DAVE MILLIGAN - Momento
Big Bash Records: BBRCD018
Dave Mulligan (piano) Danilo Gallo (bass) U.T. Gandhi (drums).
Recorded at Artsuono Recording Studios, Cavalicco, Udine, Italy, 4th to 6th 2015.
Scottish pianist Dave Milligan has in the course of an impressively multifaceted career embraced and utilised many musical sources to deliver his signature brand of jazz -folk fusion, engaging in projects with traditional fiddle bands and post-modern jazz combos with equal aplomb and conviction. In this latest offering – his third jazz piano trio release- he is joined by two extremely competent Italian musicians in a set of original pieces and traditional arrangements that draw heavily upon his Celtic inspirations whilst recasting them in a jazz dialect.
Though replete with references to the Scottish folk tradition, pipe and fiddle music and the poetry of Robert Burns this is not a cloyingly sentimental `roaming in the gloaming`, jazz impressions of Scotland affair for though there are moments of tranquil reflection and pentatonic romanticism there is plenty to stir and stimulate the most carnivorous jazz appetite. Of the former a dedication to his father takes the form of a simple, poignant air for solo piano whilst of the latter the folky skirl of the traditional anti Act of Union song `Parcel of Rogues`, gathers momentum from a funky vamp overlying a martial beat with Gallo’s pulsating bass trading the melodic line with the piano, creating an exciting combination of musical modes.
In a similar vein Milligan’s adaptation of the First World War march, `The Bloody Fields of Flanders ‘which he retitles as simply `Freedom`- provides plenty in the way of punchy syncopation powered along by Gandhi’s powerful drumming before the recital is brought to a stunning conclusion with a piece inspired by a traditional fiddle tune, thrillingly invested with jazz phrases and rhythmic devices whilst retaining the solemnity and drama of the original.
Throughout, Milligan is impressive in the way he brings diverse musical elements together rendering them wholly compatible without submerging the implicit tensions of style and form that makes the best of contemporary jazz irresistible to the discerning ear. Milligan’s music certainly falls into this category and though the piano trio field is currently fertile with competing releases `Momento` is sure to be amongst the best of this year’s crop.
Reviewed by Euan Dixon
Big Bash Records: BBRCD018
Dave Mulligan (piano) Danilo Gallo (bass) U.T. Gandhi (drums).
Recorded at Artsuono Recording Studios, Cavalicco, Udine, Italy, 4th to 6th 2015.
Scottish pianist Dave Milligan has in the course of an impressively multifaceted career embraced and utilised many musical sources to deliver his signature brand of jazz -folk fusion, engaging in projects with traditional fiddle bands and post-modern jazz combos with equal aplomb and conviction. In this latest offering – his third jazz piano trio release- he is joined by two extremely competent Italian musicians in a set of original pieces and traditional arrangements that draw heavily upon his Celtic inspirations whilst recasting them in a jazz dialect.
Though replete with references to the Scottish folk tradition, pipe and fiddle music and the poetry of Robert Burns this is not a cloyingly sentimental `roaming in the gloaming`, jazz impressions of Scotland affair for though there are moments of tranquil reflection and pentatonic romanticism there is plenty to stir and stimulate the most carnivorous jazz appetite. Of the former a dedication to his father takes the form of a simple, poignant air for solo piano whilst of the latter the folky skirl of the traditional anti Act of Union song `Parcel of Rogues`, gathers momentum from a funky vamp overlying a martial beat with Gallo’s pulsating bass trading the melodic line with the piano, creating an exciting combination of musical modes.
In a similar vein Milligan’s adaptation of the First World War march, `The Bloody Fields of Flanders ‘which he retitles as simply `Freedom`- provides plenty in the way of punchy syncopation powered along by Gandhi’s powerful drumming before the recital is brought to a stunning conclusion with a piece inspired by a traditional fiddle tune, thrillingly invested with jazz phrases and rhythmic devices whilst retaining the solemnity and drama of the original.
Throughout, Milligan is impressive in the way he brings diverse musical elements together rendering them wholly compatible without submerging the implicit tensions of style and form that makes the best of contemporary jazz irresistible to the discerning ear. Milligan’s music certainly falls into this category and though the piano trio field is currently fertile with competing releases `Momento` is sure to be amongst the best of this year’s crop.
Reviewed by Euan Dixon
