Musik / jazz

If you knew her


Anmeldelser (2)


All about jazz

d. 8. jan. 2014

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C. Michael Bailey

d. 8. jan. 2014

"London-based singer Zara McFarlane perfects her blend of austere instrumentation and mantra-like rhythms supporting her rich and warm voice that owe more to Mongo Santamaria than reputedly Nina Simone or Roberta Flack. An album centerpiece, "Woman in the Olive Groves" undulates like "Afro Blue" while being able to act as its logical prelude. Backed by a traditional rhythm trio, McFarlane fulfills the potential of her subtle and muscular voice which sets perfectly against Brinker Golding's obtuse and probing tenor saxophone solo. Pianist Peter Edwards sinks McCoy Tyner chords into the ground like tent poles erected for elemental cover. It is this brief and honest instrumental and vocal simplicity that McFarlane, in her compositions, brings to this modern amalgam of jazz and soul ... The sole non-original composition is Junior Murvin's 1977 "Police & Thieves," later covered by the Clash. McFarlane takes the song far afield of Murvin's original Jah-happy rebellion and theClash'sboiling mercury version into the blended jazz-soul terrain of 21st Century London. A gentle heart is Zara McFarlane's, one that burns in a low smolder of creation".


DownBeat

2014 March

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Anthony Dean-Harris

2014 March

"The whole album swells and contracts in scope. At times, it's just McFarlane solo with Edwards on piano or Gavin Barras on double bass. At other times, it's a full sextet. All the while, McFarlane's intent is clear, her feelings conveyed".