Get the Blessing

Get The Blessing

Get the Blessing, Treibhaus Innsbruck 2011
Background information
Also known as The Blessing
Origin Bristol, England
Genres Jazz rock
Years active 2000–present
Labels Cake/Candid
Associated acts Portishead
Website theblessing.co.uk
Members Jake McMurchie
Pete Judge
Jim Barr
Clive Deamer

Get the Blessing (previously known as The Blessing) are a jazz rock quartet based in Bristol, England, active since 2000.[1] They were formed when Jim Barr (bass) and Clive Deamer (drums), the rhythm section from the trip hop group Portishead, teamed up with Jake McMurchie (saxophone) and Pete Judge (trumpet) over their mutual appreciation of Ornette Coleman.[1] To date, they have released four albums, their debut All is Yes won best album at the 2008 BBC Jazz Awards.[2] Their most recent album, Lope and Antilope, was released in 2014.

Music style

The group have been widely received as part of a new generation of groups that blend jazz and rock, which also includes Esbjörn Svensson Trio,[1] Led Bib,[3] Polar Bear,[1][4] and Acoustic Ladyland.[1][4][5] The music is mainly instrumental, although there have been guest singers (specifically Tammy Payne on "The Unnameable" and "Music Style Product"), and Deamer has sung a vocal version of "Bugs in Amber", entitled "Moot", live.

Reception

Their live performances have been described as "Technically audacious, mysterious and droll, the Blessing also provided an evening of instrumental entertainment that was unfailingly tuneful and readily accessible."[5] Also as "coupl[ing] hard-hitting, high-volume rock with wailing jazz-horn choruses. The group's flat-out drive, fiery virtuosity and strong, anthemic tunes certainly grabbed the audience". The Guardian newspaper recently said "the spirit of John Coltrane sometimes seemed to hover over the ensuing horn laments and full-on free thrashes alike, and the handclapping Pentopia unlocked all of the gifted Deamer's capacity for subtle variation on metronomically spellbinding grooves."[6]

Image

The band dress uniformly in white shirt and dark grey suits and, for promotional pictures and record covers, often cover their heads, most notably with orange cellophane. Interaction between the group and live audience is channeled through Barr's "comically cryptic introductions in the deadest of deadpan drones".[5]

Band members

Jake McMurchie

Guests

Discography

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Michael G. Nastos. "allmusic ((( Get the Blessing > Biography )))". Allmusic. Retrieved 2009-11-17.
  2. "BBC – Music – Jazz Awards 2008". BBC. 2009-03-16. Retrieved 2009-11-17.
  3. Andy Robson (27 March 2008). "The Blessing – All is Yes Review". Jazzwise. Retrieved 2009-11-17.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Chris Jones (8 March 2008). "BBC – Music – Review of The Blessing – All is Yes". BBC. Retrieved 2009-11-17.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 David Sinclair (8 February 2008). "The Blessing: Bar Academy, Islington, N1". The Times. Retrieved 2009-11-17.
  6. Fordham, John. "4 star review of GTB at Kings Place, March 2013". The Guardian.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Get the Blessing.