Jazzwise Magazine
Banner
The UK's Biggest Selling Jazz Magazine RSS
daily news features reviews current issue shop instrument reviews
gig guide video the player write stuff subscribe contact us
Andrew McCormackJason Yarde MY Duo ***
User Rating: / 1
PoorBest 
Thursday, 26 November 2009 13:30
Joy And Ears | Andrew McCormack (p) and Jason Yarde (as, ss). Rec. 2009

As a group shrinks there may be a temptation to fill the expanding sonic space. Compensate for the absence of the drums, the disappearance of a horn, the lack of a voice: all of this is valid thinking but there is perhaps another argument to bring to the table, the one that says that some of the most successful duos or even solo works use the new room for manoeuvre to do so even less. It’s essentially a confidence issue, as well as a question of understanding how sound works in alliance with a lack of sound, how silence can make noise more effective if not dramatic. Yarde and McCormack have that confidence and understanding. Having had a lengthy creative relationship through their association with Dune records, it comes as no surprise that there is a marked empathy between them with each player displaying a sensitivity to the other so that the two, as is the case in the best duets, are not fighting one another for supremacy.

Classical harmony is quite prevalent throughout the work, yet the reprises of Bernstein and Mark AnthonyTurnage are not interesting for their nonjazz quality but rather the sense of pert melodic movement that is achieved within relatively tight chordal constraints. An emphasis on a theme or a singing line also marks several other pieces where the long, gauzy tones from Yarde’s soprano hang tantalisingly in the air, softening and warming the harder edge of McCormack’s chords. Beyond their abilities as accompanists and soloists, both players seriously assert themselves as composers and the contrast in styles is pleasingly marked, the pianist’s being perhaps a touch less angular than the saxophonist’s. The net result is an album of very mature performances and tight narrative focus that presents jazz composition and improvisation as infinitely fluid entities that can draw on classical music, minimalism and understated folk without creating unwieldy hybrids per se. Kevin Le Gendre
Comments
Only registered users can write comments!

3.26 Copyright (C) 2008 Compojoom.com / Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."

 
news
features
features
features
reviews
UK Jazz Venues
UK Jazz Venues
Pizza Express Jazz Club London (1871)
Vortex Jazz Club London (1664)
606 Club London (1609)
Ronnie Scotts London (1597)
Hideaway Streatham (350)
Swansea Jazzland Swansea (316)
Matt & Phred's Jazz Club Manchester (242)
Pizza on the Park London (237)
St Ives Jazz Club St Ives (219)
Wakefield Sports Club Wakefield (188)
Barbican Hall London (171)
Komedia Studio Bar Brighton (165)
Friends Life Social Club Dorking (151)
The Spin Oxford (125)
Seven Arts Leeds Leeds (115)
Octave Bar London (107)
Charlie Wright's London (105)
The Stables Theatre Wavendon (101)
Symphony Hall Foyer Birmingham (100)
The Sage Gateshead (95)
Cafe Oto London (93)
Purcell Room London (90)
Watermill Jazz Dorking (86)
Matt & Phred's Manchester (83)
The Oxford Pub London (74)
The Dysart Arms Surrey (74)
The Sands Venue Gainsborough (72)
The Bell Hotel Clare (67)
Cheltenham Town Hall Cheltenham (66)
Boisdale's Canary Wharf (64)
Millennium Hall Sheffield (62)
National Theatre Foyer South Bank SE1 (61)
The Forge London (55)
The Jazz Bar Edinburgh (54)
Band on the Wall Manchester (54)
Spice Of Life London (53)
Orange Street Music Club Canterbury (51)
Jagz Ascot (51)
Joogleberry Playhouse Brighton (50)
Turner Sims Hall Southampton (49)
The Beaver Inn Appledore (48)
Royal Festival Hall London (47)
Queen Elizabeth Hall (47)
Queen Elizabeth Hall London (46)
Lauderdale House Waterlow Park London (45)
Villandry Bar London (44)
Leeds College of Music Leeds (44)
Bonington Theatre Nottingham (44)
Kings Place London (44)
East Side Jazz Club Leytonstone E11 (42)
Jazzwise magazine - digital edition
Jazzwise Branded App

Live Twitter Feed

Jazzwise E-newsletter

Jazzwise E-News
Be the first on your block to know what's in the next issue of Jazzwise by signing up to the Online Magazine Newsletter

 
Jazzwise Facebook Page