Thoughts about Richard Maegraith Band album Free Running
by Matt McMahon
Richard Maegraith, like the musicians he has assembled for this recording, is one of the most respected musicians in the city in which he spends most of his time – Sydney. It is always tempting to list the great achievements of a musicians career and the great players with whom he has worked over years of performances and recordings. But improvising is always about being in the moment, making real time decisions and looking ahead - which is something all of the musicians on this recording manifest again and again throughout these series of pieces.
Richard and I played together a lot when we first met as students at the Sydney Conservatorium in 1993. He displayed in those days the skills that would serve him well on his path towards a career in music – technique, versatility, a gift for melody, composing and arranging flair, deep knowledge of and respect for the great contributors on his chosen instruments.
But what I hear on this recording are the parts of Richard’s nature shining through. He is a person with a great commitment to music and a person of great integrity in all parts of his life. His warm, fluid sound, is used in the service of deep communication. Richard’s compositions on this recording display a love for jazz but venture into other territory, original territory whenever the expression demands it. Much preparation is needed for a recording session such as this – composing , selecting which compositions will work well together. But in the end what we hear is the result of Richard asking other musical spirits to come on a journey with him to a place that by its nature is always going to be somewhat unknown. He has assembled a cast of collaborators who have come together to create something new.
For me, when I hear this music, I hear musical voices and personalities conversing on the compositions Richard has brought to the table. All of the musicians are known to me in various ways and I have the utmost respect for them. Jonathan Zwartz has always combined a deep groove with natural lyricism which you can hear throughout this recording. Gary Daley brings his skills on accordion and fender Rhodes to this session contributing powerful solos and ensemble playing which is always alert to what is going on around him. Tim Firth in his few years on the scene has established himself as a drummer who is simultaneously powerful and tasteful. Kristen Berardi has been making international waves for a few years now – her ease of delivery and her attention to the detail of the singers craft always at the service of musical expression.
Communication – that is the essence of the sounds we hear on Free Running. What this album communicates is the joy of communication itself – friends who are prepared to listen and contribute to a musical dialogue which ebbs and flows with its own shape. When I listen I have the simultaneous pleasure of hearing beautiful sounds and hearing the individual musical voices of my friends exploring, creating, and sharing something together. Now we can all share in it too.
Matt McMahon, January 2008
Review of Free Running by David Arivett of the Christian Jazz Artists Network
Sophisticated yet soulful is how you best can describe the new release from the Richard Maegrath Band! The CD contains original jazz material that is very unique and refreshing! Top musicianship all around from everyone, including female jazz vocalist Kristin Bernardi who has great command of her vocal dynamics who scats, be-bops, and communicates with a Kurt Elling type vocal intensity as well. The writing is outstanding - Tenor Saxophonist Richard Maegrath penned almost every song on the CD. The harmonic chord structure continually surprises without straying to far out in a-tonal la-la land. There is also an overall great emotional impact on the listener...so much jazz music loses the average un-initiated listener with over-lengthy improv solos, but the improv/soloing on this CD is tasteful and enhances the melody and mood of the songs. Richard's Tenor sax is a sound and voice that is coming from way down deep in his heart, drawing the listener into the songs. Very nice Rhodes keyboard work, acoustic bass, and drums all contribute to making this an outstanding CD to be savored and enjoyed!
Review of Free Running by Jason Goroncy for Per Crucem Ad Lucem
The great Canadian jazz pianist and vocalist Oscar Peterson once observed about jazz, ‘It’s the group sound that’s important, even when you’re playing a solo. You not only have to know your own instrument, you must know the others and how to back them up at all times. That’s jazz’.
He is right, of course; and that is one of the reasons why I’ve really enjoyed listening to Richard Maegraith’s debut album, Free Running. Richard is a Sydney-based jazz musician - a gifted tenor saxophonist - who has pulled together a small group of equally talented artists - Gary Daley (keyboards), Kristin Berardi (vocals), Jonathon Zwartz (bass) and Tim Firth (drums) - to produce not just a bunch of great songs but, more impressively, a whole story which is, powerfully, an echo of the Story and in which no voice is drowned in the crowd.
The opening track, ‘Whisper’, is a playful, unencumbered explosion of colour, and a fitting prelude to the second track, ‘Eden’s Story’, with which one is invited, even thrown, into a story that will carry the listener through the whole album, Kristin Berardi’s haunting vocals promising that this is only the beginning, and that there’s something more significant to come.
By the time we get mid-way through the album - with tracks ‘The Journey’, ‘Propitiation’, and ‘Duet For Tenor Sax and Double Bass’ - we’ve all warmed up and we are given to see not just the boldness of a talented saxophonist, but a sensitivity to, and respect for, each other among all the players. You don’t get the sense that anyone is trying to show off unduly, and there’s certainly no sense of competing egos at work here.
The final two tracks, ‘Expectantly Waiting For You’, and ‘Highland Cathedral’, betray the joy and release of those who have been taken into and through the Propitiation, those ‘felons not to hopelessness’ and ‘free to love’. There is playfulness … at last.
Returning again to Oscar Peterson. He once suggested that ‘Some people try to get very philosophical and cerebral about what they’re trying to say with jazz. You don’t need any prologues, you just play. If you have something to say of any worth then people will listen to you’. Free Running deserves to be listened to not just because it plays but because of what it says. You can check out more about the album here or on Richard’s Myspace page.
Review of Free Running by Roger Mitchell for the Sunday Herald Sun
THE Garden of Eden story confronts beauty and desire. Free Running reaches into that well of emotion, yet lifts our thoughts heavenwards with sublime saxophone and quiet strength in vocals.
Maegraith's saxophone and Kristin Berardi's voice are focal points, with Jonathon Zwartz (bass) adding great drive, backed by Gary Daley (accordion and Fender Rhodes) and Tim Firth (drums).
Berardi's voice is intriguingly compelling, whether scatting or when, in interpreting lyrics, her phrasing conveys deep meaning. Examples are Eden's Story, beginning with Maegraith's exquisite solo and later featuring the slow rumble of Zwartz's bass, and Highland Cathedral -- the words her love song for her husband and anticipated baby.
Extended sax solos on The Journey and Expectantly Waiting for You offer a gritty alternative to soulful, plaintive vocals.
Maegraith's Christian belief informs Free Running without running over the music.
Roger Mitchell 10th August 2008
Review of Free Running by Rod Bennett for the Manly Daily
THERE’S a warmth about the jazz album Free Running by Richard Maegraith with some sublime tenor sax. It would be fitting to hear this coming out of an obscure, smokey jazz joint (isn’t smoke banned from jazz joints) in some laneway. Adding extra class to the pervading mellowness is vocalist Kristin Berardi. Each musician on Free Running applies a deft and subtle hand. There’s nothing overbearing about this recording. Even the scatting by Berardi in The Journey blends comfortably. Yet this is followed by a blistering sax solo by Maegraith revealing variety and a depth of talent.
Rod Bennett 1st August 2008
