Life is the Dancer Rob Luft

• 1 Berlin 03:59
• 2 Life Is The Dancer 07:34
• 3 All Ways Moving 02:31
• 4 One Day In Romentino 04:24
• 5 Tanpura 01:44
• 6 Synesthesia 05:19
• 7 Other Wise 02:00
• 8 Snow Country 05:30
• 9 Sad Stars 02:53
• 10 Expect the Unexpected 07:11
• Total Runtime 43:05

Info for Life is the Dancer

There are very few debut albums that can create such an impact and launch an artist into the domestic and European scene as Rob Luft’s 2017 debut ‘Riser’ managed to do. On the back of winning the Kenny Wheeler Jazz Prize, London based Luft hurtled onto the scene with an album of originals and an instrumental sound so strong it’s hard to believe a 23-year-old had produced it. Both his guitar playing and compositional voice were unmistakably his own, the comradery and band interplay deeply developed. But it was the blend of Rob’s joy in music-making, his humility and humanity in working with other musicians and his natural warmth as a communicator that saw him quickly become one of the most talked-about, in-demand instrumentalists to emerge from the UK in a long time. With his second album Life Is The Dancer Rob continues with the same band, a new set of originals and with that undeniably warm and joyous sound we’ve come to expect from him.

Jazz is an ever-evolving beast, an art form of the deepest expression built on the idea of constant change, innovative in its creation, always pushing boundaries. With so much music being made, it’s easy for artists to fall into well-trodden patterns. Occasionally, however, a player will emerge who can redefine what jazz is, marking the end of one era and leading a new generation who will in turn influence a wave of contemporaries and more senior musicians. Rob Luft is one such musician. He’s not bound by conformity, not restricted in technique – he’s a free-flowing, creative musician bursting with joy and natural warmth who’s producing music the way he hears it, with band members happy to interpret it. Listen to the opening crowd-pleaser ‘Berlin’ and you’ll hear music for what it is – pure expression from the soul and from the heart.

The musicians that Rob has chosen are a perfect fit – Joe Webb’s organ, Joe Wright’s saxophone and Corrie Dick’s drumming complement the subtleties and influences in the music and bring additional warmth to Rob’s own guitar sounds. This isn’t necessarily a guitar player’s album per se. It’s a band sound with a guitar at the core. Remove any of the pieces and you are left with something completely different. It’s this unity of sound that defines Rob’s group.

The title Life Is The Dancer references the book ‘The Power of Now’ by Eckhart Tolle: ‘Life Is The Dancer and you are the Dance’, that is to say, you don’t live your life but life lives you. As Rob explains; ‘I think that idea is a beautiful sentiment and I think the album title of ‘Life Is The Dancer’ suits my record, as the new compositions have something very bright, positive and dance-like in them. This warmth & energy is what I want people to feel when they listen to my music. The message is essentially: the past is in your head and the present is in your hands“.

This is an eagerly anticipated release. With just under three years since Riser was released and with the profile growth Rob has seen, especially being selected for the BBC New Generation scheme, following in the footsteps of previous Edition artists Laura Jurd and Misha Muulov-Abbado, Life Is The Dancer will be one of the major European jazz releases of 2020. With a musician who epitomises what it means to bring joy to life through his music, something we all need in these turbulent times, Rob Luft will be a name appearing on more and more stages throughout Europe.

Rob Luft, guitars
Joe Webb, organ, Hammond B3
Joe Wright, tenor saxophone
Tom McCredie, double bass
Corrie Dick, drums
Byron Wallen, trumpet
Luna Cohen, vocals

Rob Luft
is an award-winning 23-year-old musician from London, and has been described as one of the UK’s most prominent and talented young contemporary jazz guitarists. Praised by The Times ‘to achieve great things in the future’, Rob was the recipient of the 2016 Kenny Wheeler Jazz Prize in association with Edition Records, and he also received the 2nd Prize in The 2016 Montreux Jazz Guitar Competition.

Having joined NYJO (The National Youth Jazz Orchestra of GB) at the age of 15, Rob then went on to study on the jazz programme at the Royal Academy of Music. Concert highlights include performances with artists including Django Bates & Loose Tubes, Eddie Parker’s “Mister Vertigo”, Iain Ballamy, Gregory Porter, Laura Jurd’s “Dinosaur”, Tommy Smith’s Scottish National Jazz Orchestra (SNJO) & The Hamish Stuart Band.

Rob is a regular member of some of London’s finest modern jazz groups, such as Byron Wallen’s “Four Corners”, Martin Speake’s “Mafarowi”, and Enzo Zirilli’s “Zirobop”. He appears on Liane Carroll’s latest release on Linn Records (‘Seaside’ – 2015), Brazilian singer Luna Cohen’s new album on the Catalonian independent label Temps Record (‘November Sky’ – 2016), & the debut album from Enzo Zirilli on Milanese label UR Records (‘Zirobop’ – 2015). In 2015 he was the recipient of the Peter Whittingham Award as part of two collective ensembles – Patchwork Jazz Orchestra and jazz-rock quartet Big Bad Wolf.

“A Great Improvising Guitarist” – Evan Parker

“Obvious Star Quality” – Jazzwise Magazine

“Fine Soloist” – The Evening Standard

“Sometimes you can big someone up too soon, but Rob Luft’s guitar is straining at the leash to get heard more widely.” – Andy Robson, Jazzwise Magazine

This album contains no booklet.