The Flame (Robert Mitchell, Neil Charles, Mark Sanders) Towards The Flame Vol. 1

"A heartfelt thank you to the beautiful audience that came out on the 10th Feb 2022 to Cafe Oto (London) to make this such an enjoyable show. We came as a blank page, one that had been scrunched up for the years of this horrific pandemic. Upon it all we had written was ‘we must play!’. And so to finally seeing the light of day—as we tentatively unfolded this venture into life—in what we (I hope not prematurely) believe was a slow emergence into a new ‘normal’ (sadly to soon be overshadowed by warfare in Europe joining too many conflicts all around the world, and containing the same imbalances in society as the old normal). This was a pure performance circumstance. A debut performing together in this format, we have played in different projects over the years—but this particular trio is literally being born on this recording. Mark and Neil are internationally known as masters in multiple fields involving improvisation. Their creativity and interactivity here is both incendiary and inspirational. The album title ‘Towards The Flame’—came from my studies with Andy Wasserman. His mentioning a quote from McCoy Tyner—that playing with Coltrane was akin to ‘stepping into the flames’—every night. A place that is pure spirit, complete commitment to totally connect and the disappearance of the self. We love this and hold every wisdom as a vital guide in times that are ever more threatening to pull us apart. In honour of the incredible shoulders upon which we stand and remain inspired—this band is named The Flame. This is the first set of two. We hope you enjoy!" —Robert Mitchell (May 2022)