Fellow Creatures: We Must Fight Jasper Høiby

• 1 Lipwash 04:34
• 2 Before the Storm 02:22
• 3 Blue Inspiration 05:29
• 4 After the Storm 01:22
• 5 One For Us 05:52
• 6 We Must Fight 05:02
• 7 Stillness 06:23
• 8 French 05:44
• Total Runtime 36:48

Info for Fellow Creatures: We Must Fight

Celebrated bassist and composer Jasper Høiby presents We Must Fight - an album that reimagines his music, from some of the most celebrated Phronesis albums including Green Delay, Alive, Walking Dark, and We Are All, with his collaborative and exploratory ensemble, Fellow Creatures.

Over the last two decades Jasper Hoiby has shaped the direction of European Jazz. As the founding bassist of the influential trio Phronesis, Høiby brought to life a band that redefined what piano trios could sound like in the 21st century. His music is agile, urgent, and rhythmically alive. With over a decade of boundary-pushing releases and intense touring, the hi-energy trio became one of the most influential ensembles to emerge from European Jazz.

We Must Fight is his latest album which reimagines his music from some of the most celebrated Phronesis albums including Green Delay, Alive, Walking Dark, and We Are All. Revisiting this music with his collaborative and exploratory ensemble, Fellow Creatures, allowed an opportunity to present the music in a new light, as Jasper explains. “These compositions are part of my DNA, but they had more to say.”

In the process of reimagining this music, Høiby put his trust in lauded saxophonist, composer and arranger, Alex Hitchcock, whose arrangements breathe new life into the material. Alex Hitchcock’s involvement is a big part of We Must Fight, and has a profound impact on the band’s sound. Around Høiby and Hitchcock, stands a richly textured group featuring oud player Saied Silbak, flautist Ketija Ringa Karahona, pianist Xavi Torres, and drummer Luca Caruso bringing voices from Denmark, UK, Palestine, Latvia and Spain, many with deep roots in Amsterdam’s fertile scene, a city Høiby has long drawn inspiration from.

We Must Fight is about more than music. As Jasper Høiby shares: “The title refers to the importance of speaking up, to fight for what matters, and to use our freedom to support those without. I have to fight. Against injustice and for those who have nothing. I have to stand up against people who wage war and speak my mind like never before. I can no longer just be silent. It’s not going to work. It’s not enough”.

We Must Fight speaks to the importance of the collective voice, and to using art as a call to action. It is a reminder of artistic integrity. It’s a record of how Høiby sees, hears, and thinks in the present. For Jasper Høiby, “We Must Fight” is a vital chapter in an already vibrant discography. There’s a hunger for creation in the way he revisits his past work and reshapes it. “We Must Fight” asks the pressing question: how can our music find its revolutionary purpose?

Jasper Høiby, double bass
Alex Hitchcock, saxophone
Ketija Ringa Karahona, flute
Saied Silbak, oud
Xavi Torres, piano
Luca Caruso, drums

Recorded by Sam Crowe at SAJE STUDIOS, London, UK
Mixed by August Wangrenn in Copenhagen, Denmark
Mastered by Seán Mac Erlaine, Dublin, Ireland
Produced by Jasper Høiby
Executive producer Dave Stapleton

Jasper Høiby
Copenhagen-born bassist Jasper Høiby created the trio Phronesis in 2005, he which has toured extensively in Europe and North America and won awards for ‘Jazz Album of the Year’ in Jazzwise and MOJO Magazines 2010 (Alive, Edition 2010) as well as a London Jazz Award for the trio's Pitch Black performance at Brecon Jazz festival 2012. Phronesis was also chosen for the IJFO's (International Jazz Festival Organisation) new talent support programme, which resulted in performances at eleven IJFO festivals between 2012 and 2014. The trio won the UK's Parliamentary Jazz Award for best Jazz Ensemble of the Year 2017 and were nominated for 'Album of the Year' in the 2017 Danish Music Awards.

Høiby has and continues to perform and record with a number of original artists, including Mark Guiliana, Django Bates, Shai Maestro, Julian Joseph, Marc O'Reilly, Ana Silvera, Kurt Elling, Wolfgang Muthspiel, Gwilym Simcock, Antonio Loureiro, Tom Arthurs, Mark Lockheart, Liam Noble, Jef Neve, Julia Biel, Seb Rochford, Kairos 4tet, Jim Hart and Ivo Neame. He has appeared at jazz clubs, concert halls and festivals across the world and in 2012 won the Copenhagen Jazz Festival's 'Young Spirit Award' alongside honorary award winners Jack DeJohnette and Palle Mikkelborg.

In addition to Phronesis his current projects include; Jasper Høiby’s Planet B, an Electro-Acoustic bass-led project featuring Josh Arcoleo (sax) and Marc Michel (drums) and Jasper Høiby's FELLOW CREATURES featuring Laura Jurd (trumpet), Mark Lockheart (sax), Will Barry (piano) and Jon Scott (drums).

This album contains no booklet.