“Percussionist extraordinaire Joby Burgess” returns with his fifth album on Signum Records, “A Percussionist’s Songbook” – a collection of specially commissioned ‘songs without words’ from John Metcalfe, Tunde Jegede, Dario Marianelli, Yazz Ahmed, Graham Fitkin, Dobrinka Tabakova and Gabriel Prokofiev.
Scored for an arsenal of pitched percussion and electronics the songbook is inspired by texts ranging from the poetry of Robert Graves and Birago Diop to novels by Michael Ondaatje and Isaac Asimov; American philosopher Michael Sandel, songwriter Peter Gabriel, United Nation population growth statistics and Saudi Arabian folk tales.
“His recordings are so full of vibrant energy, vitality and freshness…the virtuoso percussionist’s technical brilliance, fantastic agility and coordination, and innate musicality. ‘A Percussionist’s Songbook’ may well be Burgess’s best album yet” – Gramophone
★★★★ Performance, ★★★★★ Recording “Combining a multi-genre passion for contemporary western music with explorations of ancient global traditions, Joby Burgess has done much to foster the art of percussion” – BBC Music Magazine
“A fascinating record with wide-ranging ambition and, surely, mass appeal. Joby Burgess has created a release for classical label Signum that could sit equally comfortably in the rock or ‘world’ genres, such are its broad range of influences and audible sense of adventure…Warmly recommended.” Art Muse London
