Recent re release reviews of recordings with Tony Oxley Quintet

Huge events occur, massive energy fields join together, planets take shape, towering comets loom into view, black holes are born, solar storms blaze. The scale of the music is galactic, and the detail within it is atomic.

Chris May All about Jazz

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/angular-apron-tony-oxley-quintet-corbett-vs-dempsey

On "Frame," Stabbins plays what he describes as "some of the best and most extreme saxophone I ever recorded"—actually some of the best and most extreme saxophone anyone ever recorded. Wholly idiosyncratic, independent of headline extreme-saxophonists from Albert Ayler and David S. Ware to Peter Brötzmann, it is exciting listening.

Chris May All about Jazz

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/unreleased-1974-2016-tony-oxley-discus-music

Stonephace Reviews

“Startlingly good” – Phil Johnson, The Independent On Sunday 5 Stars

A Stimulating new project…hits the spot commercially and artistically…brings Brit-jazz muscle to the world of beeps and blips” John.L.Walters, The Guardian 4 STARS

Funk and psychedelia steeped jazzy grooves from Stonephace -- an incredible project from Brit saxophone player and boundary skirting soundscape crafter Larry Stabbins -- adding up to one of the best albums on the always reliable Tru Thoughts label! Avant funk excellence! -Dusty Groove America, Inc.

Idealised, stylised but never sanitised…The three noisemakers combine supremely in an upward, melded spiral of heated sax, beats and ectoplasmic guitar” –David Stubbs, The Wire

Stonephace transcends the limitations of a genre” – Chris Arena,  Wax Poetics US

Great, great record and a nice surprise from Tru Thoughts…Larry Stabbins is one of the true greats of British music.” Gilles Peterson (BBC Radio1)

Highly characterised pieces that hook into the mind very quickly and could sit as easily in a club dance room as a jazz festival. This invigorating album begs to be played louder than your neighbours will thank you for, but you really won’t care.

Tony Benjamin Jazzwise Magazine 5 Stars

Top-notch stuff from start to finish.

DJ Mag

Stonephace look likely to blow up … It is a trip” –

Owen Adams, The Guardian

There’s eleven tracks of this stuff and each one’s a treasure. Play it loud- its jazz and it’s proud.

Tony Benjamin- Bristol’s Venue Magazine. 5 stars

Easily the best contemporary album I’ve heard this year! FANTASTIC” –

Sushil Dade -The Jazz House, BBC Radio Scotland

Rewarding mellow jazz, soul, fusion and pulled together by the subtle beats, the sublime cutting-edge electronica - a glow, a warm glow... That experimental feel you get from the more rewarding early 60’s/70’s film soundtracks – Bullet, Lalo Schiffrin... Just a fine fine refreshingly different album that works in all the right ways.

Organ Magazine

This is the way Jazz and Hip Hop should always have been done but there’s never been anything like this recorded before…….. fantastic playing. The production is edgy and quite unique and, well, it’s all just so very fulfilling with it’s big, grandiose soundscapes. Snowboy Blues and Soul Magazine

Advanced modern soul jazz

PhilaFlava Magazine (US)

It’s jazz, all right, but with a hip-hop heart and a groovy soul vibe that sounds like Madlib doing psychedelic porn movie soundtracks. The Crack Magazine

“So chilled out it belongs in the deep freeze … the musical pedigree is never less than astonishing” Clash Magazine

…the album has the potential to transcend its status as a mere recording format and offer listeners an aural adventure. UK Jazz stalwart Larry Stabbins’ group Stonephace fulfil this potential with their debut, a groove-laden journey with special appearances from Portishead’s Adrian Utley and Guy Barker that will appeal to Jazzers and Beat freaks alike.

Mercury Prize Recommends

REVIEWS of Stonephace Stabbins “TRANSCENDENTAL”

 “a superb slice of old-school spiritual jazz”

Phil Johnson The Independent 4 Stars

“ A striking set of Stabbins’s works”..... “the disc’s analogue sound works a treat”-----

Neil McKim BBC Music Magazine “Jazz Choice of the month” 5 Stars

Uplifting, beautiful, funky and romantic by turns, Transcendental's music strikes at the heart, soul and dancing shoes.

Bruce Lindsay AllAboutJazz.com

“an impressive opening salvo...... from a strong band” “from the opening reprise of Coltrane’s ‘Africa’, the leader and his accompanists lay down what is an imposing, weighty ensemble sound where the low end ....is well to the fore”.

Kevin Le Gendre Jazzwise Magazine Featured Album

“Swirling eddies of spiritual jazz” ..

“ TranscendentaI goes far beyond mere history lesson, Stabbins' squealing sax euphoria (on Pharaoh Sanders tribute Transcendental Euphoria and John Coltrane's Africa) and Rahman's percussive piano constantly pushing, through wild chordal trips and wistful, intuitive improvisations, to that something great and intangible on the other side.”

Andrew Male MOJO Magazine 4 Stars

“A sparky set from the maverick saxophonist on which classy pianist Zoe Rahman cranks up the energy at every turn”

“The leader's playing spans spine-tingling, high-register soprano sax (Anomalous Monism), tenor-ballad opulence (White Queen Psychology), multiphonic pleadings (Transcendental Euphoria) and delicate flute with Rahman's coaxing piano (Immanence).”

John Fordham The Guardian 

“Powerfully authentic recapitulations of Coltrane’s deeply felt message of spiritual awakening”.

Daniel Spicer BBC Review

“Big , soul stirring music........ Stabbins’s sweetly rasping sax, buoyed by epic piano work from the brilliant Zoe Rahman, transports you to a higher spiritual realm........”

Robert Shore London Metro Magazine

“Their rendition of “ Africa” (is) a grand offering with a gentle funkiness without diluting the original theme, bringing a freshness that is so often missing when covering established pieces”

“Other original compositions show depth and feeling, capturing the warmth and maturity of all those involved”

Phil Levene Eclectic Jazz

“a terrific CD that’s a soulful exploration of modal jazz”

Charles Waring Record Collector Magazine 4 Stars

“An excellent release” CosmicJazz.co.uk

“His extraordinary playing, from frenetic sax on Transcendental Euphoria to beautiful, soothing flute on Immanence, is more than ably backed by Zoe Rahman’s delicate and powerful piano”

Lee Trewhela The West Briton