Blues for Bristol / Snackers

Dan Berkson drops a stellar two-tracker following the release of Dialogues, his debut LP on Freestyle Records back in September 2021.

Snackers is a further product of the Dialogues recording session, originally written for piano trio and string quartet as part of a project for Berkson's studies at the Trinity Laban Conservatoire, South London. A cool and loose post-bop sketch penned in tribute to the late great pianist Geri Allen.

Blues for Bristol, on the other hand, was written during a period when Berkson was using a studio inside an old piano shop in the west country town. Whilst originally laid down by Berkson's piano trio in the same album recording sessions, the track has undergone a transatlantic journey. Berkson stripped the track back to it's raw elements once he decamped from his adoptive London to Oakland, CA, and added rhodes, arp quadra, and Synthecon to the mix - leaving us with a piece that straddles the sound of the new London jazz movement with the California spaceways travelled by the likes of Carlos Niño and others.

With the Dialogues LP championed by the likes of Bandcamp Weekly, Uncut, SF Chronicle, Jazz FM, Worldwide FM and Soho Radio's Morning Glory show, Blues for Bristol/Snackers looks set to append the success of the album whilst also pointing toward Dan's next moves.

All songs written and produced by Dan Berkson.

Recorded by Tom Archer at Livingston Studios, London.

Additional recording on Blues for Bristol by Lance Hill and Dan Berkson at the Vintage Synth Museum - Oakland, CA.

Blues for Bristol Mixed by Craig Welsch / Snackers mixed by Rick Kwan.