NEWS
When Colin Towns formed the Mask Orchestra in 1990, he brought together some of the most important new and established players on the jazz scene. The Mask Orchestra was seen not only as an exciting new band, it was ground breaking. Twenty-five years on, Colin Towns Mask Orchestra is back. The new double album Drama is the group’s seventh release and boasts a line-up featuring a veritable who’s who of jazz’s finest. As the title might suggest, the inspiration for Drama is theatre and drama, featuring new and also original music from Colin Towns’ extensive work in the theatre, from classic plays including One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Equus and Macbeth, to contemporary work including Terry Johnson’s Hysteria.
“Towns’ harmonic palatte, idiomatic playfulness and Stravinskyesque energy have created music for a function that nonetheless stands tall without it” The Guardian ★★★★
“Drama by name but epic in form…sit back, let the curtains part & enter a world of wonder” Jazzwise Magazine ★★★★
“for freshness, for edge-of-the-seat excitement, the Mask Orchestra are almost certainly unbeatable” LondonJazz
“…a gigantic cosmos of sounds…” Audio (jazz cd of the month) ★★★★★
Colin Towns is not only one of Europe’s most prolific film, television and theatre composers, but also a pianist, songwriter, arranger, producer and collaborator. His name has graced the credits of many prestigious and popular features. He feels at home in every musical genre, from the classical world to sound design and his work ranges from symphonic orchestra to one man band. Colin composes not by example but intuitively, giving each score it’s own voice.
“Vision and ideas are essential, reinvention is key – learn from the past but remember to move forward. What matters most is tomorrow” Colin Towns
