It’s difficult to wear multiple hats while on tour here in Germany for the 9th anniversary Butta 45’s tour but still trying to keep my ears open what good music is soon to be released that I can keep you ladies and gentlemen connected with. In this case, something jazzy coming in via London from Daniel Casimir & Tess Hirst which got my day started after waking up here in cloudy Köln.
Award-winning bassist Daniel Casimir and vocalist Tess Hirst, are set to release their debut album ‘These Days’ on the 1st November via pioneering London-based record label, jazz re:freshed.
Following the success of Casimir’s critically acclaimed 2017 debut EP ‘Escapee’, which featured Hirst on vocals and fellow rising stars on the scene, Moses Boyd, Joe Armon-Jones and Shirley Tetteh, ‘These Days’ is inspired by the duo’s London surroundings, as charged observations are delivered via thought-provoking lyricism, neo soul and modern jazz. Across twelve tracks, Casimir and Hirst fuse traditional jazz sounds into beautifully composed compositions, narrating their way through a political and cultural landscape.
A regular fixture on the UK jazz scene, Casimir (a former Birmingham Conservatoire student) has provided his heavy weight upright sound for the likes of Julian Joseph, Jason Rebello, Benet Mclean, Lonnie Liston Smith, Nathan Facey, Shane Forbes, Chihiro Yamanaka, Ashley Henry, David Lyttle, Nubya Garcia, the Clark Tracey Quintet (Meantime, Jubilation), Tom Harrison (Unfolding in Tempo), Jasmine Power (Stories and Rhymes), Camilla George and Art Blakey Jazz Messenger saxophonist, Jean Toussaint. Tess Hirst is a natural story-teller who’s lyrics are uncompromisingly honest and layered. Hirst takes her own personal experiences wider offering a voice to a generation’s struggles.