THURSDAY, 29 OCTOBER 2009
EAST OF EAST 7TH STREET REVIEW IN THE SCOTSMAN
Review in The Scotsman Newspaper 11/10/09
Category: Music
JAZZ
KEVIN MACKENZIE: EAST OF EAST 7TH STREET
****
LAUNDRY ROOM MUSIC, £9.78
Guitarist Kevin MacKenzie is firmly established as a leading figure on the Scottish jazz scene, but this collaboration with three New York-based musicians reflects a period he spent in that city. Ten of the 12 tracks feature the guitarist with bassist Boris Kozlov and drummer Ben Perowsky in a trio that digs deeply into MacKenzie's compositions. Two more tracks, the lengthy Dr K's Conundrum and The Life Sprinter, also feature the addition of Donny McCaslin's probing, inventive tenor saxophone work. Mackenzie's fluid exploration of the melodic and harmonic possibilities of his compositions is complemented by thoughtful and responsive interplay from his colleagues, and Kozlov (a Russian emigrant to the New York scene) provides ample evidence of his own prowess as a soloist. Intelligent and often absorbing contemporary jazz.
