View From Above encapsulates Tristan Banks’ experience as a versatile artist, covering a range of styles that he has been deeply involved with during his career. Though predominantly jazz-led, elements of Latin and fusion influences can be detected, though this never betrays the core purpose, of which Tristan explains: “The idea was to push the acoustic jazz quartet format to the limit, being able to re-image the possibilities that the classic saxophone, piano, bass, drums line-up can manifest, and by being conscious of the sonic traditions that are typically replayed to confirm the listeners tastes while avoiding the genres timbral clichés.” This ambition has been manifested with distinction by Banks and his band of stunningly accomplished instrumentalists, ultimately resulting in an engaging and vivacious body of work that sets the standard for new jazz releases in 2023.

Tristan Banks brings together his long-standing musical friends (Paul Booth on woodwind, John Crawford on piano and Davide Mantovani on basses) to realise his vision. From very first listen, the synergy between players is undoubtedly apparent – each musician possesses an innate understanding of each other, using their intuition to allow each other to achieve full potential as individuals, while seamlessly gelling as a unit. This unteachable creative energy between players is a joy to experience.

View From Above was recorded live, with no click track or isolation recording techniques, demonstrating that Banks and his band are ensemble of the highest calibre, having captured this session in the moment as slice of time, the result of which is most exciting.