My love for jazz duos has manifested itself this past several months. It’s a fascinating format to me. Whether it’s drum/sax, drum/violin, double bass/piano or something else, the premise is a stripped down, organic and raw way of experiencing jazz.
For this particular title, recorded in 1974, we have Jackie Mac trading chops with drummer Michael Carvin and the result is a very enjoyable album which explores percussive rhythms, symbiotic alto/drums statements, ethnic leaning flute/alto passages and African influenced voice concepts. I find it pretty amazing that these two cats created this multifaceted music just the two of them, with the help of an alto sax, drums, temple blocks, bells, bamboo flute, voices, kalimba, piano and percussion.
The pièce de résistance is the title track which stretches on for 17 minutes and incorporates plenty of amazing passages featuring several, if not all of the instruments mentioned above. I also really enjoy the alto/drums portion of the last tune.
This is for me one of Jackie’s most interesting albums and can be enjoyed with an open mind towards ethnic music. You will be presented with more jazz coloured stuff to savour as well, but it feels like the majority of the music expands well beyond the jazz spectrum.