Tim Garland looking forward to visiting Petworth

Published Date: 29 July 2009
For Tim Garland, the huge appeal of jazz is its ability to be totally inclusive while never losing its focus.
It's that fact which makes it so fresh and so vibrant – and so far removed from the myths which tell us it is impenetrable and for the aficiandos only.
Tim will prove his point when he brings his Lighthouse Trio to the Leconfield Hall for the Petworth Festival on Friday, July 31, at 8pm.
"The genesis of this project comes from a CD I did in 2005 called If The Sea Replied. I turned it into a working unit for going out live. It's just percussion, piano and me on saxophone and bass clarinet.
"It's a very active rhythmic force, a fairly sophisticated jazz trio. There are influences from many cultures, especially, I would say, Mediterranean culture and middle-eastern. Put all together, it's a very joyful sound."

The lighthouse link began when Tim became composer in residence at Whitley Bay, at the University of Newcastle, and lived very close to Whitley Bay lighthouse which is a hollow building with an amazing acoustic.
"I recorded some music in there, a very haunting sound, and composed a socare to go with it and used computer technology," he said.

"That was the kernel of the album, but I wanted some kindred spirits to join me to bring the music about."
Which is where Gwilym Simcock and Asaf Sirkis came in to complete the trio.
"If The Sea Replied was a concept album about lighthouses and about lighthouse keepers and the fact that there are no lighthouse keepers any more. All the lighthouses are automated. It's an image of a pre-industrial.

"I actually interviewed Britain's last lighthouse keeper
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