Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Torben Waldorff: Wah-Wah

Torben Waldorff: Wah-Wah

By Eyal Hareuveni
October 16, 2012
View read count

Danish-born, Sweden-based guitarist Torben Waldorff takes the leading role on Wah-Wah as main soloist, putting his melodic integrity, and a natural leadership that stresses tight group interplay, up front. All his original compositions feature the guitarist's gift for structuring engaging melodies with rich and sophisticated harmonic patterns and tasteful and economic solos, all varied in moods and colors but never indulging in excess. Waldroff's American quartet, featured on this album, toured with these tunes right before heading to the recording studio.

Waldorff's compositions are built on strong and clear melodic lines, enabling the quartet to communicate with playful, balanced interplay, creating an accumulated emotional cohesion. The album begins with the soft, lyrical melody or "Circle and Up," abstracted beautifully by veteran pianist

Gary Versace

piano

" data-original-title="" title="">Gary Versace—a key member in other guitarists' bands such as

John Scofield

guitar
b.1951

" data-original-title="" title="">John Scofield and

John Abercrombie

guitar
1944 - 2017

" data-original-title="" title="">John Abercrombie—in a manner that brings to mind early collaborations between guitarist

Pat Metheny

guitar
b.1954

" data-original-title="" title="">Pat Metheny and keyboardist

Lyle Mays

keyboards
1953 - 2020

" data-original-title="" title="">Lyle Mays. The breezy "You Here" features bassist

Matt Clohesy

bass

" data-original-title="" title="">Matt Clohesy trading angular lines with Waldorff, while "Ginga" is a playful, straight-up jazzy tune, and a perfect showcase for the quartet's playful interplay.

"Fat#2" is built on repeated light, funky lines, developed with reserve, and connects organically with the lightly swinging "Poolside." "Evac" leaves more room for intense group improvisation, where Versace and Waldorff's unison lines stretch the melodic core, and Clohesy's muscular playing solidifies the melody. On "Cutoff (The Eleventh Bar)," drummer

Jon Wikan

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Jon Wikan's driving rhythmic sense pushes Waldroff's guitar flights, his shifting rhythmic patterns also challenging the guitarist on the following "Burtsong." The album concludes with the touching, country blues "Country and Fish (to play us out...)." Its straight-ahead melody and infectious harmonic development summarize the essence of this album.

A beautifully crafted set of melodies.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

Circle and Up; You Here; Ginga; Fat#2; Poolside; Evac; Cutoff; Burtsong; Country and Fish.

Personnel

Torben Waldorff

guitar, electric

Torben Waldorff: guitar; Gary Versace: piano, Fender Rhodes, organ; Matt Clohesy: bass; Jon Wikan: drums.

Album information

Title: Wah-Wah | Year Released: 2012 | Record Label: ArtistShare

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Year of the Bullet
< Previous

Live
Next >

Support All About Jazz

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.