A massive achievement in the world of improvised piano music, the Chants series catalogues John Law's fascination with early music and plainchant in the 1990s. Wide-ranging in pianism and textures the continuous inspiration is kept up throughout four CDs, which explore everything from straight plainchant, through classical and jazz, through to the contemporary sounds of the 20th century. Two of the four recordings are taken from concert performances with all the excitement only achieved by a live event. The four CDs also feature specially commissioned illustrations by the artist Mel Day. See individual CD entries for more information and reviews.

A strictly limited edition, each copy signed by the pianist.

John Law’s first foray into electronic music, combining live playing with pre-composed backing tracks. The recording features seven Law originals plus a version of Coltrane’s Naima. A live performance and in fact the premiere of much of this material, bringing a special on-the-edge excitement to everything!

“Electronic keyboards/synths and backing tracks combining expertly with guitar, reeds and drums to create a refreshing assembly of jazz, rock and ambience; the result is both surprising and exciting. Take a listen – you’ll be hooked!” (Adrian Pallant)

The current line-up features Tim Garland, whose warm tone and quicksilver improvisational musicality infuse the three tracks he features on. Very much a jazz album, but also one which feels very much at home in the European classical traditions in its sensitivity to nuance.

Above all, some of Law's most beautiful compositions. The Moment also introduces into John's music another new sound: the drive and sensitivity of Dave Wickins on drums.

“Polished, melodic, technically assured album...by a seriously talented homegrown player.” (London Evening Standard)

“(The Moment) confirms Law's ability to sound like his own man, whether he chooses to get closer to the mainstream or not.” (The Guardian)

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Also includes two tunes by Duke Ellington.

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The product of over two years’ work and eventually released in May 2020, this recording gained many 5 star reviews and was voted by three different critics as being among their top ten CDs for the year. With all original compositions by John Law, the music features particularly the talents of Mercury Prize nominee James Mainwaring. Each tune a massive soundscape, like film music, the compositions manage to weld electronic backing tracks and subtle effects to live, acoustic instrumental jazz playing. An epic recording and John’s first for a new label: Ubuntu Music.

“Throughout, it is Law’s assertive piano lines that capture the attention… This is a fine and well varied set, with so much to recommend it.” (Jazz Journal 2020)

“…another high summit on the pianist’s journey…a quartet recording which doesn’t shy away from expanding its horizons through electronics, samples and ambiences to fully realise the vision of these original pieces.” (London Jazz Reviews 2020)

“This recording is something else again, deftly mixing in elements of rock and fusion, with some compositions echoing Minimalism… fluid, compelling and well developed, ranging from funky to impressionistic…always gripping the attention.” (BBC Music Magazine 2020)

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The last in the three CD series, this recording, done like vol. 2 at the wonderful Italian studio of Artesuono, features some amazingly creative tunes, particularly the hits that live audiences loved: a grooving Let’s Face the Music, an epic version of Summertime (with a Bach-like baroque music slant), an ethereal drum n bass reading of Satie’s Gymopédie, a very other worldly version of Radiohead’s Pyramid Song and a completely crazy take on the Beatles’ Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da! Also their highly popular, multi-layered, transfigured arrangement of Over the Rainbow…

“…even bolder than before…and while seriously having fun, Law and the quartet open new paths to the beauty of already established tunes.” (All About Jazz 2019)

“[a quartet] of like-minded players willing to explore and re-contextualise tunes that ought to be highly familiar in order to recreate new insights into the melodies, rhythms and textures of the tunes.” (Jazz Views 2019)

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The second in this three-volume series features John Law playing acoustic piano. This was a recording John planned for many years, one in which he would start with a Chopin Étude (one of his practise/warm-up pieces he plays at home) and finish with the beautiful Bach organ prelude Sleepers Wake, arranged by Busoni. In-between the music ranges from early stride and swing piano (Carolina Shout, Thinking of You, You Took Advantage of Me) to more contemporary tunes by Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny and Kenny Wheeler.

“…a sense of intimacy and relaxation about the session, but it also has the discipline of a trained musician, who allow the music to pour out. The music comes with the bonus of the superb sound sculpted by Stefano Amerio.” (All About Jazz 2019)

“John Law is one of those players who exude technical proficiency; one imagines him catching the slightest snippet of a tune from the radio of a passing car and then being able to distill this into a complete performance, at the drop of a hat.” (Jazz Views 2019)

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The first of three recordings featuring creative versions of other people’s tunes. Drawing from all genres: jazz, pop, indie, classical, John Law’s Re-Creations became very popular with audiences in the UK for their concept of taking really well-known tunes and rearranging and reinventing them. This first recording features, among other tunes, Fields of Gold (Sting), Nick Drake’s River Man and the Beatles' Norwegian Wood. Plus a new take on Miles Davis’ classic tune So What.

“…transforming familiar tunes into new musical shapes…a chance to hear them again in a new light.” (All About Jazz 2019)

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Double CD with eleven all new original compositions by John Law, in trio and quartet formations, some featuring subtle electronics. Recorded at the wonderful studio of Curtis Schwartz, this double CD has been prepared to an extremely high standard, with beautiful accompanying artwork and booklet. A project of John's that took 4 years planning and preparation, the result is an extremely wide-ranging exposition of all the different influences in John Law's writing and playing. Features stunning instrumental playing and beautiful compositions, both complex and immediate/melodic....

“...another high-water mark in Law's career.” (All About Jazz 2015)

“dizzyingly beautiful tunes, magical effects and perfect playing... (John Law) is our 21st century Bach!” (Only Jazz 2015)

“Melodic contemporary jazz with a strong rhythmic pulse and some strikingly memorable and original tunes.” (Sandy Brown Jazz 2016)

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John's take on this baroque masterpiece. Bach's Goldberg Variations in an authoritative, straight reading on the modern grand piano, the music is bookended by two pieces of ambient electronic music, composed by John, based on the chords and bass line that underpin the whole work. The accompanying CD artwork, of beautiful simplicity, features stills from a digital animation of the music being prepared by the artist David Daniels, for release on DVD in the future.

“...Law has respectfully changed the frame and removed the dust so the grandeur of Bach's work can be heard clearly.” (All About Jazz 2015)

“Visual samples from the digital film realisation of the Goldberg project, by David Daniels. This film sample includes the two ambient electronic tracks, Opening and Closing, which feature on the audio CD, with a selection of the Bach in between. There are stills from the visuals of the Aria on the CD artwork.” (PREVIEW)

The CD features, alongside original compositions by John and Mark, a stunning version of the tricky composition Chorinho, by Lyle Mays, as well as a brilliant, lively 'straight' performance of a Bach fugue for two harpsichords!

This is is set to become a major recording of piano jazz and heralds the start of a brilliant career for a new, young talent.

“...so full of joy that it can renew your faith not just in jazz, but music itself.” (Phil Johnson, Independent on Sunday 2011)

“...combining the vocabularies of jazz and classical in a singular and seamless way, coalescing improvisational surprise and a deep elegiac musicality...” (All About Jazz 2011)

Recorded at the wonderful Italian studio Artesuono, in Udine (used by ECM, among others) the recording features highly interactive ensemble playing in nine original, previously unrecorded, trio compositions by John Law. An amazing, atmospheric sound with exceptional clarity, captured by engineer Stefano Amerio. The first in a series of trio CDs from this new ensemble.

“Steeped in both classical music and jazz, Law plays boldly independent lines in each hand, likes hooks that slowly evolve over subtle harmony changes, is captivating at low volumes and surefooted on swing. A formidable thematic improviser.” (John Fordham, The Guardian 2007)

“A sublime trio, it's a band heading for great things!” (John Fordham, Jazz UK 2007)

“As melodic, accessible and catchy as anyone in the crowded piano trio sector. One of the jazz albums of the year!” (Phil Johnson, Independent on Sunday 2007)

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With a crystal clear, spacious sound, recorded on a fabulous Fazioli grand piano, the two CDs represent the outcome of two years of writing and studying for John Law. The music covers the whole spectrum from beautiful ballads through swing and groove music to dynamic abstract music.

“This British piano virtuoso runs a sublime, somewhat Brad Mehldau-inspired trio - but he is a fearsome unaccompanied player, too. These two albums of contrapuntal improvisations may bring Keith Jarrett's Köln Concert to mind.” (John Fordham, The Guardian 2008)

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Recorded at the wonderful Italian studio Artesuono, this CD, along with The Ghost in the Oak, continues the Art of Sound series started with the universally acclaimed first trio volume.

With a crystal clear, spacious sound, recorded on a fabulous Fazioli grand piano, the two CDs represent the outcome of two years of writing and studying for John Law. The music covers the whole spectrum from beautiful ballads through swing and groove music to dynamic abstract music.

“This British piano virtuoso runs a sublime, somewhat Brad Mehldau-inspired trio - but he is a fearsome unaccompanied player, too. These two albums of contrapuntal improvisations may bring Keith Jarrett's Köln Concert to mind.” (John Fordham, The Guardian 2008)

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This recording also documents a new departure for the trio, with some more extrovert compositions and some subtle use of effects.

“... buzzing with surprises. An ideal set for anyone wanting an introduction to this formidably equipped artist.” (John Fordham, The Guardian 2009)

“It would be no exaggeration to say that John Law has entered a high-water mark in completing his tetralogy, of which Congregation: The Art of Sound Volume 4 could be considered the crown jewel.”
“An achievement, not only for Law, but British jazz in general, that he is able to hold his own against such contemporaries as Brad Mehldau.” (Jakob Baekgaard, All About Jazz 2009)

“... a startlingly good album by a remarkable group.” (Phil Johnson, The Independent on Sunday 2009)

John Law's large ensemble project of 2004: his large-scale work, Out Of The Darkness. A single piece in seven continuous movements, taking in influences from 20th century (the chromaticism and counterpoint of Shostakovich, the drive of Minimalist/Systems music, the collage of jazz and repeated fragments reminiscent of Turnage, the overlaying of Baroque elements rather like Tan Dun), contemporary jazz/swing and free jazz and containing a beautiful central slow movement, the piece also brings out of the four featured musicians, Andy Sheppard, John Law, Chris Laurence and Paul Clarvis, some of their most inspired playing. The shorter pieces, Talitha Cumi and Nocturne, from the second half of the concert, present two completely different sound worlds: the former evoking the feeling of Eastern folk music, with a tinge of Garbarek-like ECM about it, and the latter a piece of quietness (mostly) and rich harmonies with a simplicity derived from the repetition of minimalism. The encore, The Loop, is an unexpectedly funky piece, providing the whole project with a punchy ending.

The ensemble is first-rate: a collection of top classical musicians, some drawn from the ranks of the London Sinfonietta. Music for the head, the toes and everything in-between!

“Law's piano improvisations were often astonishing in their boldness and technical ambition, the more so for being jazz-rooted without mimicking the usual Jarrett, Tyner or Hancock licks. [His large ensemble project Out Of The Darkness] produced a rich and completely distinctive contemporary music programme.” (John Fordham, The Guardian 2004)

“John Law has succeeded triumphantly... Recommended” (Chris Parker, Vortex Jazz Club 2006)

“John Law remains one of the under-recognized giants of British modern jazz/new music piano... over 79 minutes and superb throughout.” (Downtown Music Gallery, New York NEWSLETTER 2006)

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“One of the 2006 CD's of the year!”
Jazz UK Magazine 2006

“John Law is a hidden treasure of the UK jazz scene.”
Guardian 2006

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“contains a profusion of compositional ideas that meld the flowing cerebral dance of baroque music and the brainy heat of 60's advanced jazz.” ( Jazz Review)

“...listening to this fine new recording signifies time well spent! Recommended.” ( All About Jazz)

Jazzman (French) review

Jazzwise review

“... the outrageously screw-loose piano genius of John Law ... plays rhythms upon rhythms upon other rhythms. His "four" hands are always at work -- though he only uses two.” (All Music Guide) review

Reviews: Cadence (English), Jazzthethik (Deutsch), Jazz Podium (Deutsch)

Reviews: Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD, The Edmonton Journal

Reviews: Rubberneck

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Reviews: Avant

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Loosely using the example of Mussorgsky's Pictures At An Exhibition, the CD also juxtaposes (increasingly abstract) versions of the tune Thelonious as interludes, rather as Promenade constantly reappears in Mussorgsky's work.

The recording also includes one solo version by each member of the trio of a Monk piece of their choice (check out Paul Clarvis' version of Blue Monk, in which he occasionally and seemingly 'drunkenly' sings the word “Monk!” though he was stone cold sober at the time!).

The CD was acclaimed by the Guardian critic John Fordham as his CD of the week when it appeared in 1996.

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“This music lives because it needed to be played. It should be heard, too.” (Jazztimes, USA)

Reviews: Jazztimes 

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Reviews: Downbeat(English),  Voice (Espagnol), Jazz Podium (Deutsch)

Reviews: The Times,  Avant 

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Reviews: Jazzman(Français),  The Wire (English)

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