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Songlines "It's a deeply involving, poetic, and intimate work that will repay many a late-night visit. This is one well that won't be running dry." more >>
Manchester Evening News “It is a work of beautiful, unabashed romanticism, and Thompson moves through the music with a stately, measured tread, and makes the earth move with every low rumble…remarkable” more >>
Rock 'n' Reel Magazine “Turn it up and the earth will move… exquisite” more >>
Guardian.co.uk "soft-textured and rhapsodic...clearly a labour of love" more >>
contactmusic.com "hypnotic, sensitive and superbly made slice of ambient...perfection" more >>
altsounds.com "most exciting" more >>
Beardedmagazine.com 'The coming together of two musical minds has created something quite magical' more >>
BBC.co.uk “rushes of clarity and rapture” more >>
Press Association "the album bursts into life" more >>
Music News "outstanding" more >>
musicOHM “by all accounts a remarkable piece of work… a thing of real beauty.” more >>
AAA Music “this is a masterful, truly staggering work. There is simply no weak track to be singled out, and although artsy instrumentals will never have mass appeal, this is a breathtaking album to be held in highest regard. This isn’t so much a collection of tracks as a journey through a narrative which can withstand repeated listens.” more >>
The Line of Best Fit “Watching the Well is not only a tribute to a great musician, but a love letter to an instrument.” more >>
Vanguard "At the end I felt like my shoulders had been given a good kneading and unknotting...relaxing and intriguing" more >>
The Jazz Breakfast "beautifully recorded" more >>
Subba-Cultcha "demands repeat listens...incredibly pleasant experience" more >>
allgigs.co.uk "riveting journey made up of chilled esoteric jazz, harsh wintery ambient electronic and liquid choral sequences" more >>
South Sonic "quite frankly nothing short of a masterpiece." more >>
Sandy Brown Jazz "really enjoyable." more >>
themusiccritic.co.uk "From the opening track you are transported to a sound scape of atmosphere and surrealism that is deeply relaxing and ethereal. The instrumentation is faultless throughout" more >>
Jazzwise Magazine "It's powerful stuff that magnifies with each repeated listen and for me one of the most heartfelt and moving albums of the year." more >>
Uncut Magazine "A shifting matrix of string and harp, punctuated by choral voices and arcing sax....A grand, enchanting creation" more >>
James Borland Music Reviews “It is a beautiful listen…truly amazing” more >>
The Music Critic "Thorne's willingness to embrace both modern technology and beautiful acoustic instruments make this a fascinating musical journey." more >>

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Jon Thorne & Danny Thompson in Tasty

08 October 2010
Tasty Fanzine
James Borland

FULL REVIEW HERE

It’s not very often that you hear of musicians or composers writing albums as a dedication to their musical mentors, but this is one case. Jon Thorne (previously known as bassist of trip-hop act Lamb) has indeed composed this album for - and as a celebration of - his mentor Danny Thompson. Composed initially to be a live performance piece, Thorne decided to produce a recorded version of ‘Watching The Well’ featuring Thompson on bass. Alongside Thompson, the album features the likes of award winning jazz saxophonist Gilad Atzmon and Cinematic Orchestra guitarist Stuart McCallum.

The album itself is extremely calm right from the start; gently played strings, haunting choral melodies and saxophones set the tone for what is to follow. It is quite slow moving, with each track being long and drawn out with very little variety from minute to minute. The overall sound is almost a nu-jazz style, but with a slight classical edge; as if Cinematic Orchestra and Craig Armstrong worked together to make a chill out album. It is a beautiful listen, and very relaxing as a background album. But that’s all it really is; there are no moments in the album that lift it away to a more energetic vibrant sound. There are a couple of points where some percussion starts coming through, but it never kicks in enough to make an obvious change in mood.

The musicianship on ‘Watching The Well’ really is truly amazing, especially the bass work of Danny Thompson and Gilad Atzmon’s exquisite saxophone solos. It is a great way to recognise the importance of Danny Thompson’s career and an extremely generous thing for Jon Thorne to have done. I personally would have liked to have more variety between songs, but I do think that is mainly down to taste. However this doesn’t take away from the fact that it is a very well written and interesting album.

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Jon Thorne & Danny Thompson in Tasty