Cairn
by Fergus McCreadie

From Mercury 09/18/2021 20:36 | #273903

(Beautiful, almost charlie brown christmas-ish, post bop album. Love the laid back yet melodically rich vibe here and the piano work in particular really tickles me.)

I'm not a big fan of Jazz of any kind really. I have yet to really have that run of jazz listening where the clouds open up and I just *get it*. There have been some albums that just completely floored me and I love to my core and you can find a few of them on my overall chart and 1960s and 1970s charts now if you want. But I say that little self-aware and self-conscious preamble just so its understood where I'm coming from putting this obscure piano-led post bop album on my chart and saying I love it when I have such a limited concept of what this sounds like that I resorted to a fucking Charlie Brown Christmas comparison in my opening paranthetical! lol. This also reminds at times of that great live album by Keith Jarrett The Koln concert. obviously there are also other great musicians here on Cairn, including a beastly drummer who knows how to go apeshit wild (Jig") and how to go super deft and understated ("Cairn" and most of the rest), and a bassist that is rock solid throughout. But mostly this album is a showcase for the melodicism and tenderness and warmth and versatility of the pianist... I assume Fergus is on Piano (probably should do some research).

As with many and most jazz records, this album loses me at times just due to not catching my ear or switching up or having a catchy melody. To a jazz fan, the tracks that maybe seem a bit less here may be fucking clinics for all I know. But yeah, this isn't an hour album that is 100% brilliant or my favorite. But easily 45 minutes of this is a dream.

This is easily my favorite jazz record from this year and from last year. Its just a rich, engaging, smooth, varied, beautifully played, wonderland of oft-times dreamy and oft-times urgent and oft-times whimsical/peaceful post bop.