The latest CD releases reviewed
KARIN KROG/JACOB YOUNG
Where Flamingos Fly
Grappa
****
This re-release of a lovely 2001 duo encounter with guitarist Jacob Young finds Karin Krog (pictured) in prime form despite the relative predictability of the material. These are mostly standards, with some Ellingtonia, a Krog original and the blues thrown in. She's a superb reader of a lyric, with a spare, almost unadorned, conversational style matched by Young's similarly unfussy but uncannily apt support. Among the gems is a finely etched Prelude to a Kiss, a playful I'm Shadowing You, a Caravan where they embrace the faux exotique of the song rather than fight it, and gorgeous performances of Cry Me a River, KC Blues and Krog's delightful Northern Sun, all three buoyed by the marvellous bass of Arild Andersen. With a format that gives no place to hide, it takes class to make simplicity work as well as this; that and experience. www.musicconnection.org.uk RAY COMISKEY
ALAN BARNES-JOHN HALLAM
Sideways
Woodville
***
Multi-reedmen Barnes and Hallam both offer tenor, baritone and clarinet options for this ebulliently swinging mainstream date, with Barnes also adding alto to the mix. Considering Barnes's skills as an arranger, there's a tad less variety to the writing than might be expected. It's essentially a blowing session, good-natured, skilful and consistent, with the leaders well- matched and thriving on a propulsive rhythm section in David Newton, Simon Thorpe and Bobby Worth. Pianist Newton's ability to mine something personal from a repertoire of standards, originals by Monk, Mulligan, Ellington, Eddie Durham's Topsy and the title track blues is striking. The two baritones, meanwhile rumble cavernously round each other on several tracks like a pair of friendly dinosaurs. Mainstream fans will be duly seduced. www.musicconnection.org.uk RAY COMISKEY
GRAHAM COLLIER
Hoarded Dreams
Cuneiform
*****
This is the first issue in album form of a live performance of Collier's specially commissioned seven-part Hoarded Dreams suite. It was performed at the 1983 Bracknell Jazz Festival by a 19-piece band that included Kenny Wheeler, Tomasz Stanko, Henry Lowther, Ted Curson, Manfred Schoof, John Surman, Art Themen and Malcolm Griffths. The concert is astonishing not only for the virtuosity and imagination on display, but also for its mingling of the written and the improvised, of how solo and collective free improvisation were integrated into structures that allowed them to flourish without descending into chaotic self-indulgence. Control and freedom subtly influence each other, alchemised by Collier's writing and directing and the myriad of collective and individual responses that made the performance so remarkable. www.cuneiformrecords.com RAY COMISKEY
