Andrew McCormack by Robin Kidson
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Many, if not most jazz musicians these days perform across a wide range of genres and settings. That versatility is partly down to commercial necessity in that it maximises exposure and therefore earnings in a precarious business. But there is also an artistic dimension at play with performers unwilling to be pinned down to one particular form and open to a larger palette of influences perhaps than their predecessors. The eclecticism embraces classical, folk, rock and pop influences as well as the different forms of jazz.
A good example of this versatility is the British pianist and composer, Andrew McCormack, whose latest album, Terra Firma, has recently been released on the Ubuntu label.
Born in 1978, McCormack made his recording debut in 2006 with the release of his acoustic piano trio album, Telescope. 2006 was also 
the year in which he was the BBC Jazz Awards Rising Star. Since then, his creativity has found expression in a number of different ways. As well as continuing to perform with a trio, he has also composed for the London Symphony Orchestra and has studied composition with Mark-Anthony Turnage. Since 2007, he has been a fixture in Kyle (son of Clint) Eastwood’s quintet and has contributed to the scores of Eastwood Senior’s films. He has had a fruitful partnership with saxophonist Jason Yarde with whom he has recorded three critically acclaimed albums. He has played as a sideman with a range of musicians including Denys Baptiste, Jean Toussaint, Gary Crosby and Abram Wilson. He performs solo, and released an album of solo piano music (called, appropriately enough, Solo) in 2020. And he leads his own band, Graviton, which specialises in a unique and highly successful blend of prog-rock and jazz (“prog-jazz”). We wrote about Graviton’s second album, The Calling, back in 2019.
As is the modern way, many of these projects are pursued simultaneously. For the Terra Firma album, McCormack has opted for the acoustic piano trio format. “For the past few years I’ve been focusing on my prog-jazz outfit, Graviton”, he explains, “although I find this genre of music stimulating and a lot of fun, when the lockdowns came upon us, I found myself working on ideas and skills based around the acoustic piano genre again. Musically it’s my home; it’s where I started. Perhaps there was even some comfort in doing that. My instincts tell me that audiences may need the same”.
“Terra Firma”, says McCormack, “must seem like an ironic album title given these constantly shifting times. But despite all the crazy things going on in the world, this record marks out a bit of ‘home turf’ for me. Something that the ancient Latin term denotes as constant solid ground, for me in this instance, means something still very much alive”.
McCormack is joined on the album by up and coming bassist, Joe Downard and the American, but London-based, veteran drummer, Rod Youngs. Much of the music was developed whilst McCormack, like the rest of us, was confined to his home in the Covid lockdowns of 2020/21. Of the twelve tracks, eight are his own compositions many of whose titles refer to the tumult of the last two or three years: Covid, Black Lives Matter, fake news, Ukraine… However, its guiding spirit is not doom and gloom but a hopeful looking forward to better times.
Terra Firma is straight ahead contemporary acoustic piano trio jazz with tuneful melodies and a strong rhythmic pulse, performed 
with a high degree of technical skill; if you’re into Brad Mehldau, then you’ll like Terra Firma a lot. It’s a slow burn – you’ll need a couple of listens or more to appreciate its considerable virtues and to realise that Andrew McCormack is not a Mehldau or Jarrett clone but a considerable and original musician in his own right.
One of Andrew McCormack’s own compositions, Fake News, addresses a contemporary concern, one which, in the words of McCormack, “is truly the scourge of our times as we all seem susceptible given the algorithms of the internet”. It has another catchy, though quite complex melody and is played in a very “jazzy” upbeat way, rather belying the nature of the title. The drumming of Rod Youngs is prominent throughout and he takes an absorbing solo.
The album kicks off with Brooklyn Memoir which remembers McCormack’s three year sojourn living and working in New York. The melody is powerfully catchy and jaunty, showing off both McCormack’s compositional and performing skills. As with many contemporary jazz pianists, there is a strong rock influence at work which is emphasised by the driving percussion of Rod Youngs. In contrast, Clementine Dream has a more retro, pre-rock, fifties feel – Oscar Peterson rather than Herbie Hancock, with just a hint of Thelonious Monk. It is lyrical and upbeat with a short but effective solo from Joe Downard.
Here's a video of a live performance of Clementine Dream:
In a move straight out of the Brad Mehldau guide to contemporary jazz piano, Fragile is a deceptively simple ear worm of a melody which the trio takes on an invigorating cross country run up hill and down dale and back again. The mood is optimistic and upbeat; fragile it is not but hugely enjoyable none the less.
A video of Fragile:
Track number five is Confirmation, a Charlie Parker composition. It begins with McCormack playing solo in an attractive mix of bop and boogie. Bass and drums then join in and the whole thing hits an infectious groove. Click here for a live performance of Confirmation.
Cherry Blossom, says McCormack, “was written in the spring of 2021, where things were starting to look up after a terrible winter and there were finally glimpses of normality on the horizon”. It’s another opportunity for McCormack to show off his prodigious virtuosity in an often intricate solo piece, played with an attractive bluesy optimism. Work is by Thelonious Monk and is typically 
Monkish, a zigzag of fast-paced, edgy exuberance.
Somebody Else’s Song is a slower, reflective piece with a sensitive bass solo from Joe Downard which fits in perfectly with the relaxed feel. Here is a performance video of the track. Second Circle is the longest track on the album and sees McCormack really stretching out, throwing everything into his absorbing improvisations – Monk, Jarrett, Bill Evans, classical, plus a large helping of Andrew McCormack. The tempo changes from moderately quick to wistfully slow in a piece which holds the attention throughout. Some of the greats of modern jazz have had a go at Dear Old Stockholm, Terra Firma’s seventh track. Stan Getz, Miles Davis, John Coltrane… all have recorded versions at one time or another. McCormack’s take is gloriously idiosyncratic. He plays solo throughout and explores every last crevice of the tune in an improvisation which quickly moves from jazz into a classical vein. Both technique and imagination are often quite dazzling. Better To Have Loved is another McCormack original and is a gentle, latin-tinged piece with its own compelling momentum, guaranteed to make feet tap.
The final track is called Prayer for Atonement which McCormack says, “was written as a response to the killing of George Floyd and the chaos that followed it. With the current situation in Ukraine, that prayer continues”. The piece swings effortlessly through several different moods from gentle, tuneful lilt to jagged discordance with an occasional bluesy touch and moments of high, but not somehow angry, intensity. It is a hymn of hope rather than a call to despair and, as such, perhaps sums up the spirt of this uplifting album.
Here is a video of McCormack with a solo version of Prayer for Atonement.
Andrew McCormack and his trio have a number of live dates lined up over the next few months including:
1st November 2022 Pizza Express Jazz Club, Soho, London
4th November 2022 Verdict Café and Jazz Club, Brighton
8th January 2023 Widcombe Social Club, Bath
20th February 2023 Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham
For more details, Andrew McCormack’s website is here. For details and samples of the album click here.
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