London-born soundtrack composer and guitarist Will McCarthy has been based in Valencia since the 1990s. This album is a return to his roots, back to the city that formed him. ‘Back to London’ was recorded in Valencia with an impressive array of musicians. The diversity of sounds reflect the variety of London’s barrios…ranging from the reggae carnival joys of ‘Notting Hill’, the urban grit of ‘Hackney’,  the pastoral folk-jazz of  ‘Woodford Green ’ and the jazzy melancholic mystery of ‘Soho.’ Indeed, chanteuse and actress Marianne Faithfull has declared that she “loves” the ‘Soho’ track, a bohemian district she has known all her adult life.

The lauded American double bass player Matt Baker and the superbly lyrical British saxophonist Simon Mark Taylor are key players on this album. There are 6 different pianists on this concept album, including indie local legend & virtuoso ‘Gilbertastico’ and jazz maestro Quique Ruiz and veteran reggae keyboardist Steve Fletcher.

Renowned Peruvian harpist and Berklee Valencia graduate Eve Matin features on the mystical and memorable ‘An Angel in Islington’ with memorable brass provided by award-winning conductor James Keirle.  Arguably, this track is an example of ‘third stream’ music, a fusion of jazz and classical music, that is but one of the music genres to be heard on this album.

Back down to earth, there’s real London dialogue about resilient East London ladies on ‘Irene was a Cockney’ and ‘Revenge’ concerns notorious landlord Peter Rachman and his debt collector. Maintaining a London edge regarding the sound, Portuguese trumpeter Nuno Alves is a key ‘voice’ on this album too. A Mallorcan poet famously remarked that Nuno has a “sonido” that is both happy and sad at the same time, like a clown. Based in Valencia, Portuguese singer Luna Lunovsky scats distinctively on the strong closing number ‘And She Knows.’ 

Will McCarthy plays a Spanish guitar on all the songs that he also composed, reflecting the album’s cohesive feel. Multi-instrumentalist and talented Spanish producer Miguel López Sevilla provides complementary bass, percussion and piano too. This is still very much an album made in Spain… despite it being all about London and its many faces.

Perhaps ‘Back to London’ is Will McCarthy most personal solo album so far. It’s a predominantly instrumental and acoustic album, interspersed with occasional ‘Londoner’ dialogue to form a very listenable collection of tracks with a sound that is both warm and timeless.

Report by Ian Davidson

Article copyright ‘24/7 Valencia’

More info: https://willmccarthy.hearnow.com/back-to-london

https://will-mccarthy.bandcamp.com/album/back-to-london

 Will McCarthy is the leader of renowned World Music trio ‘Folk Jazz Arabe.’ The band has recorded soundtracks for national television documentaries and award-winning short films.  Formed in 2010, the Valencia based band ‘Folk-Jazz-Arabe’ have followers from  around the globe, including Cairo, Casablanca, Rio, Mexico City,  Berlin, Paris and more…

More info: https://folk-jazz-arabe.bandcamp.com/album/folk-jazz-arabe