Catherine & Wind: Duo Art – New Folks

Rating: ★★★

Record and Artist Details

Musicians:

Philip Catherine (g)
Martin Wind (b)

Label:

ACT

March/2014

Catalogue Number:

9621-2

RecordDate:

3-4 April 2013

Back in the mists of ancient jazz time, Charles Mingus gave Belgian guitarist Philip Catherine the nickname ‘Young Django’. Several decades later, Catherine still plays with a loose swing feel that immediately calls Reinhardt to mind, even though his improvisational style is avowedly modelled on that of some of the great horn players. Here, ACT head honcho Siggi Loch has teamed Catherine (who, at 71, should perhaps now be referred to as ‘Old Django’) with bassist Martin Wind. The result is a delightful, intimate acoustic run through of a mixture of originals and standards. Oscar Pettiford's ‘Blues in the Closet’ captures the duo at their rockiest and most electric-sounding; Paul McCartney's ‘Jenny Wren’ finds them more subdued but still twinkling. One small gripe: the disc title and cover layout. Let's face it, Catherine and Wind aren't the best surnames to have to conjure with in the first place – paired in this way, they sound a bit like Belle and Sebastian with just a hint of a flatulence problem. But there are so many typographic elements on the front cover – including ‘Duo Art’, which a little research suggests is a series title – it all ends up looking unfeasibly complicated. Which is a shame for a disc of such unalloyed, simple pleasures.

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