Weightless

Weightless by Dave Manington - album artwork

Lamplight Social Records is proud to announce the release of Weightless, the latest offering from Dave Manington’s Riff Raff, a band at the forefront of contemporary UK jazz. This is a project that thrives on connection, curiosity, and musical exploration, featuring six of the most inventive voices in the scene today: • Brigitte Beraha – Vocals/Co-composer • Tomas Challenger – Tenor Saxophone • Ivo Neame – Piano, Keyboards • Rob Updegraff – Guitar • Dave Manington – Double Bass • Tim Giles – Drums

Over a decade of collaboration has refined Riff Raff into a tightly woven ensemble. Their music combines intricate composition with dynamic improvisation, creating moments that range from delicate and lyrical to raw and electrifying. Weightless is a testament to this chemistry, blending poignant melodies, richly textured harmonies, and rhythmic fluidity.

Manington’s compositions delve into themes of freedom, isolation, and transformation. The title track evokes the awe and uncertainty of drifting through space, while pieces like Strike the Harp and River Swim are steeped in personal reflection and vivid imagery. Brigitte Beraha’s lyrics and improvisational artistry add another layer of depth, shining throughout the album.

The brilliance of Manington’s Riff Raff has been widely celebrated by critics: “Inventive, forward-looking jazz that subtly pushes the envelope whilst remaining thoroughly accessible.” – Jazzmann

“It grooves like hell, with thick mercurial riffs full of stops, starts, and turns, yet rocking with a savage momentum.” – Jazzwise

“A soaring melody or electric atmosphere is never far away.” – Mike Collins

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    Album Notes:

    Strike the Harp The initial seed for this piece was an English folk tune called “Strike the Gay Harp”. I was playing a version on the guitar and improvised off it. As Ivo discovered it bares no resemblance to the original anymore! Brigitte has written beautiful evocative lyrics to this as she has to many of my compositions over the years. Alternative title is “Lost for Words”. Woolly Mammoth Inspired by recent science projects which aim to bring back mammoths using gene edited Asian elephants. Incredible if they can achieve it! I would love to see ancestors of these magical and mysterious ancient beasts brought back to life. Run the Gauntlet This tune has a nice rolling gait to it, and as a keen runner I felt this could be a good one to put on the headphones whilst out for a run. Sounds like quite an epic run with some rather dramatic moments and twists and turns though.. River Swim Something I do whenever I get the opportunity. “I want to be part of your eco-system…” Hold It Hold it one more time, and tell me if you really wish to stay with it. Hold the thought inside your head, and if it becomes strong enough, come out with it. Say out loud what we must all sometimes be thinking. Not long to go now. Till death do us part. Must learn to come to terms with it, so we can then let go of it. We matched our dreams, at least some of them. Attempted to leave traces for others to seek. Meaningless for some, but speaking everything to others. Fading in black ink, here a word, a sentence you might find in cumbersome handwriting. To fire ones imagination. A form, a face, a life. A little bit of me in you. Weightless I find the idea of space travel and the infinite vastness of the universe fascinating and terrifying in equal measure. We try and capture some of the strange otherworldliness of floating free of the Earth’s gravity in this piece. There are themes running through the album, themes of contrast between freedom/isolation, loss/hope, momentum/inertia. The freedom to float untethered in space versus the crushing weight of daily earthly life. When Time Stood Still Written in lockdown, when time stood still for all of us.
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