Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Pascal Marzan Alex Ward: (VU)

3

Pascal Marzan Alex Ward: (VU)

By

View read count
Pascal Marzan  Alex Ward: (VU)
Although (VU) is the first album on which guitarist Pascal Marzan and clarinetist & guitarist Alex Ward have collaborated as a duo, it comes as no surprise as (until Covid-19) each of them was a well-established repeat visitor to the late, great John Russell's monthly Mopomoso improvised music sessions at London's Vortex. (The YouTube clip below shows Marzan and Ward performing there together, in 2015, in a trio with cellist Alice Eldridge). In 2017, they were both among the musicians selected to appear at Russell's annual three-day improv festival Fête Quaqua (as was Eldridge), Russell being a close friend of each of them; he and Ward were near neighbours; he and Marzan often played together, recording one duo album. So, all things considered, (VU) had a certain inevitability about it.

Studio-recorded in London, in January and March 2019, the album features Marzan on his instrument of choice, a ten-string microtonal acoustic guitar, with Ward solely on clarinet rather than doubling on electric guitar as he sometimes does. The album's six tracks range in length from about seven-and-a-half minutes to just over fourteen, totaling sixty-nine minutes. Straight from the start, it is obvious that Marzan and Ward make an ideal duo; not only do the sounds of their instruments perfectly complement one another, so do their playing styles. Crucially, neither of them dominates or hogs the limelight; instead, there is a restrained dialogue throughout, conducted politely, with each player showing respect and paying attention to the other. Marzan never adopts the role of accompanist but interweaves with Ward's playing in ways which subtly shape it and his own. The end result is music which is simultaneously both mellow and stimulating, owing as much to the pairing as to each player separately. (VU) sounds like the beginning of a long and fruitful partnership. Bravo!

Track Listing

Tipping Point; Wobbles; Salinisation; Dimming; Continental Drift; High Seas.

Personnel

Alex Ward
multi-instrumentalist
Pascal Marzan
guitar, 12-string

Album information

Title: (VU) | Year Released: 2020 | Record Label: Copepod Records

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.