You ain’t never

TRACKLIST & AUDIO

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YOU AIN’T NEVER PRESS

YOU AIN’T NEVER REVIEWS

SUNDAY TIMES UK 08.01.2012
You Ain’t Never
Hard to believe that the British violinist as left it so late to release a disc under his own name. The guitarist Dave Kelbie’s Lejazzetal label – which brought us the memorably understated Django a la Creole sessions by the American clarinettist Evan Christopher – supplies the discreetly upholstered backdrop for a string of sotto voce standards prefaced by Aitchison’s title tune. He may have notched up ample Hot Club credits over the years, but the relaxed tempo and concise soloing give the performances a bluesy, after-hours character all of their own. Jeff Green’s semiacoustic guitar adds a twist of Charlie Christian; Kelbie and Paul Moylan, on Bass, are models of discretion.
CLIVE DAVIS

ALL ABOUT JAZZ USA 12.02.2012
Andy Aitchison Quartet: You Ain’t Never (2012)
The piano and the violin are, perhaps, the only two musical instruments so complete and so possessed of body and soul that they can elicit and provoke the purest feelings of sadness and joy, and every other feeling in-between. But of the two, only one does so with the manipulation of merely four strings. The violin has to be played with complete technical mastery so as to act with the mystery and magic that someone like Nicola Paganini elicited from it. While no one can claim the perfection that Paganini once did, there have been several musicians from various musical worlds who have captivated the senses since the invention of the instrument. Jump cut to the England of today, to the idiom of jazz and the rhythm of unfettered swing. Here and in this ocean of music there are few who have reached the levels of virtuosity—who practice the voodoo of tugging at the heart-strings as Nigel Kennedy. But hold on and add two more names: Chris Garrick and Andy Aitchison.
Of the two, Garrick is more like the younger, more rambunctious brother while Aitchison is older and reticent; and in the era of William, Duke of Cambridge, perhaps stately as well. You Ain’t Never has more than ample evidence of Aitchison’s instrumental lineage. This may take him all the way to Stéphane Grappelli and even further into the European realm. He plays with a slurring, languid majesty, and with broad glissandi and sometimes with blithe vibrato and galvanic double stops. His lines loop and gambol in mad parabolas that sometimes seem to stop in midair before falling with delightful abandon, only to catch a musical thermal, thereby soaring again into the azure falsetto of the music’s melody, and from there to dip and tumble into a roaring ocean of throaty tenor and bass. It seems that Aitchison needs no other musician to accompany him on his breathtaking musical sojourns, but he does come with a remarkable cohort.
Jeff Green on semi-acoustic guitar, is a wizard on his instrument, while the right honorable Dave Kelbie—perhaps the most underrated rhythm guitarist, and a player who has replaced the invaluable drummer in many a trio, quartet and more on countless occasions, eliciting the question: drummer, who? And then there is the melodic, harmonic and rhythmic bassist, Paul Moylan. None of these players back Aitchison up; they take direct part in the creative process and Moylan makes no bones about this, right off the bat, on Aitchison’s minor blues, “You Ain’t Never.” Green flies in the face of convention when he takes over the soloing chair and it is all breathtaking magic from there on; even the bashful Kelbie, who is given to oblique and acute chords, takes his share of the spotlight on a superbly aching version of “I Can’t Get Started.”
Every chart is cut with jewel-like precision, and while the glitter reflects all the musicians it is Aitchison’s show; and a remarkable, memorable show it is.
Personnel: Andy Aitchison: violin; Jeff Green: semi-acoustic guitar; Dave Kelbie: acoustic guitar; Paul Moylan: double bass.
RAUL DA GAMA

THE SCOTSMAN UK 22.04.2012
Andy Aitchison Quartet – You Ain’t Never
A line-up of two guitars and bass fronted by violin would ordinarily suggest a Hot Club Of France style band, but Andy Aitchison’s Quartet takes its inspiration from the small American swing combos of the late 1930s, notably the Benny Goodman Sextet featuring guitarist Charlie Christian. The result is a very pleasing, if unremarkable, album which introduces Aitchison’s lyrical violin style in a laid-back setting – and shows that Grappelli and Reinhardt aren’t the only influences worth absorbing and applying to the violin/guitar format.
ALISON KERR

DJANGOSTATION FRANCE 19.01.2012
You ain’t never
Le violoniste anglais Andy Aitchison n’est pas un débutant ; découvrant la musique du 5t du Hot club de France à l’âge de 14 ans, il n’eut de cesse de garder vivant l’héritage de Stéphane Grappelli. Grâce à Dave Kelbie, ici à la guitare d’accompagnement, il rencontre et joue avec Fapy Lafertin, Lollo Meier et Angélo Debarre (excusez du peu !), jouant aussi au sein de la formation balkanique Szapora ; Voilà son premier disque en tant que leader sur le label de Dave justement, ce qui est un gage de qualité (il y côtoie Django à la créole, Angélo ou Tcha Limberger).
Paul Moylan est à la contrebasse et l’excellent Jeff Green à la guitare semi acoustique. On a vu ce guitariste de la génération des Diz Disley et Denny Wright, aux côtés du London hot club five, du Soho string 4t, de Johnny van Derrick ou de Stéphane Grappelli ; pour ma part je me souviens d’une jam avec Ian Cruikshank sur la place du haut Samois lors du festival 1994 ! Ce maître de la guitare swing jazz dont les idoles sont Charlie Christian, Oscar Moore ou Grant Green conjugue le son chand de son arch top guitar, un phrasé économe (pas trop de notes mais qui racontent quelque chose), swinguant et toujours mélodique et un sens du placement ; bref, un quartet de rêve ! La redoutable section rythmique déroule le tapis à deux solistes d’envergure, très inspirés. Dans sa jeunesse, Andy a commencé par le blues à la guitare et ça s’entend dans son phrasé très expressif, relativement économe mais gorgé de soul et de sentiment (cf son remarquable chorus sur You ain’t never, de sa composition où il fait progressivement monter la sauce, ou sur Blues in the air de Bechet).
Pas de swing manouche ici mais une zique plus proche du swing jazz ricain des années 30 et 40 (en particulier celui de Benny Goodman avec Charlie Christian, dont ils reprennent Six appeal), teinté d’une forte coloration blues. Conjuguant cohésion, décontraction et musicalité, le quartet reprend avec classe 10 standards en une fête musicale constante ! Une vraie réussite et une belle surprise ! Vivement qu’on ait l’occasion de voir le quartet d’Andy Aitchison dans notre beau pays !
FRANCIS COUVREUX

CULTUREJAZZ FRANCE 02.01.2012
You Ain’t Never
Le label britannique LeJazzetal est tourné vers le jazz des origines sans passéisme excessif (i.e. le clarinettiste Evan Christopher). Andy Aitchinson est un violoniste britannique qui a beaucoup écouté Stéphane Grappelli et le Hot Club de France. Il sait cependant se détacher d’une influence trop marquée et joue cette musique vivante et enjouée avec un talent distancié qui rend ce disque attachant et jamais vieillot. Excellents interprètes qui collent bien à l’esprit de cette musique.
CULTUREJAZZ FRANCE
English
The British label Lejazzetal has gone back to the origins of jazz but without excessive nostalgia (ie. clarinettist, Evan Christopher). Andy Aitchinson is a British violinist who’s listened to a lot of Stephane Grappelli and the Hot Club de France. However he is able to distance himself from too marked an influence and plays this lively, happy music with an independent talent which makes this recording attractive and never old-hat. Great players who retain the spirit of the music.
CULTUREJAZZ FRANCE