Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
The bow stands quivering upon the first note and the static electricity starts to flow with the type of snorting, bellowing irritated expression one would normally expect to see on a half tonne bull asked to manage a china shop for the day whilst running on a treadmill. It is the electricity of a long held desire to bring something beautiful into the world, something of one’s own true reflection and worth; something that might have people look upon as being pure and worthy. In Scotland’s David Grubb’s debut album High Rise, the innate beauty is matched by the scorching intensity of someone ascending up the musical ladder with greatness ready to be attached.
Aided by Corben Lee on piano, Danial Whitting on guitar and Hugh Sheehan on accordion, David Grubb’s appealing album, strikes out across the void and takes the heart on an adventure that holds within its tender but tightly grasped hand a gateway to a forgotten realm. A place of wonder, mystery and opportunity, the land where Brigadoon rises out of the mists but stays captivatingly in sight for as long as the listener is prepared to be enthralled and educated.
It is the guiding hand that David Grubb leads with that makes the mixed sound of the hearty and flamboyant fiddle merge with the sound of Scottish roots, folk and jazz stand out and seem a timeless beauty; a droplet of water forever hanging on the edge of a succulent green leaf, neither wanting to let go, neither baring the thought of solitude that comes with parting.
Tracks such as The Coffee House, The Climb/86th Floor Jig, Bleeker Street/The Busker and Arc are devastatingly unpretentious, they capture the heart of what it means to place together a set of instrumental songs without fuss and without rancour; they are the songs that the phrase pleasure by bow was made for.
Good music makes you tap your feet, great music makes you want to understand how the musician put it together, David Grubb’s make you want to do both; very catchy, very in the mode and a dream of a debut. High Rise has it all going on that there is no time to sit and wonder about anything else, the rhythm is all.
Ian D. Hall