Scottish saxophonist Laura Macdonald and Swedish drummer Martina Almgren have been attracting press headlines for - whatever next? - being women who play jazz.
It's true that having two women as co-leaders of a band is slightly unusual. The real story here, however, is that the pair, who got together as part of last February's Jazz from Sweden initiative and have cemented the partnership with subsequent gigs and a brand-new CD, are producing some of the freshest-sounding jazz on the current scene.
They share composing credits equally and while both show a liking for dance metres, there's a variety of approach in their writing that over two 45-minute sets makes for a really satisfying and stimulating listen.
Macdonald's The Land of Beauty sets out to pay homage to her native traditional music beguilingly, although its ultimate compulsion lies in a church music vibe that pianist Paul Harrison brings out in one of a series of brilliantly imaginative solos. The saxophonist herself can sing, although she doesn't here, and there's a vocal quality in the way she phrases, as if she's thinking of lyrics as she plays.
Almgren's contribution, as well as the brightly melodic Juliett and Bingo, which in a different setting could easily metamorphose into jazz-funk, really emphasises the group's European origins and inclinations.
With bassist Mario Caribe providing the ever-reliable root, Almgren can really make the music breathe, opening up the rhythms with an industry tempered by a light, musical touch. Her drumming, very much from the Nordic school of rhythm, emphasises a composition's contours and supports the soloists' creativity without drawing unnecessary attention to itself.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article