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CD Reviews: SCOTT HILL : Narrow Streets (ToneHole Music)
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Posted by: Adminon Monday, December 22, 2003 - 12:05 AM |
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By Paul Donnelly
The clarinet is one of my favourite instruments so it is particularly gratifying to hear someone new to me using it so eloquently. Hill is an inventive player who has studied both western classical and eastern styles of music and some of these influences surface in both his playing and the work of guitarist, Michael Felberbaum. Serpentine themes and lines spin into concise, shapely improvisations that often take the listener off in unexpected ways.
The opening track, ‘Nervous Conversation’ for example, begins with drones from guitar that suggest an eastern flavour before the piece evolves into a walking bass figure. Guitar and clarinet combine effectively to fuse jazz and certain European melodic nuances in a way that sounds refreshing, renewing the music rather than simply trotting out half digested influences.
A similar fusion is apparent on other tracks such as ‘You Think Too Much’, the rhythms are jazz based while some of the playing hints at music both inside and outside the genre. Hill’s clarinet is fluent and evocatively Eastern European, swooping ecstatically over the solid rhythmic foundation provided by New York drummer, Mark Dodge and Paris-based Stephan Kerecki on acoustic bass.
And talking of things French, there is an echo of some of Louis Sclavis’ work in parts of tracks like ‘101 Names’ where the scurrying, urgent theme is reminiscent something he may have written. Sclavis, of course, has absorbed and integrated melodies and rhythms from outside the jazz ambit. The tune quickly develops into a vehicle for more quicksilver clarinet explorations but is also notable for deft playing from bass and drums.
Their final track, ‘Sorry Leaving’ is perhaps the nearest thing to a jazz inflected ballad, wistful and imbued with a sense of melancholia, it showcases the lyrical, reflective aspect of Hill’s playing. He unreels lines that soar and glide effortlessly, revealing an understated emotive quality. This track is further evidence too of the restrained application of colouring from Felberbaum and the sensitivity of both percussion and bass.
I hate to make predictions, and especially at this time of year, but I’m sure we will be hearing a lot more from Hill in one setting or another. A real pleasure to hear and
definitely one to watch.
Paul Donnelly
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