Epoch

5-STARS If one of the vibraphone giants, a longtime dean of the Berklee College of Music, and also the man who helped Metheny in the beginning of his career - Gary Burton puts McCarthy the highest mark "extraordinary musical proficiency and unlimited imagination", it is difficult to pass this disc without interest. If we add three more names from the record - violinist Mark Feldman, guitarist Ben Monder and bass player Steve Swallow, we will receive the announcement of a "jazz morning".

The entire program released by the American record label Origin Records was released by Dan McCarthy, but the role of the other three - Ben Monder (heard on the last album of David Bowie "Blackstar"), Mark Feldman (collaborator John Zorn, Mark Ribot and Dave Douglas) and Steve Swallow (collaborator of Jimmy Giuffre, Gary Burton and Carla Bley) is not just about giving their names, because every jazz fan knows that the names themselves do not play. Feldman and Swallow are masters of their instruments, each of them is a reference point for many jazz violinists and bass guitarists. Operating in the dark, warm sound of the guitar Ben Monder brings to the whole the element of mystery, uncertainty.

Six subtle, sometimes dark songs create a homogeneous story, full of suggestive moods, with numerous controlled expositions of instrumentalists. Such configuration of instruments wibrafon / skrzypce / bass / electric guitar introduces an additional element of freshness. And what is equally important, the four instrumentalists, drawing on the world of contemporary chamber music, which Mark Feldman often performs, has recorded a record that is difficult to classify.

On the album "Epoch", we deal with a completely different sensitivity and imagination than on the records of other vibraphonists known to me. It is a visionary project, full of creative fantasy, but above all it is a beautiful music that is listened to with great pleasure.

The New York Times reviewer Nate Chinen on Dana McCarthy wrote "A vibraphonist with a charismatic and pointedly contemporary style". Listening to his new album recorded with such personalities of contemporary jazz, I subscribe to this sentence with both hands!