Huw Warren is to release a new album entitled Hermeto + in October, his first for the Basho Records label. It will draw heavily on the work of the Brazilian multi-instrumentalist and composer Hermeto Pascoal. The Swansea-born pianist has often cited Pascoal as one of his main influences, and this recording will include arrangements of seven Pascoal tunes, as well as the same number written by Warren himself.

Pascoal’s music incorporates elements of both experimental and jazz music incorporating traditional Brazilian rhythms such as the forro, chorino and frevo, alongside the more commonly known samba style. Warren’s own compositions on the album embrace these styles and he notes: “I first heard the music of Hermeto more than 25 years ago and fell in love with it instantly. It has continued to fascinate and entrance me ever since, and a small part of the spirit of Hermeto has permeated all of my work to date”.

The album was recorded at the Curtis Schwartz Studio in west Sussex and features Huw Warren on piano, accordion and keyboards, joined by long-time bandmates Peter Herbert (double bass) and Martin France (drums). Arranged and produced by Huw Warren, the album features the tracks ‘The End is also the Beginning’, ‘Santo Antonio’, ‘DP & C’, ‘Harmonia sem Chronologia’, ‘Desencontro Certo’, ‘Cowbois and Shepherds’, ‘Santa Caterina’, ‘Jegue’, ‘All is Sound’, ‘Briguinha de Musicos Malacos’, ‘Nos da Good Knight’, ‘All is Music’, ‘All is Life’, ‘Frevo en Maceio’ and ‘The Beginning is also the End’.

- Warren Timmis