Days on Earth is a 2019 album by musician Mark Lockheart released on Edition Records.
The album is a six-piece suite of compositions by Lockheart for jazz sextet alongside 30-piece orchestra conducted by John Ashton Thomas. It was recorded at Mark Knopfler's British Grove Studios in Chiswick, West London over 2-days in December 2017. Featured musicians include Liam Noble, Seb Rochford and John Parricelli.
The album was well received with reviews in many publications. The Guardian newspaper's John Fordham gave a 4-star review referencing "LockheartâÂÂs laconically Wayne Shorter-ish sax sound" in a "fine, ambitious recording" which "invites a wider audience" than jazz lovers, while Mike Hobart of the Financial Times also awarded 4-stars to an album interweaving "spiky lines and smooth contours of contemporary European jazz with the shifting textures of a 30-piece orchestra." Jazzwise called the work Lockheart's "magnum opus" and "an impressive achievement in both concept and execution". DownBeat noted the "indelible, head-bobbing groove" of the track âÂÂBelievers", and how "Lockheart frequently crafts segments within each of the seven songs, so an element of unpredictability arises and the overall momentum never sags.". MOJO deemed this album Lockheart's "boldest yet⦠Lush and ambitious, it's cinematically compelling from the offâÂÂ. The album also received reviews in the German music magazine Rondo and in The Times.
The first performance and album launch were held at Milton Court Concert Hall (part of the Barbican Estate) with jazz sextet and the Studio Orchestra of Guildhall School of Music & Drama.
All tracks are composed by Mark Lockheart. The album is a six-piece suite with tracks 2 and 3 forming one piece.
Alistair White
Andy Wood