Michael Bede Dunlop to Present New Album with Release Concert

Tomorrow sees the release of multi‑instrumentalist and composer Michael Bede Dunlop new album along with a dedicated release‑concert, anchoring the full rollout of the project.

The album represents one of Michael’s most concentrated statements to date, blending composed material with improvisational freedom and a strong sense of musical narrative. The project reflects his background as a saxophonist, flautist, and reed player, as well as his ongoing work as a composer and bandleader across European and international jazz environments. The recording features a core ensemble built around a small‑group format, with arrangements that balance written structure and open space for individual expression.

Bede is named after the Northumbrian monk and is rooted in a strong sense of identity: the landscape and songs of the North East of England, the simple, sturdy folk melodies Dunlop grew up hearing around Sunderland, and the distinct flavour of Northumbrian tunes with their Scottish and Irish inflections. During lockdown, back at his parents’ home, he immersed himself in a book of local tunes described as “made for fun,” learning how they were constructed and reimagining them in a contemporary jazz context. Out of that period arose the desire to focus on his own material and to step forward as a bandleader after years as an in‑demand sideman.

The album was recorded at The Old Church Studio in Thropton, Northumberland, a village with little more than the studio and the nearby pub. The sessions captured the atmosphere of a focused, residential‑style recording, where late‑night conversations and informal playing at the bar helped shape the sound as much as the written compositions. Dunlop produced and arranged the session himself, taking a deliberately light‑touch approach and avoiding over‑direction so that the personalities within the ensemble could shape the music from the inside.

The core Bede ensemble grew organically out of live playing rather than a formal casting process. Dunlop first met saxophonist Albert Hills Wright at the Guildhall School; pianist Finn Carter entered the picture through mutual friends from the same milieu. The initial concept was a drummer‑less trio (bass, piano and sax), motivated both by the practical pleasure of playing without a drum kit and by the challenge of taking greater rhythmic responsibility as the sole core of the rhythm section. As the group developed on gigs, Dunlop began to strip charts back to melody, a few chords, and open time, allowing the band to shape the rest.

Later, hearing that certain pieces called for an additional voice, Dunlop invited fellow Guildhall alumnus Dave Adsett to join on drums, and the music naturally fell into two sound worlds: a quartet and a trio. For the vinyl release, that split becomes architectural: one side dedicated to the quartet, one side to the trio, forming two complementary chapters of the same story. The quartet pieces lean into a fuller, more driving energy, while the trio tracks emphasise the grain of the writing and the interplay between bass, piano and sax, leaving more air around the melodies.

The full album releases tomorrow, March 27, and will be available on all major streaming platforms with the CD and Vinyl LP available through Via Central Bazaar and on Bandcamp. Tickets are still available for the release concert at www.galadurham.co.uk.

For press materials, streaming‑link coordination, or information about the release concerts and wider campaign, contact Jan Fritz at Jazzmedia and More.