Roamin'

"Danny Keane, a cellist and bandleader who, judging by his enormous CV (...), has been around the block a few times before putting together his debut LP. Given its creator's long and varied apprenticeship, then, it's perhaps no surprise that Roamin' is keen to show off its worldliness, with flecks of Indian raga, Afrobeat, and even moments of Nils Frahm-style Scandi minimalism spattering the otherwise fairly boilerplate cosmic jazz that Keane adopts as his default position. Sometimes, that melting-pot approach works a treat ... Elsewhere, however, the same trick only sporadically hits its mark ... On the one hand, such is the occupational hazard of the mash-up school of album curation, and there's certainly no doubting Keane's sincerity or goodwill; on the other, however, there's an addictive, propulsive and exciting 40-minute record hiding somewhere within Roamin's hour - but finding it requires a more focused, ruthless approach".

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"Albums purporting to present a high degree of "fusion" across their tracks are often anticipated with some trepidation by this reviewer ... Happily, the debut album by Danny Keane is a good illustration of an intelligent handling of a wide range of compositional ideas. There are imaginative excursions among less-explored byways, but these are never self-indulgent, and they often give new views of more mainstream paths".

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"Top of the world" - "Danny Keane has spent the last decade abseiling across the face of world music, working with Anoushka Shankar, Nitin Sawhney and Gorillaz among countless others, while still finding time to perform as a soloist with various symphony orchestras. On his solo debut, Roamin', the London-based cellist, pianist and composer takes us on a trip around his musical world in a sonic adventure that spans free jazz, African rhythms, Indian tradition, North African souk and conservatoire-trained classicism and contemporary dance music. The mood over the 11 pieces ranges from ambient to ferocious and support comes from every corner of London's multi-ethnic musical communi, including members of Sons of Kemet and the Heliocentrics, plus percussionist Pirashanna Thevarajah, who has accompanied the Shankars père et fille, and trumpeter extraordinaire Byron Wallen ... The mostly instrumental set is leavened by the pure folk vocals of his aunt Jane Keane on a haunting version of the trad ballad 'The Water is Wide'. Dazzling".