Between Spaces of Knowing.
Lucy Clifford
ABC Jazz
Four and a Half Stars ****
When the time arrives to seek out and relax to music infused with tranquil beauty one should consider this album. Featuring a collective of some of Sydney’s diverse artists in improvised music – Thomas Avgenicos (trumpet), David Reglar (tenor saxophone), Freyja Garbett (piano), Alex Masso (drums) and Chris Fields (percussion) – Lucy Clifford’s compositions (and her bass playing) provide balm for the soul, drawing inspiration from life’s in-between moments of contemplation, where we meet our real selves. Inspired by defining life reflections that lead to new understandings, her music aims to remind listeners how much we can learn from finding presence in the many spaces and places we find ourselves.
Her compositions are often gorgeous in their subtle shadings and multi-hued layers, melding jazz and improvised music with a kaleidoscope of influences from her band’s explorations in Latin, Indian, West African, Caribbean and American musical traditions.
From the pensive opener, ‘Breathe’, with birdsong sitting beside electric bass improvisation, to the delicate conversation emerging among all the players on ‘Drift’, Clifford’s tuneful instincts always prevail. There is also playfulness in abundance on the track ‘Where We Listen’, with its jaunty sensibility. However, for the most part her music stays within its relatively cool and placid comfort zone, and that is all to the good, especially for those moments in which a calming respite from the world’s madness is what is most needed.
-Barry O’Sullivan