None other than Steve Hackett; famous Genesis’ guitarist, calls Nick Fletcher, “The best jazz rock guitarist in the UK today”. What more needs to be said. Nick is one of the best jazz guitarists in the world today, who is still recording new music.
In 2023 Nick teamed up with the late Jeff Beck’s drummer Anika Nilles, to create the album Quadrivium, which will be released on September the 15th 2023, on the Rough Draft label. Nick explains that, “Quadrivium was the name Plato gave to the four noble arts. Math, Geometry, Music and Astronomy”.
Nick Fletcher plays guitar on Quadrivium; along with Anika Nilles, playing all drums; Caroline Bonnett, plays keyboards; Dave Bainbridge, playing guest keyboards on tracks 3, 5, and 6; and Tim Harries, playing all bass.
From the album’s promotional materials, we glean this important info, “Nick has been playing the guitar and writing music professionally since 1981, after leaving Huddersfield School of Music, as a classical guitarist and guitar teacher. Nick has played in many bands, and with famous musicians, like Dave Bainbridge and Tim Harries; who was previously the bassist with Bill Bruford’s, ‘Earthworks’. He has recorded many CDs of classical guitar music as a soloist and with John Hackett as part of the Fletcher/Hackett guitar and flute duo. He is the lead guitarist for The John Hackett Band. Nick has also performed and recorded with Steve Hackett”.
This is another amazing album for a man that never runs out of amazing ideas and ways of playing jazz guitar. I’d say his playing reaches a Quadrivium, on its own; covering jazz, progressive rock, blues rock, and metal guitar on the same album.
Nick describes the album in this way, “Each title reflects one or other of these, noble arts, (the four noble arts of Plato); with the exception of music, as the album IS music. The album is meant to be listened to as a whole, like a suite. The tracks take the listener on a journey through the cosmos until our soul must leave this world, as we all must stand on the edge of time and let go of this dimension of time and space!”
Well, that already sounds fantastic! Let’s get started on this journey. The album opens with an amazingly titled song, “A Wave On the Ocean of Eternity”, Nick briefly described the concept as something written by the writer Alan Watts. I looked it up and I believe it deals with life and death. That in our similar cultures, we are all obsessed with death and what happens after life. Instead, Watts’ says we should treat all things that happen in life as another wave in the universe, like the ocean. It will pass and we will move on beyond it, and it will be absorbed into the grand ocean, which is the universe. Every wave is like a moment of our lives. Every success, or failure, is just another wave passing. Instead of worrying, we should be more concerned with living our lives to the fullest. Don’t fear death, instead, as so many philosophers have said before, live for the day, and the present. Enjoy or learn from every moment or wave and get ready for the next one.
The waves of excellent electric guitar that make up this masterpiece album opener are similar to that experience. Each one gets better. The keyboards, atmospherics, and sounds of the ocean, only make the whole soundscape, that much more enjoyable. The journey is to close your eyes and forget about all that you face today, and let your cares fall away, as Nick lights up your ears and mind, with solitude. Time to give ourselves pause, and imagine and ponder, all that is around us; and all that we have been given, to appreciate. Over 4 minutes of solitude and guitar magic. Some of the best solo, progressive guitar that I have heard since his last album. Similar to David Gilmour’s solo works. Amazing. However, I still can’t get over that awesome title….
Next up, an “Overture to the Cosmos”! Another over 4 minute breath of life, and a salute to the universe around us, which we continue to discover daily. It is much heavier; and bolts out of the gate quickly. It is full of electric guitar energy and Anika Nilles’ first drum licks on the album. She really is amazing, indeed. Caroline Bonnett’s amazing keyboards help keep the balance throughout, with stellar atmospherics and sound, that close the track well. But this is Nick’s show, and he dazzles. The most metal – like guitar playing on the album. Remember, the overall cosmos of the universe is generally, fairly turbulent.
“Riding the Event Horizon (Scene 1)”, is another spectacular, this time, jazz guitar riff-filled song. With Nick’s good friend, Dave Bainbridge, providing the keyboards. An Event Horizon is another turbulent experience in the cosmos, but Nick keeps things groovy with soft jazz guitar, as Anika Nilles, supplies drums. This song has that Steely Dan – guitar sound Nick promised. However, no copies or covers on this song. It just sounds similar to the guitar sounds you may remember from Aja, or maybe Gaucho. At the halfway mark of the album, just after Dave Bainbridge’s brilliant piano stops, Nick let’s loose on the axe and fires up the rhythm with powerful rock guitar. Over 6 minutes of rock and roll guitar that will take you back, as well as forward into a new sound.
The “Ziggurat of Dreams (Part 1) (Interlude)”, or “the temple of dreams”, is another mental meditation experience that will take you back to some of Steve Hackett’s dreamy solo work, at its opening. However, Nick adds some bluesy Stevie Ray Vaughn-like licks to this dreamscape, that will keep your attention high, during its short, just over 2 minute span, of a wave.
“The Fifth Parallel (Scene 2)”, is some of the best jazz guitar Nick has created for the album. I had to reference, the ‘funnel of all knowledge’, Google, for this one, “The rule about parallels is fairly simple. Any two parts that make a perfect fifth are not allowed to go on to make another perfect fifth. In other words, you cannot make two perfect fifths in a row. Two octaves in a row are also considered bad”. However, Google also says, “The 5th Parallel North is a circle of latitude that is 5 degrees north of the Earth’s equatorial plane”. It includes much of the globe’s oceans and continents, so it would blend well with the idea of defining the interconnectivity of the Earth. Either way, the harmonizing that occurs when Dave Bainbridge and Nick get together is amazing. Anika Nilles’s powerful drums only punctuate this glorious soundscape.
“Aphelion (Scene 3)”, is full of more of that beautiful Steely Dan – like jazz sound, combined well with Bainbridge’s spacey keys and Nilles’ adept drumming. Even though the title refers to when the Earth is farthest from the sun; this track is full of hot instrumental playing. A warm musical experience to enhance your day.
“Ziggurat of Dreams (Part 2) (Interlude)”, is another dreamy Hackett-like guitar instrumental that will enhance your temple, of the mind.
“The Helix (Scene 4)”, is another wild guitar ride for all to enjoy. Over 6 minutes of electric guitar bliss. Anika Nilles’s stylish drum work and cymbals help elevate this track from the others on the album.
Hopefully, we will always return to the stars. The track, “To the Stars We Shall Return (Interlude)”, gives us that opportunity to relax and ponder the thought. There is so much we need to learn about the universe and so little that we know. Just close your eyes and think about all that may be out there for us to explore, while you listen to this brilliant guitar and drum experience. Caroline Bonnett’s wonderful keyboards set you up for this journey well. Then Anika Nilles’s soft percussion takes you over the edge, just as Nick’s electric guitar plunges through the soundscape. An almost Middle-Eastern soundscape of rhythms that will take you over. It begins to build fire, and includes flute-like sounds. Wonderful. All of this distinctive music makes this an early favorite of mine from the album. The atmospherics on this one are absolutely the best on the album.
“The Journey to Varanasi (Scene 5)”. Varanasi is, according to Google, “regarded as the spiritual capital of India. The city draws Hindu pilgrims who bathe in the Ganges River’s sacred waters and perform funeral rites. Along the city’s winding streets are some 2,000 temples, including Kashi Vishwanath, the “Golden Temple,” dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva”. Well, yes, this is a spiritual journey on Nick Fletcher’s guitar; the grinding metal type. The Eastern, guitar and keyboard atmospherics add to the power of this unique and distinct guitar journey. At times it reminds me of some of Steve Hackett’s fun solo tracks. Anika Nilles’s drumming powers the rhythm, raising tensions and the sound even higher. One of the absolute album stand-outs. Over 7 minutes of a journey which sometimes takes the pilgrims of India a lifetime to complete. However, this journey is no less urgent or full of surprises. Caroline Bonnett’s keyboards are so well conceived. Nick’s intricate and at times blistering guitar work is simply otherworldly. Best track on the album, by a long shot! Please Nick, more, more, more. Hint: (For your next trek east, please contact, Sweden’s sitar guru, Stian Grimstad; he plays sitar, with one of my favorite bands this year, Siena Root). I think you and he could imagine a spectacular journey with a sitar and guitar solo that would rock the UK!
“Standing on the Edge of Time (Denouement)”, Returns us to the ocean. At least it opens with the sounds of the waves reaching the shore. Caroline Bonnett’s eerie Alan Parson’s-like keyboards, and atmospherics, which took me back to my favorite album, I Robot; will amaze and astonish you. Then, Nick joins in with unique electric guitar rhythms. Soft, flowing electric guitar, like a smooth wave rising and falling gently in the evening calm of the sea. This is a wonderful guitar journey to close the album and leave you feeling great.
Quadrivium is just under an hour of music that will make you think, as well as dream. One of the best parts of a Nick Fletcher album, for me, is that he makes you ‘look things up’. Research, the titles of his songs and expand your vocabulary and knowledge base. He not only entertains with excellent guitar, his goal is to impart knowledge. The addition of Anika Nilles was a brilliant move on Nick’s part. She is the perfect complement and rhythm maker for this otherworldly album. Both Caroline Bonnett and Dave Bainbridge’s keyboard playing, accentuate all of Nick’s dynamic guitar playing. Tim Harries’ bass playing also supports Nick’s soaring high notes and provides the perfect rhythm along with Anika.
On Quadrivium, Nick Fletcher, courageously conquers Plato’s Quadrivium, on guitar; beginning play with his first love; jazz guitar. Then, he plays some incredible Hackett/Gilmour-like progressive guitar. Nick then, grinds with the best of them, with some metal guitar; and even includes some bluesy guitar sounds, to complete the four noble guitar playing styles. Someone who can do it all…and very precisely, uniquely and professionally. That is what you get when you place a Nick Fletcher album on the turntable, or play his music on whatever device you chose. Get Nick Fletcher’s Quadrivium, and listen to him complete Plato’s Quadrivium, on guitar.
Track List:
1. A Wave On the Ocean of Eternity (Prelude) 4:16
2. Overture to the Cosmos (Overture) 4:53
3. Riding the Event Horizon (Scene 1) 6:17
4. Ziggurat of Dreams (Part 1) (Interlude) 2:41
5. The Fifth Parallel (Scene 2) 6:42
6. Aphelion (Scene 3) 7:25
7. Ziggurat of Dreams (Part 2) (Interlude) 1.51
8. The Helix (Scene 4) 6:24
9. To the Stars we shall Return (Interlude) 2:56
10. The Journey to Varanasi (Scene 5) 7:11
11. Standing on the Edge of Time (Denouement) 4:14 Total time: 54’51
Quadrivium was mixed and mastered by Caroline Bonnett, from SCNmedia. The album was produced by Caroline Bonnet and Nick Fletcher. Album artwork created and designed by Nick Fletcher.
Website and Social Media Links:
www.nickfletcherguitarmusic.com
https://www.facebook.com/nicholas.j.fletcher
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCc43uxgNt0lv7poFLnmbmMw
Contact nguitarman@talktalk.ne and info@baddogpromo.com
You Tube and Music Videos: