“The album boasts an impeccable sound quality and a fine selection of outstanding compositions with the various modern inspirations from the London & New York jazz scenes. "Ollie is just 24 and plays with an intrepid self belief that belies his youth. Clever postbop compositions twisting with sharp improv, and interspersed with brief single-instrument interludes." Featuring punctilious percussion and warm, open compositions that never strain to impress, the music has a delicious dynamic flow and an almost elegiac beauty." "Mentored and endorsed by Quincy Jones and Kind of Blue sticksman Jimmy Cobb, the London-based drummer/composer Ollie Howell makes his debut with this quintet recording of emotional range and musical maturity. Recorded in London by Derek Nash and mixed and mastered by the New York-based, 5-time Grammy nominee Tyler McDiarmid, the album features a standout sound quality and collection of original compositions that draw inspiration from both the contemporary London and NYC improv scenes, a strong dedication to melodic and memorable themes and driving grooves. Along with a full recovery, one of the big positives from Ollie's experience has resulted in many of the compositions that appear on Sutures and Stitches, as most of the music was written from his hospital bed. The scars from Ollie’s surgeries (and their sutures and stitches) stand as reminders, not of his pain and anguish during that time, but of his recovery and determination to heal and forge something positive from the ordeal. In 2009 Ollie was suddenly diagnosed with a brain malformation which resulted in a series of mandatory neurosurgeries, the last one taking place in April 2012. Howell's debut chronicles a life changing and defining period that had both dramatic highs (including the befriending and mentorship of Quincy Jones and of the legendary drummer Jimmy Cobb) and also dramatic lows.
Ollie’s main focus as a composer and bandleader has been his own quintet who won the Peter Whittingham Development Award, administered by the Musician’s Benevolent Fund. Currently based in London, he's been establishing a name for himself both in the UK and abroad. Sutures and Stitches is the debut solo album from drummer, composer and bandleader Ollie Howell, a young man (mid-twenties at the time of this recording) who has overcome life-threatening obstacles and used these events to compose a program of inspired music. This kid really is a 360-degree beautiful young cat that I believe has what it takes to make a life out of music.”
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