When I saw that Edition Record was
on its way with an album with trumpet player Kenny Wheeler and singer Norma
Winstone in a kind of reunion (without piano player John Taylor, though) I was
hoping I would receive a copy for review.
In late 70ies the three of them made
three classic albums for ECM under the name of Azimuth.
Both Winstone and Wheeler have
performed on interesting albums within the later years so it’s not only in the
past they have created interesting music.
Instead of Taylor they are working
with the 24 persons London Vocal Project on Mirrors. Kenny Wheeler has written
the music while the texts come from poems by Stevie Smith, Lewis Carroll and
W.B. Yeats. So far so good.
Unfortunately this is extremely
disappointing. The arrangements for choir are dull and trivial.
I am very surprised that Kenny
Wheeler is involved in a project which (I apologize for the comparison) most of
all sound like a spring concert at the local college.
Well, small sparks of light are
found: like when Norma Winstone sings solo or when a Kenny Wheeler-solo
appears. Furthermore saxophone player Mark Lockheart does fine in his solo
parts.
I will suggest to Kenny Wheeler that
he listens to his Danish colleague on the instrument, Jacob Buchanans’ latest
project Rekviem which can be heard at this link. https://soundcloud.com/jakob-buchanan.This is how you
make interesting choir music with a hint of jazz in 2013. Mirrors is best forgotten.
The faster the better.
Review: Niels Overgård. Translation:
DSI Swinging Europe
No comments:
Post a Comment