Review excerpts for All the Gravitation of Silence by Peter Knight Quartet
“The modern trumpet long ago stepped beyond its heraldic and martial role. You can hear it in subtle glints and lancinations through Debussy's music, in Bix Beiderbecke's often delicate playing, and in the lyrical and even introspective elements of Miles Davis and Chet Baker. It was Davis above all who made the trumpet float.
Melbourne trumpeter Peter Knight has explored this area in a distinctive and very beautiful way, taking from his forebears only what he needs. The feeling is not melancholy but placid and shining. Crucial to the effect is guitarist Steve Magnussen, playing in a pastoral dream or, it seems, making shapes in ductile gold wire.
In fact all five players are crucial. There are fiery flares, glorious brass projections and faster pulses, but in the main it all seems to expand slowly.
The word is chill, I suppose, but it repays much deeper concentration than that.”
John Clare Sydney Morning Herald September 2006
“It’s a gem, one that seeks to explore a relatively narrow range of moods and colours and succeeds brilliantly.”
Adrian Jackson Rhythms Magazine October 2006
“Melbourne trumpeter Peter Knight belongs to the "less is more" school of jazz trumpet; in the tradition of players like Kenny Wheeler and Tomasz Stanko, he doesn’t produce effusive streams of notes, but the notes he plays carry more weight by virtue of the space that surrounds them, and the expressive weight invested in them.”
The Bulletin September 2006
“This is one of the finest Australian jazz albums released this year, or any year.”
Basement Discs ‘Picks’ 2006
Review excerpts from Peter Knight Quartet's 'Between Two Moments'
The Age Green Guide Thursday March 7th 2002 Rating * * * *
By Leon Gettler
“Quietly forceful, much of this album’s strength lies in the use of space and the honeyed tone of Knight’s flugel horn. The local artist knows how to develop simple ideas using the less-is-more principle. It creates a haunting intimate mood, a reflective space. Write the music down on the page and it looks like nothing but right from the first track, My Gnu Idea the listener is drawn into the logic of slowly repeating patterns.”
“Standouts include My Sweet Old Etcetera, with its ground shifting in and out of the chord, and the gorgeous Satie-like duet Song
in which Knight’s lines slowly unfold over minimalist repeating chords from [pianist] Hopkins.”
The Australian Financial Review and All About Jazz website February 2002
Shane Nichols 8.5 stars
“[Knight’s] sound is as warm and welcoming as they come, drawing you in from the first notes of the opener, My Gnu Idea, and again in the lonely, haunting introduction to Fragment. Here Knight is a master of quietly expressive playing, at moments sounding innocent, almost bright, and then downcast or sad. Sensitive, intimate, unhurried, the horn ballad adds up to a portrait of an emotion.”
“This seems to be an area Knight favours, the world-weary, the contemplative, the emotional substance below the surface of things. It is the mood of the album, the sort of depth that depressed rock bands (come in, Radiohead) would love to achieve if only they could play with this maturity.”
Cadence Magazine (USA) August 2002
Steven Loewy
“On the extremely slow, but very pretty Song, Knight’s sound takes on a rich translucent quality. The piece highlights Knight’s strength as a player, in which he distinguishes himself with a minimum number of carefully chosen notes, each infused with meaning.”
The Weekend Australian Saturday February 2nd 2002 * * * 1/2
Ashleigh Wilson
“LIKE some first novels, it's believed that debut CDs can sometimes reach too far and include too much in one hit. Not Melbourne flugelhorn player Peter Knight, who has here a recording guided by a single temperament, a warm sound common to every tune without sounding repetitive. “Knight's compositions are thoughtful and subtle; particularly the wistful swing of the e.e. cummings-inspired `my sweet old etcetera' and his duet with pianist Colin Hopkins on Song. And the laid-back colourings of drummer Tony Floyd, sitting comfortably beneath Knight's understated playing, are perfect for this setting.”
The Sunday Herald Sun 24th March 2002
Kenny Weir
“A gem of an album. [Between Two Moments] is one of those splendid recordings – it’s a grower.
No brash behavior here, merely fine tunes that let the players breathe and a glowing intensity.”
The Music Show ABC Radio National February 16th 2002
Andrew Ford
“Melbourne just keeps turning out great jazz musicians and there are four of them on Between Two Moments.”
24 Hours ABC Guide to Arts, Music, Books and Ideas April 2002
Jim McLeod
“Peter Knight has used his first CD release not to dazzle us with blinding technique but to command our attention with a refined quality of jazz and musicianship. Knight and his group have plenty to say without shouting at you.”
“The compositions are reflective, meditative. But while the mood is consistent, the music is never boring or monotonous. The solos carry us to unexpected places.”
The Age Monday 8th April
Live review by Jessica Nicholas
“In this [quartet] setting, space becomes an important quality. The space between one note and the next, the spaces between each player – even the space at the end of a tune is given weight, the final notes allowed to resonate and decay into silence. As a result, Knight’s music has a meditative feel that is as much about mood and atmosphere as it is about melody or rhythm.”
“The most prominent – and most appealing – aspect of his playing is his tone: its warmth; the way it hovers and undulates without falling apart; its strong vibrato that always sounds natural rather than affected.”
Sydney Morning Herald Saturday 13 Apr 2002
John Shand
“Knight's [music] entices you to lie back. Joined by pianist Colin Hopkins, bassist Belinda Moody and drummer Tony Floyd, he places more emphasis on mood, texture and lyricism than outright energy. The sound of his flugelhorn is soft-edged and ‘unbrassy’, while his compositions have a prettiness and vulnerability that holds you spellbound.
“Hopkins operates on a similar aesthetic plane, painting his elegiac pictures in muted tones. When singer Alison Wedding joins for two pieces her voice blends beguilingly with the flugelhorn. Absorbing.”
Inside Track Weekly
CD buyers’ guide Feature Album 29th April 2002 Rated 8
Andrew Tucker
“This is world class jazz. An excellent achievement. You’ll like it… a lot.”
Edmonton Journal (Canada) Friday October 11th 2002
Roger Levesque
“Between Two Moments reveals (Peter’s) impressive gifts both as a progressive improviser and composer who’s obviously at home injecting melody and tunefulness into contemporary jazz.”
The Australian Monday 4th November 2002
Wangaratta Jazz Festival review
Ashleigh Wilson
“Peter Knight’s quartet was a revelation. Warm, relaxed and laid-back, it was an alluring set as Knight on flugel horn showed that a single note can sometimes say more than a hundred.”
Wangaratta Jazz Festival
Souvenir Program 2002
Adrian Jackson Artistic Director
“On Between Two Moments the Peter Knight Quartet explores the distinctive moods of Peter’s original compositions, displaying a remarkable empathy in their performances. Peter plays flugel horn throughout the album, showing notable restraint, combined with a clear sense of purpose in his improvisations.”