Lunchtime Recital: Andrew McCormack (Piano)

Standard: £8

Pianist and composer Andrew McCormack has built a diverse international career with many appearances at major festivals and concert halls all over the globe.

As a leader, his debut album Telescope in 2005 was universally well received and earned him a BBC jazz award for rising star the following year with the pianist returning later to the trio format with a series of other critically acclaimed albums that include Live In London in 2012 and First Light in 2014. The latter featuring a New York rhythm section as a document to his having lived in the city for three years. The pianist teamed up with composer/saxophonist Jason Yarde to form the McCormack & Yarde Duo with their first album release together, MY DUO in 2009.

The duo has since gone on to firmly establish itself with international tours and further album releases that have garnering widespread critical recognition for their developments in the genre. Places And Other Spaces was released in 2011 and they followed up in 2013 to feature the Elysian String Quartet on the eclectic, Juntos.

McCormack also has a keen interest in classical composition. Having studied with British composer, Mark-Anthony Turnage, he has gone on to receive commissions from various ensembles including the London Symphony Orchestra. Andrew’s eight minute overture, Incentive was premiered by the orchestra at the Barbican in London and included on their Panufnik Legacies CD in 2013.

In 2017, Andrew launched a new band project, Graviton which saw him in a more groove-based setting including vocals and a wider sound world closer to what might be described as Prog-Jazz. The latest album in 2019, Graviton: The Calling is a fully conceived work that follows the classic hero’s journey. The pianist has also been an invaluable sideman to many major international artists but is perhaps best known for his continued collaborations with the Kyle Eastwood Band for well over a decade.

McCormack has also toured as a solo pianist giving concerts at various venues across the UK most notably at a sold out Hall One Kings Place in London opening for Michael Wollny in 2017. In 2020, he released SOLO to across the board 4/5 star reviews, adding yet another strength to his already diverse portfolio.

Using a mixture of originals, standard and not so standard repertoire, the pianist demonstrates his compelling ideas, composing and thrilling performances in the stripped down intimate setting of solo piano.

Whatever the genre, throughout his body of work, Andrew McCormack has managed to consistently demonstrate a compelling setting for his musical ideas, a platform for virtuosic improvisation and a constant revivifying and adaptive embodiment of the jazz tradition.

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