Terra Firma

Pianist and composer Andrew McCormack returns to the acoustic jazz piano trio genre in an engaging set of originals and compelling takes on existing standard repertoire. Developed mostly during the Covid pandemic lockdown, Terra Firma alludes to the pianist's return to home ground both musically and physically. McCormack explains: "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."