The Near Jazz Experience featuring Mike Garson release CHARACTER ACTOR EP

Record Store Day Limited Edition of 500 copies on black vinyl

Sartorial Records FIT095EP  

      Dist: Cargo Records             Rel. Date: 20-04-2024

“I could sit in awe of the talent on show here all day long.” – Neil Hodge Louder Than War

There is a new Near Jazz Experience studio album waiting in the wings – but first The NJE (Terry Edwards, Mark Bedford and Simon Charterton) have a five-track EP of brand new, previously unreleased material to whet your appetite for the main course. Whilst recording the new album Terry asked pianist Mike Garson (best known for his work with David Bowie, Nine Inch Nails, Smashing Pumpkins) – whom Terry has toured with – if he’d like to play on a track. Mike said yes, recorded a stupendous solo for Character Actor at his home studio and sent it over. All in the space of 24 hours!

On hearing the piano part NJE bassist Mark Bedford suggested having the piano mixed with the original track as intended, but also using it as the basis for a new recording with Mike’s piano leading rather than complementing the band. Side A features these two very different versions from the same seed. Unidentical twins indeed.

Side B contains four outliers from the album sessions. These aren’t out-takes or unfinished pieces. They simply couldn’t find a place for themselves within the album – along the lines of the tunes Tom Waits put together for his Orphans compilation of 2006. They are stand-alone tunes which have found a home together on this EP because in some way they all have filmic qualities – Character Actor is a nod to Cracked Actor, the tune on Aladdin Sane which introduced Bowie fans to Garson. The flip-side features The Loping Four; Projector; MacGuffin and Lockstep – MacGuffin being Alfred Hitchcock’s favourite word for a red herring…

The NJE are:

Terry Edwards – horn player & session man with PJ Harvey, Franz Ferdinand, Siouxsie, Jimi Tenor, Piroshka etc. 

Mark Bedford – bassist with Madness who has played with Robert Wyatt, Robyn Hitchcock, Nightingales & more.

Simon Charterton – drummer with The Higsons, Alex Harvey, Zook, Serious Drinking, Nitwood etc.

Accompanied on piano by Mike Garson on Side A and Oliver Cherer (Aircooled, Miki Berenyi Band) on keys/synth on Character Actor ii) and MacGuffin.

SIDE A                Character Actor i) Overture ii) Main Title

SIDE B                The Loping Four | Projector | MacGuffin | Lockstep