Reviews
John Donegan: The Irish Sextet:
Light Streams
****
UK-based Corkonian pianist John Donegan and his Irish Sextet follow up their well-received
Shadows Linger album with this conversely
titled Light Streams. Their satisfying, well- structured straight-ahead is shot through with excitement and lyricism – not least in the
no-nonsense opener.
Michael Buckley leads with flute on the beautifully gliding title track, accompaniment stripped down to Donegan’s always well-considered piano, bass
and shushing cymbals.
The Scotsman - Jim Gilchrist
However, this latest recording, probably the best thing I’ve heard this year, features what many would describe as jazz instrumentation (saxophones, trumpet, bass, piano and drums), yet offers a much wider musical approach.
Given that the album is available on Bandcamp, which offers the opportunity to ‘try-before-you- buy’, I’d strongly recommend you give this a listen. It might prove to be the musical highlight of your year too.
Light Streams - Ileach - Brian Palmer
Album review: John Donegan - The Irish Sextet, Light Streams. The standard six-piece line-up of trumpet, tenor, alto, piano, bass and drums may be suggestive of a hard-blowing Messenger's session which it sometimes is. However, there's more - much more. Donegan's charts and compositions whilst fully imbued with the modern jazz tradition also incorporate several aspects of Irish folk music. He does this seamlessly aided and abetted by the fabulous Buckley boys who meet the challenges faced on their respective horns with much aplomb. Buckley, M emotive on flute, exploratory on soprano and fiery on alto.
Donegan, although now based in the UK (Herts), has created a distinctive voice that is neither totally, Irish, nor English or American. It's all and none - it's his. Highly recommended.
Bebop Spoken Here
Donegan is Irish, but is based in London where he runs a local sextet. This though, is his Irish band, drawn from all four corners of the island of Ireland and quite stirring in both its energetic responses to Donegan's original compositions and the sheer panache of the solo extemporisations.
All 10 pieces are his, their heft ranging from the 'annoyingly catchy 'Shake It Up, in
sleeve-note writer Brian Priestley's words, which blasts off like a fusillade, the various horns mixing it. much like a bar-room brawl, Hamilton at full tilt and the brothers Buckley slugging it out. In contrast, the title track's lyrical theme is taken gently by Hamilton on flugel, the saxes quietly chording at the end.
'Raffy's Blues, named for a grandson, features some assertive alto by Michael Buckley, clearly an extrovert, no-holds-barred sort of a player, this with its own distinctive metre, Hamilton again prominent. 'Sole Shuffle has an understated Latin rhythm, Donegan's evocative piano its standout and Bodwell getting his sole bass solo. 'Got A Spring In My Step' lives up to its title; it's lively in a post-bop fashion. In that each piece has merit and interest, it's the sheer elan of the playing that stays in the mind.
Both Buckleys are formidable improvisers, direct and forceful. and Hamilton as one knew from earlier encounters is a very considerable figure in Northern Irish jazz and fully lives up to his reparation here. That said, it's Donegan's album after all. his compositional flair well demonstrated and his pianism intriguing yet poised.
Jazzwise review
This is probably as good as anything currently being recorded in Ireland. North or south of the border, either side of the Irish Sea, maybe even either side of the Atlantic - it's that good! The standard six-piece line-up of trumpet, tenor, alto, piano, bass and drums may be suggestive of a hard-blowing Messenger's session which it sometimes is. However, there's more - much more. Donegan's charts and compositions whilst fully imbued with the modern jazz tradition also incorporate several aspects of Irish folk music. He does this seamlessly aided and abetted by the fabulous Buckley boys who meet the challenges faced on their respective horns with much aplomb.
Bebop spoken
“Donegan and his sextet members do not set out to reinvent the wheel with Shadows Linger, which is just as well, because in sticking to what they know and love, they have delivered a memorable straight ahead album of vintage calibre.”
By Ian Patterson | All About Jazz
“An impressive offering from Donegan in which he demonstrates his command of a variety of jazz styles, as both pianist and composer. As a writer he also demonstrates an unfailing gift for melody.”
by Ian Mann | the Jazz mann
“An unusual record because it is so heart on sleeve and because it is so timeless in the sense that it doesn't really belong to any obvious era. But of course Shadows Linger has a wistful sense of composure and quiet, blinking in the dappled sunlight, dignity to it.”
marlbank.net