Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Marc Hannaford: The Garden of Forking Paths

117

Marc Hannaford: The Garden of Forking Paths

By

View read count
Marc Hannaford: The Garden of Forking Paths
Named after a famous short story by Argentinean writer and poet Jorge Luis Borges, Melbourne-based, twenty-five year-old Australian pianist Marc Hannaford uses a labyrinth-like model, similar to the stories of his namesake, to construct this impressive debut . Hannaford, together with some of the best improvisers in Australia—trumpeter Scott Tinkler, drummer Ken Edie and bassist Phillip Rex—present eight pieces that weave the independent and distinctive voices of his collaborators into a multi-layered texture. The musicians work best in a tight group context. Still, at the same time, their personal improvisational digressions are dazzling, creating an accumulated effect of well-planned narrative and definite solidarity of sound.

Hannaford writes, in his liner notes, that all players worked hard on developing their own rhythmic and melodic languages as means of interacting, free from any genre conventions. Indeed, this kind of conviction and openness to the possibilities of collective and open improvisation is astounding, with all five tracks composed collectively by Hannaford and his players. The composed tracks, like the seventeen-minute opus "G.E.B.," follow a clear and confident framework while stimulating the collaborators to pursue their interpretation. Tinkler—with a sweeping, playful and singing tone that colors Hannaford's more contemplative playing—is most notable, as is Rex, who interacts in a reasoned and authoritative fashion with the pianist.

Hannaford's solo piece, "I'll Go Down...," is striking in its use of his percussive playing to form a counterpoint, as if two pianists are playing the same piano. "Head Check" and "222 1/2" feature Hannaford, Edie and Rex exploring beautifully open-ended textures. On the closing "What Was That?," again with Tinkler, all four musicians follow a more fiery thread, passionately together.

This is the third installment in Extreme Flute's Antipodean series, highlighting Australian artists exploring the boundaries of music, and is a wonderful showcase of some of the great music from Down Under.

Track Listing

Sauna Twins; G.E.B.; Pure Evil; All Booze; I'll Go Down...; Head Check; 222 1/2; What Was That?

Personnel

Marc Hannaford: piano; Scott Tinkler: trumpet (2,4,8); Ken Edie: drums (1-4, 6-8); Phillip Rex: double-bass (1-4, 6-8).

Album information

Title: The Garden Of Forking Paths | Year Released: 2007 | Record Label: Extreme (Australia)

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.