Press

After launching a small classical record label, I approached writer and reviewer Richard Bratby to write a small piece about the debut release, a multitracked recording of myself playing Coin Brumby’s “Suite for Four Double Basses”. Having an association with my orchestra (he’s the author of the wonderful “Forward: 100 Years of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra”) he very kindly agreed to support my startup and write a piece for me. Below is an excerpt describing the Brumby digital EP:

…”Luminate’s first release is a short multi-tracked recording in which Watt single-handedly plays all four parts in the 1975-vintage Suite for Four Double Basses by Colin Brumby. It was new to me, and as a cellist, it struck me as a bass player’s answer to Villa-Lobos’s Bachianas Brasilieras No.1: three melodious movements, by turns lyrical and (in the central scherzo) dazzlingly virtuosic, and clearly the work of a composer in love with the sound, the texture and the sheer physicality of this surprisingly agile combination. Watt obviously loves it too; summoning dark Wagnerian harmonies one moment and making his bass sing like an Italian tenor the next. There’s no sense of digital trickery at work; just an affectionate, exuberantly musical performance of some unusual but highly enjoyable music.”

Read the entire piece by Richard on the Luminate Records website here.

 

In 2012 I was involved in Birmingham Opera Company’s world premier of the complete performance of Stockhausen’s “Mittwoch aus Licht”. It received a lot of interest form all around the world, and with it critical acclaim. I was proud to be a part of such a crazy production, and some small excerpts of my solo performance part of it can be found here. Below is a snippet of Alex Ross’ piece for the Times about our opera. The full review can be found free online by clicking on the link at the end.

‘What I will remember longest, though, is the sublime anarchy of “Orchestra Finalists.” The musicians dangled in ski-lift-like chairs while listeners lay on their backs. On the ground, kids scampered this way and that, paper airplanes were tossed, bewhiskered gentlemen strode about with steam issuing from their top hats. During the trombone solo—heroically executed by Andrew Connington—a children’s wading pool was pushed down the length of the hall on a wheeled platform, a boy splashing inside. When the pool arrived beneath him, Connington plunged in, glissandoing all the while. (Stockhausen doesn’t actually ask for such a thing to happen, but it seemed apt.) You’d think that Connington’s feat couldn’t be upstaged, but Jeremy Watt nearly outdid him with a manically dancing, shouting double-bass solo, at one point falling flat on his back with his instrument on top of him. This was in strict accordance with the score.’

Alex Ross, The New Yorker Sept 10, 2012 (click for full review)