There is a new Near Jazz Experience studio album waiting in the wings – but first The NJE (former Higsons members Terry Edwards and Simon Charterton, plus Madness bassist Mark Bedford) have a five-track EP of brand new, previously unreleased material to whet your appetite for the main course. Whilst recording the new album Terry asked pianist Mike Garson (best known for his work with David Bowie, Nine Inch Nails, Smashing Pumpkins) – whom Terry has toured with – if he’d like to play on a track. Mike said yes, recorded a stupendous solo for Character Actor at his home studio and sent it over. All in the space of 24 hours!
On hearing the piano part NJE bassist Mark Bedford suggested having the piano mixed with the original track as intended, but also using it as the basis for a new recording with Mike’s piano leading rather than complementing the band. Side A features these two very different versions from the same seed. Unidentical twins indeed.
Side B contains four outliers from the album sessions. These aren’t out-takes or unfinished pieces. They simply couldn’t find a place for themselves within the album – along the lines of the tunes Tom Waits put together for his Orphans compilation of 2006. They are stand-alone tunes which have found a home together on this EP because in some way they all have filmic qualities – Character Actor is a nod to Cracked Actor, the tune on Aladdin Sane which introduced Bowie fans to Garson. The flip-side features The Loping Four; Projector; MacGuffin and Lockstep – MacGuffin being Alfred Hitchcock’s favourite word for a red herring…
The Character Actor EP is available exclusively on Record Store Day, Saturday 20 April.
The trio have announced three Record Store Day live appearances on the South Coast at…
The Vinyl Frontier, Eastbourne (1pm)
Music’s Not Dead, De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-on-Sea (3pm)
Dark Circles, St Leonard’s-on-Sea (5pm)
The NJE then play The Haggerston, 438 Kingsland Rd, Dalston, London on 23 April.
