News
Sheridan Smith tour
Throughout April enjoying playing guitar on tour with the fantastic Olivier award-winning actress/singer Sheridan Smith. With big band and strings, and musical director pianist Rob Barron. Great venues including the Royal Albert Hall in London.
Concert with Omar Kamal at the Pyramids
just back from gig with great Palestinian singer Omar Kamal, with big band and strings, with the most amazing backdrop of the Pyramids and the Sphinx – a great experience to get to play a concert at this incredible place!
Chris Allard Band in London 06th April
looking forward to our return to Jazzlive at the Crypt – really nice venue in Camberwell! Do come along…
http://www.jazzlive.co.uk/guide.html
London gig – Jan 17th
Looking forward to playing at Mill Hill Jazz Club in North London this coming Wednesday night with Oli Hayhurst on bass and Nick Smalley on drums – starting 20.30.
https://www.millhilljazzclub.co.uk
Guitar class at Electric Campfire
Monday 17th October 8-9pm I’m excited to be giving a live-streamed guitar lesson on the fantastic guitarist Mike Outram’s Electric Campfire website. It’s worth checking this website out regardless of whether you can listen to the class as it’s full of incredible stuff. https://www.electriccampfire.com
Video of Chris Allard Invisible Landscape album launch gig
Courtesy of LIVAMP; live-streamed in it’s entirety from the Pizza Express Jazz Club Dean st Soho in London, July 14th 2016.
https://www.livamp.com/chrisallard/
Allard and Smith
New recording planned soon for our songwriting collaboration – this is our first recording, from last year. The new direction is more electric/rocky/bluesy.
Charlie Wood at Ronnie Scott’s 09th Oct
Playing with Memphis legend Charlie at Ronnie Scott’s Sunday 09th October – fantastic band, music from his latest album New Souvenirs
Almagro Ensemble
Brand new group formed by incredible pianist John Turville, playing contemporary tango quintets. The Almagro Ensemble is a new group comprising some of the most exciting players and composers in the UK. We aim to present some of the new innovations in tango from Argentina to a European audience, commission new works from Argentine composers and compose brand new music exploring the space between the tango, jazz and contemporary classical worlds. Website just launched at www.almagroensemble.com
Invisible Landscape ★★★★ review
Nice review for new album in ‘Get Ready to Rock’:
Perdido [Release date 10.06.16]
Chris Allard probably won’t thank me for saddling him with the jazz fusion tag, but he’s a subtle guitarist who evokes the likes of John Schofield and Lee Ritenour over 10 tracks full of inspired interplay, essential spontaneity and deep solos that rise surreptitiously from the most introspective of beginnings.
Allard is a touch player who gently caresses his strings and varies the intensity of his notes to explore different nuances. On the second track ‘Critter’, he pushes the trio on to another level with sculpted, crystal clear guitar lines that make an emotional connection.
He’s also a conversational guitarist who engages the listener with an ethereal feel to beguile us with the gentlest of touch, while his restless creativity leads to spiralling solos that always retain a linear direction.
He also sets himself little tensions which are resolved by a clever use of dynamics over a melange of styles. His music may be rooted in jazz fusion, but it’s not necessarily defined by that genre.
He cuts the main body of the tracks with his trio and then overlays them with a variety of tones, while the gap between the two provides a potent dynamic thrust.
Listen for example, to the chiming resonance of the title track, on which he threads a delicate web of interwoven guitar lines, which snake their way through the song like a guide.
On the opening ‘Morphic Resonance’, he spends the first 1 minute and 45 seconds constructing an introspective ambient landscape before any semblance of a thematic development, while building up a tension with strummed chords.
The understated style is revisited on the sonic featherbed of ‘Extended Mind’ which draws the listener into another angular journey.
‘Hekla’ is a meditative tranquil piece with an undulating sweep, melodic beauty and a well crafted finish with a gentle fade. Coming at just past the half way point, it acts as a musical pit-stop, before Allard heads into the fusiony ‘Finn’, a track glued together by yet more intricate interplay.
Wayne Shorter’s ‘Fall’ provides an exhilarating lift to the album as Allard makes a deft use of space, time and a delicate tone to make the piece his own.
Bassist Oli Hayhurst is both an unobtrusive accompanist and an occasional soloist, as on the gently plucked ‘Distant Storm Clouds’, a percolating piece which evokes the song title perfectly.
Drummer Nick Smalley’s consistent phrasing also gives the album substance and continuity, allowing Allard’s notes to rise, twinkle and fill the tracks with tonal variety and a range of emotional nuances.
In an age of instant downloads and short attention spans, ‘Invisible Landscape’ is a brave album built on artistic integrity, framed by Allard’s inventive musical vision and realized by the band’s technical and improvisational excellence. ****
Review by Pete Feenstra