CD REVIEW Musician Magazine SPRING 06
Rob Hall & Chick Lyall The Beaten Path (FMR CD170-CO505)
[Musician, Spring 2006]

Scottish duo saxophonist Rob Hall and pianist Chick Lyall merge classical, jazz and Celtic flavours to create a work of depth and imagination consisting of self-penned instrumentals. The pair sprinkle delightful pinches of hot spice across every cut and surprise with twists of improvisational wizardry. The warm chordal opener Devil’s Advocate is instantly followed by the energetic Late, which flows into the fluid arpeggios of Campsie Falls. Lovely stuff.

Keith Ames

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Saxophonist Rob Hall has carved out a notable niche in both performance and education since moving to Scotland a few years back, while pianist Chick Lyall has been a creative force on the Scottish jazz scene since the late 1980s. This refined duo outing reflects the work they have been doing together over the past couple of years, and both players contributed compositions to the session, drawing on influences from their work in classical and – to a lesser extent – Celtic music contexts as well as jazz. The result is a series of beautifully constructed and cleanly articulated pieces that are notably atmospheric and evocative, to the point of verging on being classed as tone poems at times. These formal compositions are linked by occasional brief freely improvised interludes. Hall’s use of four different saxophones adds variety to the sonic palette, and both players are able to find their space in the music with impeccable taste and discrimination.

Kenny Mathieson