Nathan Haines - Vermillion Skies Album Review
On a road of passionate red, the gorgeous and the ever-elegant saxophone dazzles and electrifies the room with a musical charge. This is the weapon of love for Nathan Haines. The highly regarded musician is releasing Vermillion Skies a beautiful collection of sophisticated renditions of adult-contemporary jazz. The album, due for release this week, will be the ninth studio album from Haines.
Vermillion Skies is romantic Europe in its atmosphere. Which makes sense as Haines and his wife moved to London and this was the setting for where the songs were written. There is a retro feel to the album, and I would attribute the deep-rooted city for its vintage and classic taste.
An introductory sultry brass tune sings a romantic ode to a dusky London evening Celestial You. The song moves into a come-hither invitation for you to go and dance the night away. Between the swirling sax and the jubilant piano keys, Celestial You is invigorating jazz. Deep bass heartbeats soothingly are heard, as she enters the room with burgundy stilettos. Lady Lywa is an enthralling woman, swinging her hips slowly from side to side with the lull of the saxophone.
Then take an easy stroll down Navarino Street where the piano and the brass section come into beautiful harmony. Haines sings about the menacing possibilities veiled behind the curtains in the street. Things are never as they seem. In Five Dimensions the brass section and the pianos come unison, working together blissfully in this reclining number. First Light is a bluesy break in the album. The title track is poetic as it paints the set of Vermillion Skies.
The sax takes full control of Frontier West in a vibrant, salsa-flavoured charmer of a song. Lament is the pensive conclusion to the album; a soulful song to the moonlight. It is a beautiful goodbye as everything all comes together in bliss at the end, and the sax signs off another gorgeous album.
Haines is an expert on jazz. He has mastered the sound and the understanding of what makes a good jazz album. He nods to the legends like Miles Davis by taking an austere approach in Vermillion Skies.
Vermillion Skies is an album that reaches Haines’ already high standard of musicality. Nine albums in and Nathan Haines keeps proving his own jazz legend status.
-Janise.
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About Nathan Haines
To date, Haines’ acclaimed career has seen him release 10 albums and countless collaborations, highlighted by his classic albums Shift Left, Squire For Hire and Sound Travels. A multiple-time Jazz Album of the Year winner, Haines has spent his musical life at the forefront of both electronic and jazz music in NZ and beyond.
August 9, 2024 will see the release of Haines’ 11th studio album, Notes - his most personal album to date. His first album in over six years, the album features production from legendary UK producer Phil Asher, one of his final projects before his untimely passing in 2021. While still maintaining the jazz sound and influence he is renowned for, the album sees Haines embracing the electronic/house/disco scene with the album sitting on the jazz end of the electronic spectrum.
Visit the muzic.net.nz Profile for Nathan Haines
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