Benet McLean: Green Park

Rating: ★★★★

Record and Artist Details

Musicians:

Zoé Pascal (d)
Liam Dunachie (p, org)
Rio Kai (b)
Duncan Eagles (ts, fl)
Benet Mclean (vn)
Benet McLean (vn)

Label:

Sea Mammal Records

March/2024

Media Format:

CD, DL

Catalogue Number:

SM2301

RecordDate:

Rec. date not stated

As a young man, Benet McLean was tutored by none other than Yehudi Menuhin; perhaps he was the one who introduced McLean to jazz - after all, he famously tried it himself in the early 1970s with a series of concerts alongside the mighty Stephane Grappelli. And like Grappelli, McLean really knows how to swing.

This is his fifth album, his first recorded outing since The Bopped and The Bopless back in 2016. There’s no piano or vocals this time, just violin. All the compositions are his own apart from a version of ‘Fuller Love’, Bobby Watson’s tribute to Curtis Fuller, a tune possibly more familiar these days from the Jazz Messengers’ rendition. The highly syncopated intro is followed by rather exhausting or exhilarating (depending on your point of view) helter-skelter violin and sax solos. ‘Blue Fingers’ adopts a similar approach in the head, with cool retro Hammond from Dunachie, and a brief drum solo by the supremely talented Zoé Pascal.

The cheery swinger ‘Lucy’ opens with a sax/bass duet and settles into a late 1950s New York vibe, with just enough reverb on the violin to suggest a feeling of space, and particularly satisfying when doubled by Eagles’ sax. The melody here is strong, as also on the tender ballad ‘Red’, which follows, with a mellow piano intro, the tune and harmony supplied by violin and sax. ‘Jo’ is an uplifting samba with a lighter feel, introduced by Pascal’s rumbling toms.

The most intriguing cut is ‘The Pharoah’, its shimmering violin intro conjuring up the mysterious Nile Valley, accompanied by ominously surging organ. Green Park should appeal to anyone who enjoyed Tamil Rogeon’s viola jazz album from a couple of years back.

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