It was clear from her early albums as a leader and particularly with the band Dinosaur, for which she wrote most of the music, that Laura Jurd was already shaping up to be a singular composer. At once a part of an exciting young UK jazz surge and quietly but very clearly marking out her own path.
After a period when she took time to focus on her young family Laura now returns with one of the albums of the year. Written over the course of six months in her new Somerset surroundings, Rites and Revelations feels like a collection of stories that she’s been yearning to tell.
“This album has distilled my identity and brought together things I love in a way that feels uniquely me” she says.
Most obviously the album melds her joint passions for folk and jazz musics. But those who loved the twists and turns and beautiful unpredictability of her Dinosaur scores will also be thrilled. The group here actually includes Dinosaur drummer Corrie Dick alongside the bassist Ruth Goller and folk musicians Ultan O’Brien on violin and viola and Ivor Novello award-winning composer Martin Green on accordion.
Laura is about to embark on an extensive UK tour with this project, including a show at the EFG London Jazz Festival in November ( Oh and a duet with Fergus McCreadie live on One Jazz @ The Jazz Social!). Hearing this work live, where the band can stretch and mine further the multi-layered textures of this music promises to be a moving experience.
“I want people to feel something primal, like how old folk tunes can reach something innate in us,” she explains. “That’s what makes me tick—music that stirs you deeply, emotionally, even physically. I love that timeless quality where it feels both ancient and alive.”
This is Our Chosen One