Chelsea Carmichael

Chelsea Carmichael, saxophone; Nikos Ziarkas, guitar; Arthur O’Hara, bass; Olly Sarkar, drums
(UK)


The versatile saxophonist Chelsea Carmichael has recently burst onto UK’s burgeoning new jazz scene. She’s already attracted attention as a member of a Mercury-nominated SEED Ensemble – she played on the band's 2019 Driftglass – and currently plays with tubist Theon Cross (Sons of Kemet), the Neue Grafik Ensemble and the hyperpopular Outlook Orchestra who play for huge audiences at major venues and festivals. She also writes and arranges for her own Chelsea Carmichael Ensemble. Primo cultural instigator Shabaka Hutchings noted her potential and invited her to record her first release on his new label. He wrote a set of songs for her, which she worked up with her quartet in a studio. The resulting recordings comprise her amazing debut album, The River Doesn’t Like Strangers, a seamless blend of Caribbean rhythms, dub, psychodelia, and spiritual jazz.