With Cedar Walton! CD

“Rating: **** (four stars) Proud to have US piano master Cedar Walton on board, yet no way overawed by his presence or by recording in Manhattan's hallowed Nola studio, London's Fishwick twins give good accounts of themselves here. Trumpeter Steve contributes a couple of originals and drummer Matt, who spent five productive years in New York, gels comfortably with Walton and US bassist Peter Washington. Osian Roberts, a Welsh tenorist remarkably close to Hank Mobley's unique sound, also performs well. The hard-bop school of Horace Silver, Art Blakey and Clifford Brown had a timeless quality and these Anglo-American experts are strong enough to keep it alive.” - Jack Massarik

— '...With Cedar Walton!' reviewed in the Evening Standard, CD of the week

 

“As with the group's previous efforts 'Too Much!' and 'On The Up And Up', the artwork of this latest offering from the Osian Roberts/Steve Fishwick Quintet is knowingly reminiscent of the 1950s Blue Note aesthetic. Acknowledging their stylistic persuasions and primary influences from the outset, Roberts and Fishwick here present a programme that showcases their first-rate ensemble playing and impressive assimilation of hard-bop vocabulary. With pre-arranged horn lines and rhythm section hits abundant, the group's sound on this album is often evocative of such classic hard-bop outfits as the Clifford Brown-Max Roach Quintet and, indeed, Osian Robert's warm tenor sound and long, twisting lines are at times almost uncannily similar to those of the Sonny Rollins of the early 1950s. Meanwhile, Cedar Walton, former pianist Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and star guest on this session, contributes attractive solos to Quincy Jones' ballad, Quintessence, and his own Head And Shoulders, while comping tastefully throughout. Fishwick himself is a technical master of the trumpet. After swaggering authoritatively through his own blues head, Uptown Shuffle, his muted sound on There Goes My Heart combines with his twin brother's lightly swinging brush work to suggest Miles Davis's first great quintet at its most relaxed. The rhythm section is completed by New York heavyweight Peter Washington, whose bass solos sparkle with technical agility and melodic assurance. Music of this sort will sometimes prompt questions regarding the importance of originality and innovation in jazz: what role does improvisation really play in amongst all those licks and quotes? The answer, however, is less important than the fact that this is a hugely enjoyable and completely unashamed master-class in straightahead jazz, and a valuable chance to hear young British talent in the company of an old master.” - Sam Braysher - Jazz Journal International

 

“Fresh off the press. Bam!!! Incredible. These artists are the preservers of the classic ‘Blue Note’ Hard Bop/Be Bop sound of the 1960’s. Every one of their albums are authentic representations of one of the greatest eras of Jazz from THE greatest Jazz label of all. As with their other CD’s, this may as well have been recorded by Rudy Van Gelder in 1964. Retro? Why not. Classic is really the term to use - there’s not been better Jazz made than that era. This CD captures the spirit perfectly with incredible playing from all involved. Most songs here are originals but may as well be classics. To take the CD to another height it features one of THE all-time legends of Jazz – pianist Cedar Walton (and playing better than ever!), so on all levels there are many reasons why you must not hesitate to buy this” - Snowboy - Blues and Soul web magazine

 

“This is a recording made in hard bop's New York heartland by the British sax/trumpet pairing of Osian Roberts and Steve Fishwick – joined by Americans Peter Washington (bass) and Cedar Walton (piano), with Fishwick's brother Matt on drums. Walton, a legendary Art Blakey Messengers pianist and musical director, is one of this idiom's great exponents. You get the drift from Walton's deliciously laidback opening to the first bop-blues opener (Uptown Shuffle), with its Horace Silver stop-time breaks and a great driving bass from Washington. Not far behind Walton, the star of the show is Roberts, whose booming, old-school tenor sound is magisterial and concise, particularly on his own dedication to the late Hank Mobley. Steve Fishwick sounds most comfortable at speed, but he rhapsodises elegantly over the sax countermelody to Quincy Jones's Quintessence, on which Walton also plays a masterly ballad solo of casually-dropped phrase-turns, gentle trills, and canny drifts around the beat. A lively and affectionate set.” - John Fordham - The Guardian

 

“Anglo-American collaborations used to be rare. These days they're almost routine, but it still took a coals-to-Newcastle trip to bring about '...With Cedar Walton!' (Hard Bop Records) by the Osian Roberts/Steve Fishwick Quintet. The co-leaders travelled to New York in January 2007 where Steve's twin, drummer Matt Fishwick, was then living, and then corralled the piano great and top bassist Peter Washington into the famed Nola Studios. Steve's notes say nothing about how they persuaded Walton to take a sideman role. No matter, for he plays with wonderful lucidity and riveting swing, the ensembles meshing like the messengers used to do. Fishwick's lines extend well and Roberts's mid period Rollins style tenor is a joy.” - Peter Vacher - Jazz UK

 

 

“For a band obviously inspired by the Jazz Messengers' style of music, this session with former Messengers' pianist Cedar Walton must have seemed like a dream, especially as it was recorded in New York's famous Nola Penthouse Studio. Tenor player Osian, trumpeter Steve, brother Matt on drums and their illustrious guests perform a couple of standards, tunes by Cedar and Quincy Jones and some very convincing original pieces on a very entertaining programme. Smashing notes by Steve complete a thoroughly enjoyable CD.” - Peter Bevan - The Northern Echo