Dave Stapleton is a singular talent. In less than ten years since graduating in classical piano from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Stapleton has established himself as a musician, composer and label boss and become an important figure on the UK jazz scene.

Flight marks his eighth release under his own name.  It’s his most ambitious album to date featuring the Brodowski String Quartet alongside saxophonist Marius Neset, bassist Dave Kane, drummer Olavi Louhivuori and, of course, Stapleton himself on piano.  Already recognised as a writer of beautiful, lyrical tunes, Flight marks a leap forward and establishes him as one of the most ambitious young composers in jazz. 

His compositional abilities, continue to gain ever wider acknowledgement. His commission for the Lunar Saxophone Quartet, Catching Sunlight, garnered five star reviews, whilst the Mavron String Quartet premiered Stapleton’s first work for strings in 2009.  He has also written scores for animations and short films, including Pellegrina for the S4C (Channel Four Wales) short animation and The Outsider (Best Welsh Film Award at the Cardiff Film Festival), and is the recipient of a number of commissions from the ABRSM Exam board. 

But it is the breadth of his ambition that really marks Dave Stapleton out amongst his peers.  The Dave Stapleton Quintet (DSQ) combines a muscular intensity with consummate delicacy in performance and their three CD’s to date have been highly praised by critics in Britain and abroad.  Two improvised duets, one with saxophonist Deri Roberts and another with fellow pianist Matthew Bourne, have met with similar approval.

If that weren’t enough, Stapleton heads up Edition Records, one of the most innovative and creative companies in the business.  Founded in May 2008 with co-director photographer Tim Dickeson, Edition has gone from strength to strength.  As well as providing an outlet for emerging talent such as Troyka and Phronesis, Edition have released albums by established artists like Keith Tippett, John Taylor and Neil Yates and promoted stars of the future in Marius Neset and Josh Arcoleo.

He is truly one of the success stories of British jazz.  He is a gifted pianist, an exceptional composer, an innovative label boss and a record producer, who brings to the music of others the same care and attention that he lavishes on his own releases.  Dave Stapleton is all of these things and much, much more. 

“Regular jazz lineups are hard to sustain in the choppy waters of the jazz economy. Worthy successors to head-turning first albums are just as tough a proposition. And running an influential jazz record label is probably harder than both. The Wales-based pianist and composer Dave Stapleton has done all three: an ebullient third album, made for the label he co-founded, by the same powerful quintet he started out with”. GUARDIAN

Discorgraphy:

Explorations, Full Circle [2004]

Red Eye Music redeye002 The Conway Suite Dave Stapleton / Deri Roberts [2005] Edition Records EDN1006

When Life Was In Black and White DSQ [2005] EDN1007

The House Always Wins DSQ [2007] EDN1008

Dismantling the Waterfall [2009]

Dave Stapleton / Matthew Bourne Catching Sunlight Dave Stapleton [2008] EDN1005

Between the Lines DSQ [2010] EDN1017

For more information please contact:

www.davestapleton.com

www.editionrecords.com