An oft-repeated Chinese proverb states, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Looking back from a vantage point several steps along her own proverbial journey, British composer and pianist Claire Cope came to discover that no matter how daunting a venture may become, it’s always taking that first step that requires the most courage. That realization provided the inspiration behind Every Journey, the gorgeous second album by Cope’s Ensemble C.

Every Journey will be released on March 7th, 2025, to coincide with International Women’s Day on March 8th. The occasion is significant given the fount of inspiration that Cope found in the stories of intrepid women pioneers who undertook their own daring journeys.

The books of writer and explorer Jacki Hill-Murphy were key resources – specifically Adventuresses, a compendium of stories of 18th and 19th-century female explorers, and The Extraordinary Tale of Kate Marsden, about a Victorian nurse who trekked across pre-Revolutionary Russia to find a possible cure for leprosy. Musically, the groundbreaking compositions of Maria Schneider provided a luminous north star for Cope’s own writing.

1. Every Journey
2. Flight
3. The Birch and the Larch
4. Isabel
5. The Light of the Dark
6. Amboseli
7. That Nabongo Feeling
8. Home

Arriving five years after Ensemble C’s acclaimed debut, Small World, Cope’s follow-up album opens on the hauntingly ethereal, at first, latterly deeply immersive Every Journey and the smooth funk rhythms that drive Flight and then we get the all-embracing rhythms and melodies within The Birch and the Larch, and the fervently-charged, yet still very much delicately-hued Isabel backing them nicely.

Along next is the delicately humbling The Light of the Dark and the effortlessly lucid Amboseli, and they are in turn followed smartly by the free flowing, joyfully upbeat That Nabongo Feeling, with the stirringly sublime Home bringing the collection to a close.

Cope describes the album as being about “courage, overcoming anxiety and finding inner peace. Everyone can relate in some way to that moment of taking a step forward in life. For me, it was about feeling comfortable in my choices as a musician and deciding to identify as a composer. Once you get past that first step, you’re on your way to where you want to go.

Musicians:
Brigitte Beraha, voice
Freddie Gavita, trumpet
Mike Soper, trumpet and flugel
Anoushka Nanguy, trombone
Matt Carmichael, tenor sax
Rob Cope, bari sax/bass clarinet/flute
Ant Law, guitar
Claire Cope, piano
Gavin Barras, bass
Jon Ormston, drums
Jack McCarthy, percussion

Official Purchase Link

www.clairecopemusic.com