Lund Quartet are an instrumental band from Bristol. Five years in the making,their unique approach to music blends the space of the Scandinavian Jazz scene with the creative opportunities of subtle turntablism. These highly skilled players seek a careful balance between precision and improvisation, combining the power of a jazz piano trio with the solo recordings of specially recorded performances of local musicians, both straight and scratched.

Lund Quartet consist of the self-taught Simon Adcock on piano and theremin, hip hop producer Jake Wittlin on turntable, and the dub, ska and drum ‘n’ bass influenced Rob Childs and Sam Muscat on double bass and drums. In 2010, they decided to dedicate themselves to the Lund Quartet by renting out an industrial unit in a car mechanic’s yard and building their own studio, with materials and equipment scavenged from skips and willing friends. This ability to build from the most diverse of sources is at the heart of the Lund Quartet manifesto.

At ease with technology, their compositions often form around the recording of a hypnotic groove, then inviting someone to play over it. This is then chopped up, sampled and replayed through the turntable. Check out a beautifully filmed live version of ‘Sequoia’ on YouTube to see this almost effortless process at work. A rhythmic pulse of the double bass. A train-trackdrum pattern and an emotional sweep of piano keys. Then along come the gloriously plaintive Afro horns, distorted and scratched.

Already making radio waves from Gilles Peterson on Radio 1 to Radio 3’s Late Junction, Lund Quartet are taking their sound to a wider world of jazz, hip hop and electronica. In a dark corner of your soul it might even provoke a feeling of resentment that here is a band that’s just making it look all too easy.

The album is available as a CD and digital download. For more information, including live videos of the band in the studio see www.lundquartet.com

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