an enticing taste of the upcoming debut album ‘eventual reality’ by the james l’estraunge orchestra. brainchild of scottish producer ricky reid, pianist on both 6th borough project albums and one half of the soul renegades alongside craig smith, the james l’estraunge orchestra is “the band that never was”, lovingly pieced together from a series of late-night studio sessions with some incredibly talented jazz and classical players. best described as jazz arranged with dance music sensibilities, the james l’estraunge orchestra sound is warm and organic, atmospheric and at times somewhat bleak, a perfect reflection of the remote log cabin in which it was created. immediately iconic both musically and lyrically, ‘closer’ is a powerful commentary on today’s self-regarding, materialistic world with a strong message of hope for a better tomorrow. combining lush, live instrumentation and climactic, cinematic composition, closer’s emotive, almost springsteen-like vocals are performed by ricky reid himself. ‘groovin’ you’ covers a classic from harvey mason: a bass led, heavyweight instrumental jazz-dance workout featuring some impressive brass and woodwind solos bolstered by spine- tingling string swells and tight, rolling drums.
