First Word Records is proud to bring you two projects by Amanda Whiting, available on CD together for the first time – ‘After Dark‘ and ‘Lost In Abstraction‘.
Amanda Whiting is a highly-acclaimed Welsh harpist & composer. A virtuoso in her field, this classically trained musician has established herself in recent years as an essential player in the UK jazz scene.
Originally released on Jazzman Records, these two albums give a real flavour of Amanda’s beautiful tone and talent, both as a performer and songwriter.
Each track on the 2021 debut ‘After Dark’ unfolds like a vignette; lush, intimate, and tinged with a noir-like beauty. From contemplative harmonic textures to agile improvisations, the album highlights Whiting’s bold artistic evolution and her commitment to expanding the role of the harp within contemporary jazz.
In Amanda’s words “it was my first self penned album which followed the story of a love affair, from meeting in a bar to the journey that unfolded. Heart break and the survival.
I used my classical sound and tried to fuse it with the sounds I was encountering when working with the likes of Matthew Halsall and Chip Wickham. Harmonically rich, the album explored my lyricism whilst adding grooves embarking on my own personal journey of exploration.”
Also included here is Amanda’s 2022 sophomore album ‘Lost In Abstraction‘. More than the expected ethereal washes of sound, this album playfully embraces her influences into a soundscape of modernity. Withrhythmical energies and the indulgent richness of an instrument so often associatedwith Ashby and Coltrane, the album resonates, leaving the listener lost in abstraction.
Amanda says“this album explores so many elements of life. From my influences in music, to my own personal struggles. After two years of a pandemic, many of us felt lost and confused with our lines blurred. Life is now different. By removing our own applied restrictions of preconceptions and habits, which often choke us, we feel lost. But it is only at this point that we find ourselves…”
Over the past few years, Amanda has had the support of radio stations & tastemakers such as BBC Radio 2 (Jamie Cullum), BBC 6 Music (Cerys Matthews). BBC Radio 3 (Soweto Kinch), Selector Radio (Sian Eleri), NTS Radio (Patrick Forge), FiP (Laurent Garnier), Soho Radio (Tina Edwards) and across Jazz FM, who also nominated her for ‘Instrumentalist of the Year‘.
Amanda joined the roster of Worldwide Award-winning independent label First Word Records in late 2023, initially via a collaborative project with Don Leisure (this year’s Welsh Music Prize winner) on ‘Beyond The Midnight Sun‘, as well as a feature on his ‘Shaboo Strikes Back’ album (also nominated for a Welsh Music Prize). She has since released two full-length albums and an EP for the London-based label.
She’s previously performed, toured and collaborated with a wildly eclectic set of artists, including Rebecca Vasmant, DJ Yoda and Gizmo Varillas, whilst previously releasing an additional solo album on Jazzman Records, and a remix project for the Albert’s Favourites imprint.
Her 2024 album ‘The Liminality of Her‘ featured in Spotify’s ‘Best UK Jazz of 2024’ and received glowing reviews in Jazzwise, Somewhere Soul, Bandcamp, Clash, AllMusic, Harp Column, Apple Music and HHV, to name a few, along with numerous ‘Album of the Year‘ nods and various other accolades.
Amanda has played at numerous festivals across Europe, including We Out Here, and had headline shows at legendary London venues The Jazz Cafe and Ronnie Scott’s.
Mojo Magazine cites Amanda’s compositions as “cinematic, lyrical and lissom by turns“.
‘After Dark / Lost In Abstratction‘ is available in all stores from December 12th.
19-track CD with digipak sleeve & colour booklet.
