Released: 25/08/2023
Possessed of a lovely Whit Stillman-esque name, and a seriously virtuosic knack with the flute, the UK jazz heavyweight Chip Wickham follows last year’s brilliant soulful long-player Cloud 10 with Love & Life. While Wickham’s music has always drawn from a broad cache of influences, from hip-hop to Roland Kirk, and from classic funk to the classic ‘60s Brit-Jazz sound of Tubby Hayes, Love & Life is a deftly crafted, deeply meditative EP of beguiling spiritual jazz influenced by the great Yusef Lateef. It’s the kind of record that gently encourages us to put down the bloody phone for half an hour and instead be nice to ourselves and embrace some peace and tranquility.