Review

MUSIC

ANDERSEN, SMITH, COSKER ****

THE HUB, EDINBURGH

IF THE Jazz Festival had an award for grace under pressure, than it would surely have to go to drummer Alyn Cosker.

As Norwegian bass maestro Arild Andersen revealed after the trio had played his challenging multi-part commission celebrating the centenary of Norwegian independence, the drummer had not only never played with them before, but had not even had a chance to rehearse.

That would not have been remotely obvious from the assured and inventive way he dovetailed into the absorbing three-way dialogue of their multifacted music. Cosker has worked extensively with Tommy Smith in other settings, but was standing in here for Paolo Vinaccia, the drummer featured on Andersen and Smith's forthcoming album which furnished the material for this excellent concert.

Andersen takes the art of bass playing into rarefied regions as a matter of course, and in his hands the classic anchor of the band is a solo instrument of remarkable flexibility. His use of electronic effects – including real-time sampling of his own playing, which was then employed in a layering effect – added even more depth to his expressive palette.

Tommy Smith also employed some judicious echo and reverb on his tenor saxophone, and his powerful soloing in what might be facetiously regarded as his "Jan Garbarek mode" – in terms of a lustrous, keening sonority rather than content – provided a gripping complement to Andersen's richly sonorous inventions.

They return to Scotland (with Vinaccia) in December – not to be missed.