Andrew McCormack / Terra Firma
Release Date: 28th October 2022
CD & Digital Formats / UBU0123
Ubuntu Music is delighted to announce the upcoming release of pianist/composer Andrew McCormack’s album, Terra Firma, which celebrates his return to his heartland jazz trio format.
Andrew has built a diverse international career with many appearances at major festivals and concert halls all over the globe.
On 28th October 2022, Andrew will release Terra Firma on Ubuntu Music, which features his new trio consisting of rising star Joe Downard on bass (also on Ubuntu Music) and veteran Rod Youngs on drums (a regular musician on the Label).
Left to right: Joe Downward, Andrew McCormack, Rod Youngs (Photographer: Pauline Le Divenach)
Andrew gives us a sense of his recent work, prior to Terra Firma: "For the past few years I’ve been focussing on my Prog-jazz outfit, Graviton. Although I find this genre of music stimulating and a lot of fun, when the lockdowns came upon us, I found myself working on ideas and skills based around the acoustic jazz piano genre again. Musically, it’s my home; it’s where I started. Perhaps there was even some comfort in doing that. My instincts tell me that audiences may need the same."
Andrew explains how Terra Firma came about: “Most of the music was developed at my London home during the COVID pandemic lockdowns of 2020/21. Tours and concerts were cancelled and I, like all of us, suddenly found myself at home 24/7. Knowing I wouldn’t have this opportunity again, I tried to make the most of the situation that I could. Some of the titles on this record allude to particular events of the last few years. ‘Prayer for Atonement’ was written as a response to the killing of George Floyd and the chaos that followed it. With the current situation in Ukraine, that prayer continues. ‘Fake News’ is truly the scourge of our times as we all seem susceptible given the algorithms of the internet. But the hopeful ‘Cherry Blossom’ was written in the spring of 2021, where things were starting to look up after a terrible winter and there were finally glimpses of normality on the horizon.”
Andrew McCormack (Photographer: Emmanuelle Nemoz)
McCormack continues: “This album also marks my return to the trio format, where I began with my debut album, Telescope, over almost two decades earlier. I’ve been playing with Rod Youngs since the early 2000s in Gary Crosby’s Nu Troop and extensively with Denys Baptiste’s epic Let Freedom Ring project. We go way back! I’m happy to have become acquainted with Joe Downard more recently. He’s part of a new generation of skilled but forward-looking musicians who also happens to live just round the corner from me in Camberwell. It reminds me of my Prospect Park days in Brooklyn, where all my neighbours were musicians.”
Left to right: Rod Youngs, Andrew McCormack, Joe Downard (Photographer: Pauline Le Divenach)
Andrew describes his long-standing relationship with Ubuntu Music: “I'm continually amazed at the development of Ubuntu Music and how it's fast becoming one of the most important indie labels in the jazz world. Martin Hummel is an exceptional talent and I'm honoured to be a part of this growing family.”
Martin Hummel, Director of Ubuntu Music, concludes: “Andrew is an essential part of our Ubuntu Family. He was the first artist to join us. The Label represents nearly his entire catalogue of exceptional and musically diverse releases. Andrew continues to reinvent himself as an artist with a return to his most popular trio format, while delivering melodic, highly seductive compositions that are flawlessly performed, with hints of Jarrett, Mehldau and others subconsciously whispering in the background. We continue to be over the moon with representing such a considerable talent.”
For further information, please contact:
Andrew McCormack (Artist) mccormackmusic@gmail.com
Inge De Pauw/Stilletto (Europe) inge@stilletto.be
Emma Perry (UK Publicity) emmasarahperry@gmail.com
Martin Hummel/Ubuntu Music (Worldwide): martin@ubuntumanagementgroup.com
Andrew McCormack Biography
Andrew has built a diverse international career in a short period of time.
As a leader, his debut album Telescope in 2005 was universally applauded and earned him a BBC jazz award for rising star. The following year the pianist returned again to the trio format with a series of other critically acclaimed albums that include Live in London in 2012 and First Light in 2014. The latter featured a New York rhythm section as a document to his having lived in the city for three years. In October 2022, Andrew will release Terra Firma, again on Ubuntu Music, which features his new trio of Joe Downard on bass and Rod Youngs on drums.
Historically, the pianist teamed up with composer/saxophonist Jason Yarde to form the McCormack & Yarde Duo with their first album release together, MY DUO in 2009. The duo has since gone on to firmly establish itself with international tours and further album releases that have garnering widespread critical recognition for their developments in the genre. Places And Other Spaces was released in 2011 and they followed up in 2013 to feature the Elysian String Quartet on the eclectic, Juntos.
McCormack also has a keen interest in classical composition. Having studied with British composer, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Andrew has gone on to receive commissions from various ensembles including the London Symphony Orchestra. Andrew’s eight-minute overture, Incentive, was premiered by the orchestra at the Barbican in London and included on their Panufnik Legacies CD in 2013.
In 2017, Andrew launched a new band project, Graviton, which saw him in a more groove-based setting including vocals and a wider sound world closer to what might be described as Prog-Jazz. The latest album in 2019, Graviton: The Calling, is a fully conceived work that follows the classic hero’s journey.
The pianist has also been an invaluable sideman to many major international artists but is perhaps best known for his continued collaborations with the Kyle Eastwood Band for well over a decade.
McCormack has also toured as a solo pianist giving concerts at various venues across the UK, including a sold-out Hall One Kings Place in London opening for Michael Wollny in 2017.
In 2020, McCormack released SOLO which earned across-the-board 4-5 Star reviews, adding yet another strength to his already diverse portfolio. Using a mixture of originals, standard and not so standard repertoire, the pianist demonstrates his compelling ideas, composing and thrilling performances in the stripped-down intimate setting of solo piano.
Whatever the genre, throughout his body of work, Andrew McCormack has managed to consistently demonstrate a compelling setting for his musical ideas, a platform for virtuosic improvisation and a constant revivifying and adaptive embodiment of the jazz tradition.