Matt Carmichael looks lively

After a fling of a first listen you might well feel the need to dance a jig in the absence of all gigging at the beginning of 'The Spey'. Jings, crivvens an' help ma boab! Oor Wullie certainly would. Nicola Sturgeon may even descend from a …

Published: 9 Feb 2021. Updated: 3 years.

After a fling of a first listen you might well feel the need to dance a jig in the absence of all gigging at the beginning of 'The Spey'. Jings, crivvens an' help ma boab! Oor Wullie certainly would. Nicola Sturgeon may even descend from a chandelier to its strains suitably stirred. The lead-off track from the lively folk rhythms of Where Will The River Flow whips along at quite a lick. Tenorist Matt Carmichael shows a lot of spirit going by what we know so far beetling along with pianist Fergus McCreadie, Ali Watson on double bass and Tom Potter on drums sensibly nailed to the floor for health and safety reasons before the quartet have the wit to collectively hoist up their trews and kick into a dazzling burn-up that would have made Michael Brecker and dare I say Rab C. Nesbitt proud. Ancient jazzers may grumble that it's hardly Brigadoon, sad face emoji. The same cracking band, however, took the Vortex by storm on a memorable night a couple of years ago. Out on 12 March

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Arthur Hnatek Trio, Static

Is it really a good idea calling your opening track 'Monotonous'? Spoiler alert while I skipped that track within seconds and the same happened the next time I tried, track 2, called '27', is much better. A trio with a hole in the middle, lacking a …

Published: 9 Feb 2021. Updated: 3 years.

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Is it really a good idea calling your opening track 'Monotonous'? Spoiler alert while I skipped that track within seconds and the same happened the next time I tried, track 2, called '27', is much better. A trio with a hole in the middle, lacking a harmony instrument such as a piano or guitar, it's a drummer's record, leader Arthur Hnatek to the fore here with double bassist Fabien Iannone and tenorist Francesco Geminiani. Recorded in a Swiss studio last year Hnatek's method is quite experimental (you'll hear his rhythm experimentation on the highly syncopated 'Brew') and this side of the record and his penchant for electronics are its main calling card. But method does not mean content is on the same level. The ensemble play skirting on avant rock and soundscapery stylings is often not without its considerable longueurs; the saxophonic meanderings are very hard to avoid! Iannone provides a lot of relief and some of the album's best moments occur on 'MIDI Sans Frontières'. I can't recommend Static at all. It is just not compelling enough. SG.

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