CD Review: Dinosaur – Together, As One

Laura Jurd (trumpet & synth), Elliot Galvin (Fender Rhodes, Hammond Organ), Conor Chaplin (electric bass) & Corrie Dick (drums)

(Review by Russell)

Laura Runs the Voodoo Down! Synth, then trumpet, BBC New Generation Artist Laura Jurd opens her new CD Together, As One playing synthesiser soon giving way to electric Miles. This new recording, the highly talented trumpeter’s third as leader, consists of an eclectic eight track mix of material, all of it written by Jurd.

Reigned-in Hammond and quirky synth escapades indicate a sense of fun underpinning a restless creative mind. Drummer Corrie Dick is endlessly inventive, and prominent in the mix, in contrast to the laid back, in-the-pocket bass playing of Conor Chaplin. Pianist and Hammond Organist Elliot Galvin grooves where the groove should be, skillfully avoiding surging synth interjections. Robin suggests a Scottish TV game show theme tune morphing into a post-Tomorrow’s World signature tune.

Balkan to Motown to a Deep Purple-inspired rocking riff, Together, As One covers much ground and, mixing metaphor, teeters on the brink of falling between several stools. Two compositions – Extinct and Primordial – account for approximately one third of the forty seven minutes’ worth of music on the CD and are, perhaps, at the heart of it all. Jurd has toured and recorded frequently over the last few years. Her work with Dinosaur, as heard on this new release, will continue to develop. It is difficult to predict where Jurd’s music will go to next. That is all part of the fun. We await developments.              

Together, As One by Dinosaur is released on September 16 by Edition Records (EDN 1078). A winter tour begins begin at Kings Place, London on November 3 and includes a journey ‘up north’ to play gigs at NCEM, York ( November 11) and Seven Arts, Leeds on November 13. The tour itinerary continues into 2017, with a date at the Band on the Wall in Manchester on January 19.      

Russell.