YORK: Letting Go; Kinderlight; Fanfare Cradle Song; Josh’s Jam; Why; SamSong; By Candlelight ; SunWalk; Seven in Essence; Sundog; Eichenau; Garden Steps; Autumn Streets ; Transitions; Sketch for Jeff; Shorty; Heavy Weather (improvisation).
Andrew York (Tim Timmermans on Udu -Heavy Weather (Improvisation))
Majian Music: MM001
Whereas Andrew York has become known the guitar world over for his amazing piece of writing in Sunburst, it (hopefully) goes without saying that he has written dozens of other pieces, and there is a full album of some of them here played on a 1930s Hauser.
The opener Letting Go flows along almost as if it were an accompaniment to a song about to start, with friendly harmonies, a catchy tune, and some beautiful and flashy runs before slowing down in the middle briefly, then returning to a varied version of the opening. There are plenty of moments in this where the arpeggio patterns ring over onto adjacent strings, creating that sound that we all recognize. There is even a part towards the end where York sings a tune along with the guitar here. It is immediately obvious that Andrew York is a fine performer of his own material!
Picking just a few of the highlights on this CD, (rather than mentioning every one of the pieces on the CD in this review), Cradle Song is emotional, slow, quiet, and a lovely piece of writing, and sounds new and fresh with very little that you can say sounds like something else you’ve come across before.
Josh’s Jam is an upbeat, swinging piece with plenty of fast dance – like motifs to keep you interested, whilst Why is sad, and gripping in its emotional emptiness, and a lovely piece altogether.
Sundog is a slightly quirky piece that bounces along in a very friendly way, whilst Eichenau is another song- like piece with a slow walking bass underneath a nice chord progression and a pleasant melody.
Garden Steps is almost child- like in its harmonies, and another stand- out piece of writing, whilst Transitions is another thoughtful and quietly moving affair with again a beautiful melody and harmonic sound. Shorty (apart from being quite short) is a bouncy, dancing little piece that is lots of fun, with its warm and slightly amusing sound world. The final piece Heavy Weather is apparently an improvisation with the aid of Tim Timmermans on Udu, and is an interesting closer to what is a really friendly album full of lovely pieces. There are no ultra-modern, crunching chords here, just lovely music well played, beautifully recorded and a CD full of pieces that you probably won’t have heard before. It is well worth looking out for!
Chris Dumigan
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