Richard Maegraith Band
Free Running
(Jazzgroove/Creative Vibes)
Rating: ****
Sydney tenor saxophonist Richard Maegraith has appeared on over twenty different recordings since 1994, but this is his debut CD as leader.
He fronts a quintet featuring award-winning vocalist Kristin Berardi who alternates
impressively between singing lyrics, scatting, and voicing wordlessly in ensemble work. Maegraith composed every track save one and solos extensively with a warm tone and advanced ideas drawn from post-bop and free styles, at times swinging, and lusciously lyrical elsewhere.
Jonathan Zwartz’s bass is an important component, especially on Duet for Tenor Sax and Double Bass where, assisted by Tim Firth’s driving drumkit, bass and tenor push each other to an elevated level shifting between powered flight and elegant gliding.
Whisper opens in a Latin beat with Gary Daley’s accordion, Berardi’s voice, and Maegraith’s tenor all moving together in an effective three part frontline arrangement. The Journey begins with Berardi’s softly explorative ballad mode, building to scat solos and a stoking passage from tenor.
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This review first appeared in The Weekend Australian and is republished with permission.
