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Matt Carmichael: Marram

By Chris May
November 22, 2022
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The first thing to register, within the opening few bars of Glaswegian tenor saxophonist Matt Carmichael's sophomore album, is how remarkably similar his sound is to that of New York's emerging saxophone colossus

Oded Tzur

saxophone, tenor

" data-original-title="" title="">Oded Tzur. In an interview with All About Jazz in summer 2022, the Israeli-born Tzur named his primary formative influence as the great

Dexter Gordon

saxophone, tenor
1923 - 1990

" data-original-title="" title="">Dexter Gordon. Whether Carmichael cut his teeth on Gordon's Blue Note albums of the 1960s is not known, but it sounds well possible. Like Tzur, he mixes full-throated broken-note vocalisations with passages of lush romaticism.

The parallels do not stop there. Coincidentally, Carmichael's jazz, like Tzur's, inhabits a non-jazz tradition. Tzur's is classical Indian raga, Carmichael's is Scottish folk music. Both musics are lyrical, rhythmically charged, and scalar rather than chordal. There is a difference however. Raga's melodic resolutions are often unpredictable, while in Scottish folk music, in common with all folk music the world over, each resolution can be heard coming a mile away. Consequently, after a while the listener's interest may pall.

Most of the time, however, Carmichael, while staying broadly within its parameters, tweaks the tradition. His compositions— all nine tunes here were written by him—frequently take unexpected melodic turns. The result is music that does more than oil the wheels of social interaction, offering something to think about, too.

The band on Marram is the same as the one on Carmichael's well-received debut, Where Will The River Flow (Porthole, 2021), with one addition. The lineup is completed by pianist

Fergus McCreadie

piano
b.1997

" data-original-title="" title="">Fergus McCreadie, double bassist

Ali Watson

bass

" data-original-title="" title="">Ali Watson, drummer

Tom Potter

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Tom Potter and a new member, fiddler

Charlie Stewart

violin

" data-original-title="" title="">Charlie Stewart. Stewart's role is in the main supportive, providing colour, and Carmichael is the chief soloist. McCreadie's big moment centrestage is on "Horizon," at 9:58 the lengthiest track, on which he takes the middle section, playing a solo which starts quietly and builds to a giddying intensity.

One comes away from Marram sensing that Carmichael is not done with developing his musical hybrid. Some fifteen years or so younger than Oded Tzur, his journey is still on its first steps. It will be interesting to follow its progress.

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Track Listing

The Far Away Ones; Dune; Road To The Sea; Waves; Marram; Horizon; On The Gloaming Shore (Pt.1); On The Gloaming Shore (Pt.2).

Personnel

Matt Carmichael

saxophone, tenor

Charlie Stewart

violin

Fergus McCreadie

piano

Ali Watson

bass

Tom Potter

drums

Album information

Title: Marram | Year Released: 2022 | Record Label: Edition Records

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