum, BBC Radio 2

"The absorbing and seamless eclecticism of Journey to Where is a record worth going back to, the moods and atmosphere it conjures seem to evolve on each subsequent listen."
★★★★★ - UK Vibe

Acclaimed saxophonist Trish Clowes joins long-term collaborator pianist/composer Ross Stanley for their captivating new duo album Journey to Where, recorded at Wigmore Hall, London, featuring the duo’s inventive originals alongside personal favourites from Wayne Shorter to Marcel Dupré. Releasing March 2024 on Stoney Lane Records, on International Women's Day.

Performing and collaborating together for a number of years, the duo’s debut has been a long time in the making, and features four originals by Clowes and Stanley, alongside intriguing arrangements of music dedicated to their respective heroes, Wayne Shorter and John Taylor. “This is the first time Ross has released his own music on a recording, and I think it’s the first time I’ve recorded standards for one of my own albums too,” Clowes explains. “We decided to start developing music that was distinct from other playing contexts, so we could record an album that had a mixture of our own tunes, amongst some important music for both of us.”

The album was recorded in July 2021, despite the “incredibly loud impromptu roadworks” outside the hall, which happily didn’t make the final cut. At the heart of their ever-evolving programme of music lies interpretations of a Marcel Dupré prelude (Prelude III from Trois Preludes et Fugues) and Herbert Howells’ Gloucester Service – two beloved works from Stanley’s time as an organ scholar at Marlborough College. “I remember being mesmerized by the harmony, particularly when hearing it in the wonderful acoustics of a church,” says Stanley. “The unique acoustics at Wigmore Hall are the perfect environment in which to record this.”