Arild Andersen, Paolo Vinaccia and Tommy Smith
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HERALD (5 stars)
"Tommy Smith also sounds reinvigorated in this setting. His saxophone lines were by turns rugged, brilliantly flexible and gorgeously melodic, and on a Yemeni folk tune he brought back from a recent Middle Eastern tour, the trio produced something approaching spontaneous precious metal."
SCOTSMAN
"Andersen takes the art of bass playing into rarefied regions as a matter of course, and in his hands the classic anchor of the band is a solo instrument of remarkable flexibility. His use of electronic effects – including real-time sampling of his own playing, which was then employed in a layering effect – added even more depth to his expressive palette."
"Tommy Smith also employed some judicious echo and reverb on his tenor saxophone, and his powerful soloing in what might be facetiously regarded as his "Jan Garbarek mode" – in terms of a lustrous, keening sonority rather than content – provided a gripping complement to Andersen's richly sonorous inventions."
Tours: Arild Andersen, Paolo Vinaccia and Tommy Smith
Arild Andersen, and his trio, featuring Tommy Smith and Paolo Vinaccia, mark the release of their new live recording Life At Belleville - which draws on Norwegian and Scottish folk music as well as the jazz tradition - with these four Scottish dates.
"The trio of Arild Andersen, Tommy Smith and Paolo Vinaccia is one of the most exciting new groups to appear on the European jazz scene in years. Anchored by the massively sonorous, muscular double bass playing of Andersen, who has been one of the major figures in Scandinavian jazz since his early 1970s work with Jan Garbarek, the group marries melodic invention with crisp rhythms and rich colouring. Scottish saxophonist Smith's tough yet tender tenor playing and Italian-born, Norwegian-based Vinaccia's creative, imaginative drumming combine with Andersen's remarkable flexibility and use of multi-layered lines to create a sound that's orchestral in scope and yet superbly mobile."
Rob Adams
