The Levy/Robson Quartet

Crane Lane Theatre, Phoenix St.

Mon 11th May, 9:00 pm

THE UNPREDICTABILITY OF THE SEA - UK and Ireland Tour

Jed Levy - tenor saxophone

Phil Robson - guitar

Mark Hodgson - bass

Shane O’Donovan - drums

Livia Records is delighted to announce the release of Jed Levy and Phil Robson's quartet album,

THE UNPREDICTABILITY OF THE SEA, also featuring Mark Hodgson on bass and Roberto Gatto on drums, (for this tour ably replaced by the playing of Shane O'Donovan).

Phil and Jed have vast experience, leading their own projects and working with other major peers for decades. Their playing history includes: Jed (Jaki Byard, Don Patterson, Jack McDuff, Junior Mance, Eddie Henderson, The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Cedar Walton, Curtis Fuller, Chico O’Farrill, Tom Harrell), and Phil (David Liebman, Mark Turner, Billy Hart, Marc Copland, Kenny Wheeler, Steve Lacy, Donny McCaslin, BBC Big Band, Bob Brookmeyer, Partisans, Christine Tobin etc).

Having met when Phil moved to New York in 2015, they quickly found a musical and personal chemistry that led them to play New York clubs and cross the Atlantic to perform across Europe. The Covid pandemic interrupted their flow, delaying recording this album to late November ’25 during a Rome stop on their last Italian/UK tour.

Phil and Jed contribute five tunes each, using art, nature, political and love themes, balancing tradition and modernity, melody, and different compositional approaches. The result is compelling and nuanced music that provides a highly engaging listen.

“This was high-powered jazz, not by dint of frenetic pace, volume or assertiveness but by the beauty and coherence of the quartet sound that was at once polished but fresh and lively. That’s a difficult poise to strike, even for musicians as able as these, yet for all that they were fully engaged, each seemed entirely in his element.” Whitman Review of Wakefield Jazz