Philip Clemo

Philip Clemo live, 2017

Clemo's first two albums were collaborative works with violinist Ysanne Spevack, aka Mee.[2] The pair shared the composition credits, but used Clemo's multi-layered approach to creation and composition. Sound – Inhale the Colours was created in 1996/7 largely in Sydney, Australia, featuring contributions from an additional eleven musicians. Well reviewed by critics on release, it remained a question for them as to whether it was jazz, ambient electronica or World music.[12][13]

A second collaborative album Soundzero was completed in 1999, but only released in March 2008.[14] Both albums featured, amongst others, Phil Slater on trumpet and Tarlochan (Bobby) Singh on tabla. On Soundzero, Jazz singer Cleveland Watkiss, often heavily processed, made a guest appearance; whilst the album was also the first appearance of a British rhythm section, consisting of: Mark Sanders (drums); John Edwards (double bass); and Pete Lockett (percussion).[4][5]

Clemo's third album Ambiguous Dialogues, the first under his own name, was released in 2004 on Metier Jazz.[2][3] Featuring 12 musicians, as well as the British rhythm section it involved contributions from Clive Bell (reeds), and Tom Chant (soprano saxophone and bass clarinet). Clemo toured the work post the album's release, which was well reviewed and received.[11][15]

During the same year, he became a judge for the first time at the British Composer Awards for the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors, which he has since undertaken again in 2005, 2006, 2010 and 2011.[1][2][4][5][3]

In October 2008, Clemo released his fourth album The Rooms. A musical progression through different sound "rooms" or "spaces", it featured 22 musicians including: Clive Bell; Theo Travis (saxophone and flute); Simon Hopkins (electric guitar); B.J Cole (pedal steel); Henry Lowther (trumpet and flugelhorn); and a Prague string quartet. Clemo credited legendary sound engineer Phill Brown, who has worked with Jimi Hendrix and Bob Marley among others, for his invaluable contribution to the recording process of The Rooms. The album was critically acclaimed, and reviewed as floating somewhere between jazz, rock and soundtrack,[16] with critics describing it as intelligent "fourth world" electro-jazz.[8][9][10][11]

Up to this point, one of Clemo's key instruments of choice to compose with was the guitar. But having become quite bored with what he was playing on it,[4][5] he moved for his next album to the piano. For a year he created improvisations, charting a deeply personal journey through significant life experiences and environments.[4][5] These were then given to pianist Kevin Pollard to interpret and expand, with Clemo then adding additional guitar pieces to shape the compositions.[4][5] With the basic structure laid out, he then invited 14 additional musicians – one at a time – to "blindly" add their response on top, including: Oren Marshall (tuba); B. J. Cole (pedal steel guitar); Byron Wallen (trumpet and flugelhorn); Emily Burridge (cello); with Thomas Bloch (Radiohead, Damon Albarn) contributing ethereal tones on three instruments (glass harmonica, crystal baschet and ondes martenot). Clemo then heavily edited and shaped their contributions. The album was the first on which Clemo added his own voice, using multi-layering to create harmonies.[7] He finally added additional recorded sounds from places which have great significance to him, including: the river and woods at the end of his childhood garden; his first school; Aberdeen railway station; Redwood National Park in northern California; and Plum Village Zen Buddhist monastery in France.[3][4][5] As with The Rooms, most of the sessions were recorded by Phill Brown, who Clemo sees as crucial in both building powerful creative environments, and capturing a high level of sonic detail in the sessions.[7] The end result, Mesmer,[3] was well reviewed by both the music[17][18][19] and mainstream press,[20][21][22] described as a form of contemporary chamber music with "improvisation, multi-level musical dialogue and sound design at its core."[7]

With contributions from 21 musicians including Arve Henriksen (trumpet), Evi Vine (voice), Byron Wallen (trumpet, flugelhorn), Oren Marshall (tuba), Thomas Bloch (glass harmonica, Ondes Martenot), Emily Burridge and Peter Gregson (cellos), Dream Maps was released on 9 September 2016 with a live launch with an 8-piece band including Arve Henriksen and Evi Vine at Kings Place, London, UK on 14 September. The concert was described by Richard Williams on thebluemoment.com as "Artfully mixed together with recordings of heartbeats and water by the sound engineer Phill Brown, the music washed gently but insistently over the clearly beguiled near-capacity crowd in Kings Place’s Hall 2... this was Clemo’s first live gig in 10 years; its success should encourage him."[23]

Dream Maps was well received by the media with Selwyn Harris in Jazzwise describing it as "Meditative, trance-like stillness… symphonic ambience… echoes of… Brian Eno and David Sylvian. Miles’ Sketches of Spain reimagined by Jon Hassell."[24] Grant Moon in Prog (magazine) said that “Philip Clemo gets close to the edges on his extraordinary sixth album… utterly transfixing”[25] and George Farbey in All About Jazz said “Mesmerising… irresistible and idiosyncratic. Within a jazz context, could even be regarded as a new kind of third stream” ****[26]

Philip Clemo discussed the making of Dream Maps on the BBC Radio 3 programme Jazz Now on 24 October 2016.[27]