Kellock in the thick of it
Edinburgh pianist Brian Kellock heads up the UK launch of New Zealand-based Thick Records, a jazz label run by Scottish drummer John Rae from Wellington, New Zealand where he now lives.
The initial release includes Think About It! – the first album by Kellock’s trio, BK3, since their BBC Jazz Award-winning Live at Henry’s, recorded in Henry’s Cellar Bar in 2001. Kellock also appears with Rae’s trio on Where the Wild Clematis and the third album to be released as part of the launch is Uncouth and Without Form.
Rae explained why he chose Kellock's album. He said: “I first met Brian when I was seventeen. I’d just returned to Scotland from the Soviet Union, where I’d been working as a drummer on a Soviet cruise liner, and Brian was studying classical music at Edinburgh University. We’ve been playing in each other’s groups ever since. That’s almost 37 years and what makes Brian so special to work with, apart from his outrageous virtuosity and fantastic knowledge of the jazz repertoire, is that I always know he’ll be committed to the concept, regardless of the consequences."
The three albums are being released in digital form only.
“We thought about the ‘to CD or not to CD’ question for some time,” says Rae. “Personally, I have no CD slot in my computer, or in my car, TV or home. I have piles of old CD’s sitting inboxes in my garage and at some point I have either downloaded the music or listened to them online through a variety of sources. I think a lot of people are in the same situation and it boils down to the music being what’s important.”
Rae appreciates that there are still people who want to have music stored physically in some kind of artefact. So his solution, at least in New Zealand, has been to make Thick Records releases available on what he calls a ‘Weasel.’ A personalised 2GB USB stick that holds audio files, recording information, hyperlinks to the artist’s webpage, photos and, occasionally, music scores of the songs, the Weasel has the advantage of being environmentally friendly.
“Not only does it avoid the excess packaging, printing and plastic associated with CD manufacture, but any previously purchased Weasel can also be recycled and uploaded with the artist’s current release instantly at gigs - along with the added benefit of extra content and bonus tracks.
"We can’t roll this out in the UK at the moment, due to there being very few gigs happening. It’s something for the not too distant future but right now, people can download and enjoy the music that way.”
thickrecords.co.nz