Dave Gelly 

Jacob Fischer: In New York City review – great virtuosity and harmonic awareness

The acoustic guitarist and his four-piece band combine brilliantly to energise a set of standards
  
  

Jacob Fischer, CDs
Jacob Fischer: 'fresh and sometimes radical'. Photograph: Erja Lempinen Photograph: Erja Lempinen/PR

The electrically amplified guitar has been ubiquitous in jazz for so long that the pure, acoustic sound of the unamplified instrument comes almost as a novelty. This is especially so when it’s in the hands of the Danish guitarist Jacob Fischer. He plays in the modern swing idiom with great virtuosity and harmonic awareness, but there’s a unique clarity and warmth about it. Leading a quartet completed by vibraphone, bass and drums, he finds some brilliant ways of combining the sounds of guitar and vibes, played by Chuck Redd. The interplay between them is greased lightning at times. Apart from one Fischer original, the 12 pieces are all standards, but with a fresh and sometimes radical approach.

 

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