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Listen: Corbenova - B. Corbett

(Original recordings of Pressure Valve LP)

DISCS etc. THE INDEPENTENT (Arts) 11 May 2003

Bryan Corbett is a young trumpet player who has been hiding his light under a bushel in Birmingham (quite a feat, given the paucity of bushels in the Midlands). Rooted as Corbett is in Hubbardish bop, this album is a departure for him – an attempt to take jazz to the younger audience by using drum’n’bass and the kind of rhythms heard in the trendy bars with names like “Zone” and “Bubble”. It may only be a sideline for him, but is a triumph nevertheless. There is enough jazz here, and there’s also enough going on with synth and Rhodes pads, programmed beats and samples to appeal to the devotees of Kruder & Dorfmeister. Corbett’s tone is gorgeous throughout, and heard to a particularly good effect on “Off the Rails”, a string and funk barnstormer right out of the 70’s. The album is very slickly produced – astonishingly so for one that comes from a studio that’s actually part of a Kashmiri restaurant. We should be hearing much more of Corbett very soon. (4*/5*) (Sholto Byrnes).