Julien Wilson Quartet - This Narrow Isthmus

The title, taken from Thomas Moore's Lalla Rookh, alludes to the brevity of life. "This narrow isthmus 'twixt two boundless seas, the past, the future, - two eternities"

Recorded live in Sydney this is the quartet's second and final album. The band's debut 'This Is Always' won three Australian Jazz "Bell" Awards in 2014 and was the #1 selling Australian Jazz Album at Birdland Records. Reviewing that album John Clare wrote "The band Wilson has chosen could scarcely be surpassed anywhere: the interacting band can seem to drift effortlessly as smoke across the land, or break into stress patterns, deep swells and concussions, like the sea."

Where This Is Always focussed on standards and ballads, This Narrow Isthmus leans towards the blues and consists wholly of original compositions written with this group in mind. The concert this recording comes from was the fourth of only five shows that the quartet ever played and was the only performance that was recorded.

Allan Browne passed away in June 2015. He was a prolific player, composer, performer, mentor, poet, inspiration and all round top cat. In June 2014, a month shy of his 70th birthday, health issues prevented him from flying to Sydney for this show; so he drove the 900kms from Melbourne just for this gig. The release of this album is dedicated to his indomitable spirit and his lifelong motto "Hold to the now, through which all future plunges in to the past"