Described as both a “game changer” and an “innovator” by The Guardian, Ant Law teams up with tenorist Alex Hitchcock (‘an incredible saxophonist, with something very unique and original to say’ – Walter Smith III) for their first album as joint leaders. It’s the first of many projects they have planned together; here, both players bring four compositions to the table, developing and shaping them in tandem before sending them across the globe.
The album takes its name from a line in Japanese author Haruki Murakami’s 1999 novel Sputnik Sweetheart: “we’re both looking at the same moon in the same world. We’re connected to reality by the same line.” That quote became a neat summation of the lockdown experience shared by musicians across the world, and this connection to others in a similar predicament became a theme running through the music Hitchcock and Law were writing. “I think this is one of the reasons the album is so melodically driven – we were trying to connect directly with people, rather than search and explore more abstract ideas.” But there’s more to the album than sweet melodies, the duo is searching for universal truths – musical language, human experience, emotional maturity – shared by musicians on different corners of the planet. Or, as they put it, “from our unique vantage points, we are all staring at the same moon.”
released November 4, 2022
Alex Hitchcock - tenor saxophone
Ant Law - guitars (electric/acoustic/8 string)
Joel Ross - vibraphone (6, 7, 8)
Shai Maestro - piano (3, 4)
Linda May Han Oh - bass (1, 6)
Jasper Høiby - bass (3)
Ben Williams - bass (5, 8)
Eric Harland - drums (1, 2)
Jeff Ballard - drums (3, 8)
Kendrick Scott - drums (4, 7)
Sun-Mi Hong - drums (5, 6)
Tim Garland - bass clarinet (6, 8)
Tracks 1, 3, 5, 7 by Alex Hitchcock
Tracks 2, 4, 6, 8 by Ant Law
Track 9 by John Coltrane (Jowcol Music)
Recorded between October 2020 and September 2021.
Mixed by Sonny Johns in October 2021.
Mastered by Peter Beckmann in November 2021.
Photography by Rob Blackham. Design by B Side Graphics.
The copyright in this sound recording is owned by Alex Hitchcock & Ant Law under exclusive license to Outside In Music. Unauthorised copying, hiring, lending, public performance and broadcasting of the record is prohibited. © & ℗ Outside In Music 2022. Recorded all over the world, looking at the same moon, made in the UK.
Supported by public funding from the National Lottery through Arts Council England.
FOR MORE INFO PLEASE VISIT:
AlexHitchcock.co.uk /
AntLaw.co.uk /
OutsideInMusic.com