Continuing a run of dynamic new Eurojazz releases reviewed on marlbank
Woke up this morning
Nathan Surquin? No, me neither – never heard of Ambre or trombone hombre Surquin. But chappie’s worth looking up and tuning into as I discovered earlier.
The only reason I found this sure-can-do album released according to Bandcamp on Friday was because I had luckily heard of issuing label ZenneZ.
While saying the name makes me suddenly think I have developed a lisp or been on the sauce and despite disliking the fact that the final Z is stylised with a capital letter – surely a crime against typography – firmly rate highly what this Netherlands label is often capable of producing.
Cast your mind back especially to Alice Leggett’s Birdsong issued by ZenneZ last year – one of the best and certainly most spikily compelling UK jazz releases of 2025 that deserves even more recognition than it collected at the time of release.
So to Surquin. This is a studio album recorded in Brussels at the Jet, the oldest recording studio in Belgium. Surquin studied at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels where he was taught by Phil Abraham, and later at Codarts in Rotterdam where he gained a master’s.
He has played in the fantastic Brussels Jazz Orchestra and the Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw.
He’s also on 4 tracks of the star studded super sized Aka Moon 2023 album, Quality of Joy.
Clearly the Low Countries are having a bit of a trombone moment. Nabou’s recently issued Indigo – reviewed above – can be listened to happily alongside Ambre.
Ambre, according to the trombonist’s website, “explores the theme of encounters… The richness of this project lies in the diversity of its musicians, each bringing their own cultural influences.. It is this alchemy – this fusion of cultures, histories, and experiences – that gives Ambre its unique voice.”
Natch, it is trombone as main focus plus rhythm section. Simple as that. Apparently Ambre is Surquin’s debut. He writes – bingo: as so often also natch with debuts – the tunes.
These are dreamy, quite poignant, expressive, make sense in a non-convoluted fashion. Hooray for that. Surquin doesn’t swing too much. He prefers to be more poetic and romantic. There is nothing here cheesy or worse than that – dull. The latinate ‘Above the Clouds’ is among the most convincing diversions stylistically.
As to obligatory quibbles: perhaps there are too many melancholic tunes and the bass capture could be a little more prominent in the mix. That said these tunes are very good. I liked the wistful ‘Two Brothers’ most. A word on pianist Wajdi Riahi whose part on ‘The Hidden Voyage’ takes the album into new territory and where Surquin is a bit more brassy. Mostly he chooses not to unveil the full force of his instrument. And neither does drummer Daniel Jonkers who crops up most effectively on the whip smart rhythms he contributes to the haze of the second part of the ‘Dialogues’ suite. Feeling curious, dear reader, stray in Surquin’s direction today.
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