London Jazz Festival Preview (16): MY Duo

MY Duo at the 606 Club, double bill with Jason Yarde's Trio WAH, Tuesday 16th November. Video above, Tune for Toro by Mark Anthony Turnage. Preview by Fran Hardcastle.

Next Tuesday pianist Andrew McCormack and saxophonist Jason Yarde bring their critically acclaimed MY Duo to the festival for a second year, in a double bill with Yarde’s Trio WAH at the 606.

Independently, both fine musicians have an established pedigree as performers. McCormack is a key member of the Kyle Eastwood Quintet and also regularly performs with Denys Baptiste and Jean Toussaint. Yarde has performed with a ream of famous names from McCoy Tyner to Roy Ayers in addition to his work as an arranger and producer. Both also have equal success as composers with jazz and strong contemporary classical influences. Yarde’s work includes commissions for the LSO and BBC Concert Orchestra. Mentored by Mark-Anthony Turnage, McCormack has composed music for some of Clint Eastwood’s recent films and also been commissioned by the LSO, with François Xavier Roth conducting his work, Incentive(video below).

The result is thought provoking, captivating music from the two composers. You can expect some contemporary classical influences, but the harmonic and rhythmic praxis of jazz remains pivotal. Whilst they can create texturally large scale musical landscapes, they don’t shy away from creating space by interplaying clear melodic motifs in both piano and sax. Performances of tracks from their critically acclaimed album Joy and Ears bring a balance of delicately beautiful moments pitted against funkier head nodding charts. Years of playing together give them the kind of partnership that can finish one another’s musical sentences. They’re a duo with a sound like no other.

Jason Yarde and Andrew McCormack will appear on In Tune, this Friday, 5pm on BBC Radio 3.