Why not start a major UK tour with a flourish?  That’s what Maciek Pysz has decided to do in launching his tour at Pizza Express Soho on Tuesday 25 March and he has chosen saxophonist of the moment, Tim Garland, to guest with him.  There have been some very celebrated guitarist/saxophonist partnerships in the past which seem to encompass every possible nuance:  Joe Pass and Zoot Sims (jaunty);  Pat Metheny and Joshua Redman (warm);  Ralph Towner and Jan Garbarek (glacial); and to me, most intriguing of all, Bill Frisell and Tim Berne ( as in M from ‘Theoretically’  –  just plain extraordinary – with its chiming, bell-tolling-like guitar undercurrent,  discordant sax which melts into something quite mellow but still remaining menacing).

What all these partnerships have in common is equality of relationship, you listen for both artists.  So by inviting Tim Garland to be his guest at an important gig, Maciek Pysz is making a very bold statement.   In a recent podcast for London Jazz  News, Maciek said he’d written a syncopated classical piece after being inspired by Chic Corea’s ‘The Continents’. This piece eventually appeared for his trio as Insights on his debut album ‘Insight’.  The Continents featured none other than Tim Garland.  So it is will be very interesting to see and hear how their partnership is presented at Pizza Express.   Buy a ticket and find out!

Book tickets for the gig at Pizza Express here.  If you can’t make Pizza Express then please make an effort to see the Trio at one of the other concerts on the tour, details on Maciek’s website.  You won’t be disappointed, the Trio’s onstage chemistry is electric and deeply wondrous, and the album ‘Insight’ is very beautiful. And lucky people in Edinburgh get a solo performance!

Mary James 5 March 2014