Andrew McCormack - First Light (2014)

Andrew McCormack is a composer and pianist at the pinnacle of his creative powers. Born in 1978 in the UK and now residing in New York, McCormack has built a formidable reputation as one of Britain's hottest pianists and a composer of undeniable skill and talent. In 2007 McCormack burst onto the scene with his debut album, Telescope, a masterful recording that fused the pianist's inimitable free flowing melodic lines with his powerful rhythmic pulse to memorable effect. Since then, McCormack has toured the globe as a bandleader with his trio and in duo with saxophonist Jason Yarde, with whom he has released the acclaimed albums, MY Duo in 2010 and Places and Other Spaces in 2011. As a sideman, McCormack has been the driving force behind A-list jazzers Kyle Eastwood, Eric Alexander, Denys Baptiste and Jean Toussaint, as well as a host of home grown talent. Developing and honing a skilfully original approach to writing and performance in the jazz tradition, McCormack has captivated audiences with his emotional and expressive style combined with a yearning, emotive aesthetic, which might be described as quintessentially British. His move to New York has arguably added an even greater sense of swing, dynamic group interplay and a mesmeric live sound. The result is a world-class pianist and formidable composer, who is ready to take that career-defining stride on to the international stage. With a stable home at Edition Records, new management, great press and a forthcoming trio album First Light, along with the crack New York team of Zack Lober on bass and Colin Stranahan on drums, 2014 looks set to be Andrew McCormack's year.

Since he adopted New York, the British pianist Andrew McCormack has accelerated beyond the strengths he had already displayed in Britain through the noughties. He likes the postbop jazz tradition and isn't in thrall to any current piano persuasion whether Brad Mehldau's countermelodic dances, or Vijay Iyer's mathematical audacities. But McCormack never sounds stuck in the past, because his own themes are delightful, his touch is fresh and light, and he swings by understatement as well as full-on drive. This sleek trio set features the pianist with his New York rhythm section of Zack Lober on bass and Colin Stranahan on drums Stranahan will also play McCormack's gig at London's Pizza Express Jazz Club on 10 July. Springy, Jarrett-like pieces such as the joyous Prospect Park mingle with memorable songs like the anthemic Gotham Soul, with its sonorous melody over a quietly baroque ostinato. The ambiguous and restless Leap of Faith, the title track's sighing ballad that turns to a Bill Evans sway, and an elegantly un-Monklike but warmly celebratory account of Thelonious Monk's Pannonica, all testify to McCormack's arrival on the world jazz stage. --The Guardian

Varied in pace and mood, and very effectively programmed, each track is a concise and satisfyingly complete performance. 4 STARS --The Observer

British-born New Yorker Andrew McCormack dives into the deep waters of the piano trio with his third recording for respected UK indie label Edition. New statements in this densely populated format are rare, and McCormack, based on the evidence here, isn t exactly trying to change the world. But in absorbing and processing his influences most audibly Keith Jarrett s early trios, along with bits of Fred Hersch, Brad Meldhau and perhaps a hint of Esbjorn Svensson the 30-something pianist is certainly beginning to carve out his own territory. With assistance from his New York rhythm section (bassist Zack Lorber and drummer Colin Stranahan), McCormack s eight original compositions and one Thelonious Monk cover reveal a taste for rhythmic surprise, a knack for melodic sweetness, and an elegiac way with ballads. Promising. --The Irish TImes