Preserving Fictions by Harry Christelis

Guitarist and composer Harry Christelis presents his new album, Preserving Fictions — an exploration of how music and art can serve as a means to preserve and document the seeming truths we see, hear, feel, and experience every day. This record, a continuation and development of his 2025 EP Half Truths (recorded during the same session), sees Christelis delve deeper into a sound world that has become synonymous with his name, fusing elements of jazz and folk traditions with ambient drones and delicate electronic textures to create a truly immersive listening experience.

Featuring his long-standing quartet of Christos Stylianides (trumpet/effects), Andrea Di Biase (double bass/synth), and Dave Storey (drums), the highly acclaimed musicians constantly break free from their traditional roles within the jazz idiom. Instead, they embrace a deeply communal approach to improvisation, colouring, shaping, and delineating every moment of each piece together. Across the adventurous 58-minute album, the listener is taken on a journey that moves through dreamy psychedelic trips, expansive soundscapes, delicate moments of intimacy, and furious bursts of energy — all seamlessly bound by a tone that holds sombre and hopeful feelings in harmonious equilibrium.

"Compelling ambient music pitched somewhere between In A Silent Way-era Miles Davis and late-era Talk Talk” - The Guardian

“Music with a serene beauty” - Kevin Le Gendre, BBC Radio 3

“Breathy and textural tones that perfectly create a sense of space and memory” - Soweto Kinch, BBC Radio 3

“An immersive and beautiful listening experience that features thoughtful and intelligent writing allied to superior production values and, of course, some excellent players” - The Jazz Mann

“The music’s beauty becomes clearer with every play” - Jazzwise

London based contemporary jazz/ambient guitarist, composer, and improviser with a keen focus on creating expansive sonic textures and sound worlds through experimentation, electronics, and deep interaction within improvisations.

harrychristelis.com
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