LPCDreissues: Looking forward to the past

• Edition: Vinyl reissue – first on vinyl since 1972

Originally released by Argo in 1970, The Heart Is a Lotus is one of the defining albums by pianist and composer Michael Garrick. Bringing together leading figures from the British modern-jazz scene with vocalist Norma Winstone, the record combines lyrical composition, modal improvisation and an unmistakably contemplative atmosphere.

Garrick performs on piano and harpsichord, joined across the sessions by trumpeter and flugelhorn player Ian Carr, saxophonists and flautists Art Themen, Don Rendell and Jim Philip, bassists Dave Green and Coleridge Goode, and drummer Trevor Tomkins. The personnel varies between tracks, allowing Garrick to use different combinations of brass, reeds and rhythm section throughout the album.

Norma Winstone’s voice is treated as an integral part of the ensemble rather than simply as a conventional lead vocal. Her precise phrasing and wordless improvisation frequently intertwine with Carr’s trumpet and the woodwind arrangements, adding another melodic colour to Garrick’s carefully structured compositions.

The title track opens with the unusual sound of Garrick’s harpsichord beneath Winstone’s floating vocal line and Ian Carr’s trumpet. “Song by the Sea” develops a more lyrical, pastoral mood, while the instrumental “Torrent” introduces stronger rhythmic movement and forceful exchanges between the horns. The extended “Temple Dancer” moves through shifting modal passages and features some of the record’s most adventurous ensemble playing.

On the second side, “Blues on Blues” places Garrick’s writing within a looser blues framework, while “Voices” and “Beautiful Thing” demonstrate the close relationship between Winstone and the instrumentalists. The haunting “Rustat’s Grave Song” closes the album with a restrained melody and spacious arrangement, providing one of its most memorable moments.

Recorded at Decca’s Hampstead studios in January 1970, The Heart Is a Lotus captures the individuality of British jazz at a particularly creative moment. This Endless Happiness edition returns the complete eight-track album to vinyl for the first time since 1972.

Track listing:

Side A
A1. The Heart Is a Lotus – 8:22
A2. Song by the Sea – 4:30
A3. Torrent – 3:46
A4. Temple Dancer – 10:02

Side B
B1. Blues on Blues – 6:53
B2. Voices – 6:52
B3. Beautiful Thing – 5:31
B4. Rustat’s Grave Song – 4:50