Mike Nock Project
Meeting of the Waters
Jazzhead
By John McBeath
Rating: ****1/2
Few Australian jazz musicians have won more plaudits, played with more top rank global performers, and been an inspiration to as many artists as Sydney pianist/composer Mike Nock.
This latest release contains all originals, as fresh and laden with ideas as nine high calibre artists delivering outstanding arrangements can make it.
Success is partly due to extraordinary musical co-operation, not only betweeen Nock’s established piano trio, but also amongst the additional four horns, guitar and vibes.
Ensemble playing – often complex – is so precise it could be a single instrument, and the solo work reaches passionate levels, especially from saxophonists Julien Wilson, Tim Wilson and Nock’s synoptic piano.
Patience showcases the impressive trumpet of Eugene Ball against serene ensemble and piano figures.
Guitar and vibes produce some restrained, highly effective interplay on Atavism, and Meeting of The Waters, a soul-based piece underpinned by piano and bass patterns, has James Greening’s trombone parading a bluesy authority.
This review first appeared in The Weekend Australian and is republished with permission.
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Mike Nock Project
Meeting of the Waters
Jazzhead
By John Kelman
Think globally, act locally could well be Mike Nock’s musical philosophy.
