By Frank Alkyer | Published June 2017
With Quercus, British folk meets jazz in a perfectly natural, completely amazing melding of two indelible musical forms. The silky, dark vocals of folk artist June Tabor are front and center on this lovely ECM release. They swirl and float around and out of the haunting saxophone of Iain Ballamy and the piano of Huw Warren. The combination delivers music that seems to exist in suspended animation. Songs float by like clouds that keep the listener guessing what they hear. Is that an old folk song? Was it something written on the spot? There’s a sense of timelessness that lets the mind wander. “Auld Lang Syne” becomes a slow-tempo ballad filled with regret, love and mercy. “You Don’t Know What Love Is” drips with noir-driven angst. “Somewhere” from West Side Story breathes a twinge of hope into the reality of these lyrics. The saxophone-vocals-piano format provides plenty of opportunities for all three artists, who are incredibly respectful of the space between the notes throughout the set. Ballamy’s saxophone tone on this album is absolutely incredible. Warren is as tasteful of an accompanist as you’ll find on this planet. And Tabor is simply regal in this setting. Nightfall is not a vocalist record with backing instrumentalists. It’s a precious ensemble project, with each artist giving, taking and playing off each other. The result is a beautiful recording that will be played and enjoyed often.
