Amanda Whiting is a highly-acclaimed Welsh harpist & composer. A virtuoso in her field, this classically trained musician quickly established herself as an essential player in the UK jazz scene, carving her own unique sound, following on from the paths forged by Ashby and Coltrane.
Following the release of 'The Liminality of Her' a year ago, the album featured in Spotify's 'Best UK Jazz of 2024' and received glowing reviews in Mojo, 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, garnering praise critically and publicly.
Over the past few years, she's had the support of radio stations & tastemakers such as BBC Radio 2 (Jamie Cullum), BBC 6 Music (Cerys Matthews, New Music Fix). BBC Radio 3 (Soweto Kinch, Breakfast Show), BBC Wales (Adam Walton), Selector Radio (Sian Eleri), NTS Radio (Patrick Forge), FiP (Laurent Garnier), Soho Radio (Tina Edwards) and Jazz FM (Tony Minvielle, Chris Phillips, Robbie Vincent, Dom Servini), who also nominated her for 'Instrumentalist of the Year'.
This album exemplifies Amanda's talents as a performer and composer, taking in an array of hypnotising sonics from the worlds of jazz; from fusion to spiritual and beyond. A confident display of purposefully blissful compositions that saunter as much as they soothe, whilst being unafraid to lean into some deep uptempo grooves.
Amanda describes the theme of this project as "liminality... that place in between, the transition from one place to another. No longer what it was, yet not what it's going to be.
The harp always presents itself at these moments. It's a sound that causes an emotion. My instrument chose me. It's been with me through every chapter of life. It's how I speak, especially when there are no words.
This album is a rite of passage for "her". A feeling of alchemy, a feeling of liberation. Moments of inner searching, intertwined, waiting but moving forward. Never looking back.
'The Liminality of Her' encompasses the highs and the lows. The nomadic love of freedom and spirituality. It's all so much bigger than you or I…"
For this special deluxe edition, Amanda takes on Hammerstein & Rodgers's classic 'My Favorite Things', presents two new compositions ('Mary Over There' and 'At Ease') and French multi-instrumentalist Quiet Dawn provides a dancefloor friendly remix of the single 'Intertwined', featuring the vocals of Brighton-based singer PEACH.
Amanda joined the First Word label roster via a collaborative project with Don Leisure, 'Beyond The Midnight Sun', as well as a feature on his Welsh Music Prize nominated project 'Shaboo Strikes Back'.
She's previously performed, toured and collaborated with a wildly eclectic set of artists, including Matthew Halsall, Rebecca Vasmant, DJ Yoda, Gizmo Varillas and Chip Wickham (who also features on this project), whilst previously releasing three solo albums on Jazzman Records, and a remix project for Scrimshire's Albert's Favourites imprint, ending 2024 with a divine seasonal album 'A Christmas Cwtch', also on First Word.
She's performed with her own trio at numerous festivals across Europe, including We Out Here, and had headline shows at The Jazz Cafe and Hootananny in London, with an upcoming show at the legendary Ronnie Scott's in June 2025.
Tracklist:
1. Finding the Way
2. Facing the Sun
3. Intertwined (feat. PEACH.)
4. Liminal
5. Nomad
6. Alchemy
7. Waiting to Go (feat. Chip Wickham)
8. No Turning Back
9. Rite of Passage (feat. PEACH.)
10. Feels so Far Away
11. Mary Over There
12. My Favorite Things
13. At Ease
14. Intertwined (Quiet Dawn Remix) [feat. PEACH.]
