TIME ZONE plays an innovative “deep fusion” of Cuban music and Jazz – soulful, catchy and rhythmically provocative. Cuban elements are re-assembled, or mutated to fit odd meters – bilingual compositions where the groove can change in mid-flow, like suddenly turning a corner, a new view opening up, another way of looking at things.
This unusual, deeply humourous music expresses some of the surreal complexity of life in Cuba, and of human life in general. Speyer’s compositions for Time Zone result from the collision of Cuban culture with his own, and from the band’s extensive experience and research into both musical languages, Cuban as well as Jazz.
“Speyer’s ear for the exultant horn harmonies of traditional Cuban dance music informs a probing crossover composer’s intelligence, in which time signatures are shuffled and idioms overlaid. Nobody writes music quite like Loz Speyer, and he’s long deserved a bigger stage, and the resources to match.” John Fordham, Guardian
“An ensemble led by a trumpeter/composer who has absorbed the essence of Cuban music and distilled it quite cunningly into an improvisatory context with no compromise to either culture. The result is gritty, graceful sounds with a dark-light intensity.” Kevin Legendre, Echoes
Loz Speyer – trumpet, flugelhorn
Martin Hathaway – alto sax, bass clarinet
Stuart Hall – guitar, violin
Dave Manington – double bass
Andy Ball – drums
Satin Singh – congas