In what was palpably one of the highlights of the festival, pianist Barney McAll presented a 20-minute cameo performance as a curtain raiser for the Trio Grande 2.0 gig which closed the festival in the Verbrugghen Hall. Presenting a highly thoughtful short program, covering many bases, McAll advanced his well-deserved reputation as one of the current giants of Australian jazz. 10 McAll played Mike Nock’s legendary composition Ondas, the Michel Legrand standard You Must Believe in Spring, a piece called Strays, written by Larry Goldings, and James P Johnson’s rarely heard ragtime classic Carolina Shout, an immensely influential piece in jazz history – both Duke Ellington and Fats Waller, it is said, learnt it note for note. McAll’s spirited adaptation of this seminal work ended his set on a note of triumph.
-THE AUSTRALIAN
“Barney McAll offered a stunning solo set at the Holy Trinity Cathedral that – in its gospel-tinged fervour and heart-on-sleeve honesty – was as uplifting as any sermon could hope to be”. -Sydney Morning Herald
On reflection McAll was very much the festival highlight for me.
JazzLocal32.com
“Always flamboyant and theatrical… Barney combined skill with inventiveness, creativity and flourish”. -Aus Jazz Blog
“Breathtaking solo performance” -Cyber Halides Jazz
Mr McAll, whose solo piano recital in St Patrick’s Cathedral at the 2013 Wangaratta Jazz Festival was, for me, the highlight of the festival … -Jazz And Beyond
VIDEOS
New York – Company Of Heaven Jazz Festival:
Live at “The Loove”, New York: