Andy McWain: Press

THE KEVIN FRENETTE 4 - Connections (Fuller Street 1781; USA) Featuring Kevin Frenette on guitar, Andy McWain on piano, Todd Keating on bass and Tatsuya Nakatani on drums. I am previously familiar with just 2 members of this quartet. Boston pianist, Andy McWain, has had a couple of strong discs on this same label, a quartet date with Assif Tsahar and a trio with Albey Balgochian & Lawrence Cook that I reviewed. Former Boston-based percussion wiz, Tatsuya Nakatani, remains one of the best and most distinctive of all improvising drummers and moved to Pennsylvania a couple of years back. Although Kevin has nice round jazz guitar tone, his playing quite free and focused. Both he and pianist, Andy McWain, have a special relationship as they swirl layers of notes around one another with a magical connection. The other magic is the way the acoustic bass and drums also swirl freely at an astonishing pace that is sparse and well-connected simultaneously. It is as if there are two incredible duos playing at the same time yet they are subliminally always connected. I had to play the first piece again, since there was so much going on to hear in one sitting. I dig that Tatsuya is not a jazz drummer per se and never worries about having to swing, instead he keeps up an ongoing dialogue that is fresh and often surprising. Tatsuya unique approach features much, rubbing, bowing and thin sticks on the drums and cymbals. He is ever so restrained and crafty, never covering any of the other sounds that the rest of this magical quartet provides. I find this music to be rich in colors and textures, like a wonderful dream world being revealed. It never ceases to amaze when incredible music comes from voices mostly unknown. - BLG

1) ANDY McWAIN, ALBEY BALGOCHIAN, LAURENCE COOK,
VIGIL, FULLER STREET 2166.
Absolute Blue / Vigil / The Window of Views / Offerings in Purple / Ceremonial Moon / Impervious Light / Indestructible Red. 58:49. McWain, p; Balgochian, b; Cook, d. Oct. 4, 2004, Westwood, MA.

"Although the three musicians on (1) receive equal billing it’s clear that pianist Andy McWain is the lead dog in the pack so to speak. In his brief liner notes, the Boston-area-based musician mentions having recently traveled through a difficult period of his life. But if there is one thing that one can take away from hearing Vigil it is a sense of enduring hope, not despair.

Along with bassist Albey Balgochian, McWain delivers an illuminating and luminescent set of impressionistic songs that conjure elements of the Cecil Taylor and Paul Bley, minus the tether of stylistic dependence. On “Absolute Blue” notes seem to fall out of the sky like so many mercury-filled raindrops, and on the title track McWain releases a volley of sonic shards that are nearly animalistic in their intensity. I also liked his gargantuan approach to “The Window of Views” wherein his left/right contrapuntal thrust is akin to one large hand calling the shots.

All through the recording Cook and Balgochian are the consummate bass-and-drummer duo, providing not just support but an impetus to the pianist. On top of all that the recorded sound quality is very, very good. Tally it up and you’ve got a trio that will please any serious devotee of freely improvised music."

"There's a greater angularity to McWain's playing than on his previous release, Starfish (a fine recording with Assif Tsahar), an employment of a wider chromatic field and an expanded range of expressivity... "Window of Views" is an up tempo avant composition in which McWain plays dazzlingly fast runs, exploiting the entire compass of the keyboard." (Summer 2006, Issue #42)

ANDY McWAIN/ALBEY BALGOCHIAN/LAURENCE COOK - Vigil (Fuller Street 2166; USA) "Featuring Andy McWain on piano, Albey Balgochian on bass and Laurence Cook on drums. I can't say that I've heard of Massachusetts-based pianist, Andy McWain, before this, but I've known of the great avant/jazz drummer Laurence Cook through his work with Bill Dixon, Thurston Moore, Joe McPhee, Daniel Carter and Paul Flaherty. Mr. Balgochian has been playing in the Cecil Taylor Trio & Orchestra, as well as a having a fine trio of his own with Sabir Mateen. This is a free piano trio and a strong one at that. Beginning slowly, but taking off quickly for the stratosphere. Albey's bass is in the center and is the busiest, quickly buzzing fleet, fast streams of notes as the piano and drums take their time and building together ever upwards. There is an organic connection and development in the way this disc unfolds. The playing is often streamlined and suspenseful and spacious. They do not play songs or do charted terrain, yet they work so well together, sailing and soaring together. In a blindfold test, you might mistake them for Herbie, Ron and Tony when they played with Miles in the mid-sixties. They occasionally erupt and reach for the stars. Which is pretty amazing considering few of us have heard of this trio before this very endeavor. It would be a shame for them to go unnoticed, so, dig in."

"Part of the great appeal of this trio lies in the fact that the musicians know when not to play, something that cannot realistically be said of too many who worship at the altar of technique. That lends a further edge of distinctiveness to this disc, and it rewards repeated listening."

MCWAIN-BALGOCHIAN-COOK: Vigil (Fuller Street Music): "The cd captures seven lively improvisations in an excellent recording from three technically very advanced players... McWain is an original and enthusiastic player with lots of ideas, crazy jumps and twists. A very pleasant cd from an original trio."

"It’s rare to hear the thought and communicative process in free jazz so clearly articulated, but this trio does this with aplomb."

"McWain is a versatile pianist who thrives in a variety of settings... His piano technique draws from a variety of modern stylists (Hancock, Evans, Taylor), yet unlike many current young pianists, he doesn't fall prey to mimcry, but actively seeks to make personal statements... STARFISH is indeed a convincing debut with all four musicians interacting at a high level... McWain tosses out many rich chordal environments ("Periodic Stasis Amid Torrent" and the sparse "Another Dynamic Starfish Precursor"), bouncy, yet dark environments, and, further, excels at being a catalyst, accompanist, and a soloist..."

"Pianist Andy McWain leads his quartet thru ten pieces that offer an enlightening mix of modern jazz, interspersed with cunning dialogues and excursions into the free zone. Simply stated, the musicians demonstrate a rather uncanny mechanism for blending the best of both worlds into a unique sound and style that hits home in a huge way. Thus, a major and altogether delightful surprise."

"Can an avant jazz album be both challenging and memorably tuneful? Starfish suggests that it can. Joined by tenor saxophonist Assif Tsahar, acoustic bassist Noah Jarrett and drummer Chris Poudrier, jazz pianist Andy McWain presents ten originals that will remain firmly entrenched in your mind long after the disc leaves your changer. Alternately, you may want to keep it cued up for weeks at a time."

"Andy McWain's piano work can be delicate and feather light, then seismically percussive, sometimes in the same song; and reedman Assif Tsahar (bass clarinet, tenor sax) sizzles then broods, propels while fresh ideas stab in from the other three corners. The impression that won't let go after multiple listenings is Classical music, modern mode; chamber sounds, with jazz teeth... McWain and crew are a phenomenon, a very exciting discovery."

"McWain applies a '60s-bop piano sound to a fairly free-form setting. Dark, lush sound well informed by the jazz tradition, and some nice burning solos from Assif Tsahar on sax. Great stuff -- every track's good. [Track 1] Free-form jazz intro, great lush bop piano solo in the last few minutes..."

"If you're into atonal jazz, but your friends aren't, this just might be the CD to convert them. McWain's compositions are accessible in the way that early atonalist Alban Berg's "Violin Concerto" is: the atonality is only a means of expressing a lyrical theme... It speaks to the versatility of McWain's creations that his and Tsahar's interpretations can be so different and yet interact as fluidly as they do on Starfish...The music is challenging, but it's also intuitive. Your friends can sit down and listen and they'll probably get the hang of it pretty quickly. "This," you can tell them, "is how atonalism works." Maybe they'll nod politely, but then they'll probably want to go outside and enjoy the springtime air or something. But you can stay behind, enjoying the CD on your own."