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Landmarks
Jim Gilchrist. THE SCOTSMAN. April 18th
2005
Scottish Guitar Quartet Review - The Bull's Head, Barnes, London.
Sholto Byrnes.
INDEPENDENT. July 2003
"A quartet in jazz usually consists of
rhythm section and horn, most commonly piano, bass, drums and sax. A
guitar may substitute for piano, or be used instead of drums to
provide a foil for another chordal instrument - one thinks of some
versions of Oscar Peterson's trio - but it's arguable that it has
not occupied as elevated a seat as the piano in the great ranking of
instruments.
Somewhere between the chop-chop-chop of trad and the meanderings of
commercial fusion lies an honourable tradition for the jazz guitar,
although if I had to choose between throwing Metheny, Scofield and
McLaughlin out of the balloon or just Herbie Hancock, the latter
would be safe, despite "Rockit". The keyboard just seems that much
more satisfying.
This prejudice (for, I freely admit, that is what it is) is
triumphantly overcome by the Scottish Guitar Quartet, a
semi-acoustic group that turns whatever limitations this combination
may seem to have into advantages.
For Nigel Clark, Kevin MacKenzie, Ged Brockie and Malcolm MacFarlane
there can be no slacking on the rehearsal front - I can't imagine
anyone deputising for anyone in this band - as the group's success
lies in the tightness of arrangements which keep four instruments
occupying the same range from crossing lanes, winging each other and
ending in a pile-up.
Here is an example of the traffic control: two guitars set a pulse
going, on which the others play the melody in octaves; dropping down
to one on rhythm, another solos; halfway through the solo, a third
adds a riff to the support; a fourth weaves a further line, till the
quartet merge on a bridging section and it's time for someone else
to solo.
It all moves with the smoothness of stage-sets being wheeled on,
backdrops being added and subtracted while soliloquists or Greek
choruses step into the limelight. Or, to take an airborne analogy: a
flock of birds, individuals that mass as one but sometimes let loose
outriders to foray before returning to the formation.
It is quite mesmerising, and totally unlike any more conventional
line-up, and the relative unity of sound allows an enormous variety
of composition. Whatever terrain this quartet traverses, from bebop
to classical Brazilian, fast funk rock to Firth of Forth, it is
still recognisably the same beast, whereas a piano-based trio
donning a similar array of clothes would likely find its trousers at
half mast or its flies undone during such a journey.
A small venue doesn't quite do this quartet justice. I would like to
hear them in a place where their fresh, clean sound could echo, off
cavernous walls or around the nave of a cathedral. If the quartet
were to play in the latter, even the most hardened of atheists would
find a trip to church had its compensations. They may not want to go
every Sunday - this is a concentrated pleasure, and best taken in
small doses - but certainly often enough to be recognised by the
parson."
Four Blokes With Guitars Are Breaking All The Rules
Colin Somerville.
Scotland On Sunday. October 2002
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