(ACT)Think of jazz violin and one recalls sprightly swing fiddlers such as Joe Venuti or Stephane Grappelli,or perhaps the proggy electric explorations of Jean-Luc Ponty or Michael Urbaniak. Polish violinist Adam Baldych must thus be commended for developing a totally recent vocabulary for the jazz violin. He usually starts songs pizzicato, playing clawhammer style like a folk guitarist – and when he does exhaust his bow, and he often uses it to create whispery,distorted effects. He’s also obliging at strong, sturdy melodies: the prairie-wide Dreamer nods towards Charlie Haden, and the country waltz Karina recalls Keith Jarrett,while the 5/4 puzzle that is Mosaic sees him spitting out notes like Wayne Shorter. Pianist Helge Lien, a Lyle Mays to his Pat Metheny, and proves a stronger foil than Baldych’s previous accompanists. If there’s a problem here it’s that Baldych’s improvisational style – a silky,smooth, undisrupted flow of notes – slips down so easily that youbarely notice that anything’s happening.
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Source: theguardian.com