ANDREW WASYLKY- Fugitive Light and Themes of Consolation
Athens of the North: AOTNCD041
Andrew Wasylky ( drums, bass ,acoustic and electric guitars, upright piano, Fender Rhodes,Mellotron,Juno-60,Moog One,glockenspiel,vibraphone, brass,wind and harp arrangements, vocals, percussion and field recordings) with Rachel Simpson ( trumpet and flugelhorn) Iain Robertson (trombone) Steve Kettley( soprano saxophone) Danielle Hood (clarinet) Julian Appleyard (cor anglais) Simon Graham(violin) Emma Connell-Smith (viola) Seth Bennett (double bass) Seonaid Birse (clārach) Avril Smart (singing saw) Nick Moore ( additional drum programming) Thomas White (drums) Recorded at various locations in Scotland between 2019 /20.
Apparently this is the third disc in a series that purports to musically illustrate the landscape of Eastern Scotland by way of a collection of pieces featuring lightly syncopated legato themes of little compositional substance but haunting and calming effect. To describe it as the sort of music that customer helplines play when you are put on hold might seem insulting but it does have a therapeutic effect that could work well in a number of meditative contexts, none of which would in any way demean the excellence of the work that has gone into its realisation.
Andrew Wasylyk (real name Andrew Mitchell) is a multi-instrumentalist and musical alchemist who uses his instrumental resources (which include a musical saw, traditional instruments and `found` sounds from the environment) to create impressionistic textures and tableaus of sound that invoke feelings of nostalgia and yearning of a cinematic or ambient nature. Apart from a couple of trumpet or flugelhorn obbligatos there is little in the way of solo work or rhythmic tension and therefore little to excite the carnivorous jazz fan whilst ECM aesthetes are likely to find it all a little too smooth and lush. One can’t however deny that it has moments of beauty nor that music of this type has a legitimate place even though it may lie beyond categorisation.
Reviewed by Euan Dixon
Athens of the North: AOTNCD041
Andrew Wasylky ( drums, bass ,acoustic and electric guitars, upright piano, Fender Rhodes,Mellotron,Juno-60,Moog One,glockenspiel,vibraphone, brass,wind and harp arrangements, vocals, percussion and field recordings) with Rachel Simpson ( trumpet and flugelhorn) Iain Robertson (trombone) Steve Kettley( soprano saxophone) Danielle Hood (clarinet) Julian Appleyard (cor anglais) Simon Graham(violin) Emma Connell-Smith (viola) Seth Bennett (double bass) Seonaid Birse (clārach) Avril Smart (singing saw) Nick Moore ( additional drum programming) Thomas White (drums) Recorded at various locations in Scotland between 2019 /20.
Apparently this is the third disc in a series that purports to musically illustrate the landscape of Eastern Scotland by way of a collection of pieces featuring lightly syncopated legato themes of little compositional substance but haunting and calming effect. To describe it as the sort of music that customer helplines play when you are put on hold might seem insulting but it does have a therapeutic effect that could work well in a number of meditative contexts, none of which would in any way demean the excellence of the work that has gone into its realisation.
Andrew Wasylyk (real name Andrew Mitchell) is a multi-instrumentalist and musical alchemist who uses his instrumental resources (which include a musical saw, traditional instruments and `found` sounds from the environment) to create impressionistic textures and tableaus of sound that invoke feelings of nostalgia and yearning of a cinematic or ambient nature. Apart from a couple of trumpet or flugelhorn obbligatos there is little in the way of solo work or rhythmic tension and therefore little to excite the carnivorous jazz fan whilst ECM aesthetes are likely to find it all a little too smooth and lush. One can’t however deny that it has moments of beauty nor that music of this type has a legitimate place even though it may lie beyond categorisation.
Reviewed by Euan Dixon
