The Mild Mannered and the Mortal
The Mild Mannered and the Mortal is the new album from Manchester-based bassist and composer Joshua Cavanagh-Brierley, released on Efpi Records on 7 August 2026. Featuring a freshly assembled sextet built on the foundation of the dynamic Angle Shades trio, this is a hugely original and creative set of music which showcases the compositional and bandleading talent of one of the Northern scene's most in-demand figures.
About
Joshua Cavanagh-Brierley is a Manchester-based bassist and composer. Growing up in a creative household with his musician father and artist mother resulted in him playing music and discovering a joy and passion for creating from an early age. Hugely versatile, Joshua leads and co-leads a number of omni-genre ensembles of varying sizes and forces, including innovative piano trio Angle Shades alongside pianist Richard Jones and drummer Johnny Hunter, and is an in-demand sideman who has played, toured, and/or recorded with Nishla Smith Quintet, Caoilifhionn Rose, and Janileigh Cohen amongst many others.
The experience of writing for Angle Shades developed Josh’s confidence and interest in exploring new
harmonic theories, and even led to the emergence of his own original compositional and
improvisational
concepts such as those he terms ‘modal exaggeration’, ‘upside down chords’ and ‘symmetrical descend-
ing harmony and melody of equal intervallic gravity’. He was already an experienced arranger in a
wide
range of contexts; his previous album, Joy in Bewilderment (Ubuntu, 2021), features a number of
different
instrumental groupings from string quartet to 12 piece large ensemble including three drummers, not
to
mention guests Chris Potter and Caoilfhionn Rose. “I was like a greedy kid in a sweet shop!”, says
Josh.
“I’ve never really limited myself to a fixed lineup before so I wanted to do that here, aiming for a
consistent
soundworld across an entire album.” The tradition of inviting guest musicians continues though, this
time
with rising star trumpeter Olivia Cuttill featuring on Rich and Catherine.
efpirecords.com