CD Reviews
Swing with David
Price and Maralyn
CD Review by Hugh Boyde
Cost £5 - email [email protected] or
tel. 01277 824616
Many in the BMG Federation will know
David Price as a fine exponent of plectrum
banjo, but who would have guessed he
would be just as comfortable on mellow
jazz guitar? Yet here he is on a new
self-produced CD, working with vocalist
Maralyn on a selection of 16 numbers
ranging from bouncy swing to smoky
ballads. The duo is backed by a rhythm
section of piano, bass and drums (with
cameos from trumpet and clarinet). David
explains in his sleeve notes that the CD
is partly intended as a demo for anyone
interested in booking a live performance.
However it also works well as a recording
in its own right, with gentle tempos and
a warm atmosphere ideal for background
dining music, but also bearing close
listening.
David has a very melodic approach to
jazz and there is always a lovely sense of
line, whether he is playing the tune, filling
in behind Maralyn’s vocal or taking an
improvised solo. Of course he knows his
altered scales and extended chords, but
he uses them discreetly and sparingly and
as servants of the melody, not masters –
in the spirit of Stephane Grappelli’s dictum
that before you go off into a flight of jazz
fancy, you should first “expose nicely
the tune”. David’s playing on Cute and
on Rodgers and Hammerstein number
Dancing on the Ceiling exemplifies this
well, and for an example of how well
guitar and vocals work together, listen to
how neatly they dance around each other
on ‘S Wonderful.
As for the other half of the duo,
Maralyn has the gift of singing jazz
songs in a jazz voice that is also her own
voice. This sounds simple, but it isn’t!
Especially not if you are from this side
of the Atlantic, and even more so if you
are covering songs by such an enormous
and distinctive presence as Billie Holiday.
Maralyn manages this balancing act
without apparent effort, easily mingling
British and American vowel sounds, and
easily mingling ideas from the original
recordings with her own authentic vocal
delivery. I particularly like her voice at the
slower tempos – my own favourite on this
album being God Bless the Child.
Overall, this is a good selection of
well-known and not-so-well-known jazz,
confidently and well presented. Personally
I would like to hear what this band sounds
like when they take the tempo up, so I
would have enjoyed a couple of really
fast ones in the mix. But that might be
missing the point, as above all this is
music for a relaxing evening!
The Art of Mandolin
– Simon Mayor
Carinhoso - Brejeiro
CD Review by Sandra Woodruff
Cost £10 + £1.50 p&p – order
from website www.brejeiro.
co.uk or tel. 0117 9423310
Brejeiro’s performance at BMG
CD Review by Mike Pryor
Cost £12 – order from website
www.acousticsrecords.co.uk or
tel. 0118 9268615
One of my favourite musicians says “It’s
all about tone, taste and timing” and this
has never been truer with the latest CD
from Britain’s premier mandolin-family
master Simon Mayor. Fifteen tracks of
string magic drawn from four centuries
of music ranging from popular classical
pieces like Brahms’ Hungarian Dance
No 2 and Chopin’s Minute Waltz, to
Django Reinhardt’s Anouman and Scott
Joplin’s Maple Leaf Rag, including five
from Simon’s own hand. As ever Simon’s
playing is exemplary and exhilarating:
gorgeous tone, fine taste and not a
missed beat to be found. On a number
of tracks Simon becomes a mandolinfamily septet, playing two mandolins,
one mandola and four mandocellos
simultaneously (multi-tracked - he’s not
that clever!). These pieces in particular
bring out the beautiful resonances of Mike
Vanden’s world-class craftsmanship, and
I think will provide some inspirational
material for mandolin groups across our
Federation and beyond. My favourite
track is the solo-mandocello version of
the traditional Lord Mayo, absolutely
gorgeous. I’d also like to mention Hilary
James’ superb contributions on vocals,
guitar, mandobass and doublebass. ‘The
Art of Mandolin’ is another distinguished
chapter in Simon’s remarkable mandolin
odyssey, and will appeal to anyone and
everyone who also loves the mandolin.
Federation Rally Friday evening concert
held in East Kilbride in 2008 caused a
huge sensation with their twin mandolins
and haunting melodies cascading over
pulsating rhythm guitar and dynamic Latin
percussion. Their second CD ‘Carinhoso’
epitomises how talented and versatile
these musicians are. Dave Griffiths and
Mike Pryor acquired and learned to play
cavaquinhos (Brazilian ukuleles) after Gaio
de Lima suggested they were vital to the
‘real’ Choro sound, and what a brilliant job
they have done. Between them on this
CD, Dave and Mike also play bandolim,
mandolin and dobro-mandolin, while Andy
Fuller shows off his dexterity on pandeiro
(Brazilian tambourine), cajon (box drum)
and tam tam (hand drum), and Helen
James provides strong rhythm guitar with
flowing lyrical bass line accompaniment
of as high a standard as you may come
across. The CD kicks off at a cracking
pace with Camundongo by Waldir Azevdo,
king of cavaquinho-led Choros in the
40s, 50s & 60s. My favourite track is
Vibraçöes (Jacob do Bandolim) which
for some reason makes me want to cry
– could it have something to do with the
fact that the literal translation of Choro is
‘to cry’? The material for this CD comes
from many hours spent searching out
new repertoire, selecting pieces from
workshops done with artists such as Mike
Marshall and John Reischman and trying
out different arrangements unique to the
group. Some tracks are familiar, including
beautiful tune Com Llora Una Estrella
(Antonio Carrillo), delightful Doce de Coco
(Jacob do Bandolim) and jazzy Delicado
(Waldir Azevedo). Also worthy of special
mention is show stopper Libertango
(Astor Piazolla). The playing throughout
is splendid; clear, clean melody notes,
pulsating guitar rhythm and just listen to
Andy’s amazing finger-rolls on pandeiro –
Gaio de Lima will surely be impressed!
15