Trio Nadurra is the moniker of a new North East jazz trio made up of Barry Middleton on piano, Fraser Peterkin on drums and Peter Lowit on the double bass. They recently launched their first album, a stellar collection 'Under the Stars' and kicked things off with a stunning set at The Blue Lamp. Now when it comes to jazz, I know very little but I do own a copy of 'Time Out, Time Further Out' by Dave Brubeck, that's the extent of my jazz listening up to this point apart from the odd hip hop sample.
It was actually my friend Neil who put me onto Trio Nadurra, also a DJ with incredible knowledge of many genres, he was tasked with working on some of the album artwork along with Aberdeen artist Jo Gannon who created the sketches of the band above. Its no surprise that some effort has been put into the albums artwork and design having met drummer Fraser many years ago when he was still a fresh faced painter at Grays School of Art (even then drumming was his passion). So the album looked good but what about the music...
Well I'm told its jazz! And if this is jazz then I'm a fan. Sweeping piano, sharp drum patterns and deep tone double bass all merge and swirl together, each getting their moment to shine but all collectively working together to form a sound that is at once powerful but also understated. Songs like 'Juju' really jump and rumble while others sweep and swerve taking the listener into new territory, different from my current favourites like DJ Koze but yet no so far removed upon deeper listening. But trying to unpick the sound is a pointless task really, music should be played and listened too and if you dig it you dig it. As with anything that people have put their heart into its good to recognise and appreciate the fruits of their labour and 'Under the Stars' deserves some attention.
Live the band sounded incredible with each player finding the space they need to shine with incredible solo's (its often hard to find a good bass solo these days) and the mixture of on point covers and originally material made for a perfect blend. For me the true test will be to pop the tunes on while cleaning the flat (its how I discovered Dave Brubeck) and if they can take me somewhere else as I dust the mantle piece then its job done. For a taster of the trio check out the soundcloud links below and check out their Facebook page for more info about 'Under the Stars'.
