Gig review: Will Vinson/Euan Burton quartet

Published on Thursday 30 July 2009 19:12

WILL VINSON/EUAN BURTON QUARTET **** THE JAZZ BAR, EDINBURGH

WHILE this was technically a new line-up, giving the second performance of a short UK tour, the alto saxophonist Will Vinson has worked with East Kilbride double bassist Euan Burton several times in the past, while Burton, in turn, has previously featured alongside pianist Steve Hamilton and drummer Doug Hough, who completed the quartet.

There was certainly a close-knit cohesion and fluency about their interaction that bespoke an assured mutual understanding, with the lead roles often shared more or less equally between Hamilton and the two nominal frontmen. Hough took the spotlight for only a couple of solos, but his sensitively sparing, adroitly responsive contributions played a key role in the music's underlying buoyancy and mercurial sophistication.

Besides winning acclaim as players, Vinson and Burton have also emerged as composers of increasing note, with the set-list mostly alternating original material from each. While Vinson immediately commanded attention with his muscular, authoritatively purposeful style, he proved equally capable of arresting delicacy and lyricism, qualities that attained a particularly impressive balance in his delectable waltz The World Through My Shoes. Burton's solos combined a potent melodic core with a velvety softness of touch, allied to the edgy, spiky complexity of tunes such as Occurrences and Party Time. Hamilton's expansively spiralling solos further exemplified the quartet's absorbing blend of suppleness and precision, and if the show's second half saw a slight loss of focus midway, the blame lies mainly with some loudly talkative punters at the bar.