With his exceptional blend of ambient, spiritual jazz, trip-hop and magical soundscapes, Matthew Halsall bridges not only seemingly divergent styles, but also musical eras. When he plays, the trumpeter and bandleader takes you back to the spiritual-fueled heyday of avant-garde greats Alice Coltrane and Pharaoh Sanders, but also lets you trip on the downtempo beats that his compatriots like The Cinematic Orchestra and Bonobo have a patent on. Born and based in Manchester, Halsall also founded the label Gondwana Records, a platform for emerging talent on which his seventh solo album An Ever Changing View was also released last year. The press has described his music as “balm for the soul” and “a rich musical meditation”. Halsall is an absolute festival must for lovers of spiritual, progressive, perfectly executed, meditative British jazz.
