WHEN THE SKY CRIES RAINBOWS

These outstanding works embody sadness and hope in a landmark album, adding to Evans’s remarkable repertoire. John McBeath, The Australian on 27 August 2011

Sandy Evans – tenor and soprano saxophones
Toby Hall – drums
Brett Hirst – 
bass
James Greening – 
trombone
Phil Slater – 
trumpet
Alister Spence – 
piano
Hamish Stuart –
 drums (tracks 4 & 5)

Birdland Records >

Feature in The Australian Saxophonist puts tragedy on recordby John McBeath 6 October 2011 >>>>

When The Sky Cries Rainbows: CD review by Steve Moffat in the Manly Daily >>>>

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Tracks

1. WHEN THE SKY CRIES RAINBOWS  (9. 21)
Players: Evans, Greening, Hall, Hirst, Slater, Spence
Solos: Evans, Spence, Slater

2. SPECTRE  (1. 56)
Slater

3. CHROMATIC DISPERSION  (4. 24)
Players: Evans, Greening, Slater, Spence
Solo: Spence

4. HEEDRUM-HODRUM HEADBANGING  (3. 40)
Evans, Greening, Hirst, Slater, Spence, Stuart

5. VIOLET  (8. 04)
Players: Evans,  Hall,  Hirst, Spence
Solos: Spence, Evans, Hirst

6. ALEXANDER’S DARK BAND  (4. 53)
Evans, Greening, Hirst, Slater, Stuart

7. SPECTRE OF THE BROKEN  (3. 10)
Evans, Hall, Hirst, Slater, Spence

8. INDRA SLAYS THE DEMON SERPENT  (2. 45)
Players: Greening, Hall, Spence
Solo: Greening

9. BROKEN  (4. 22)
Players: Hall, Hirst, Slater, Spence
Solo: Slater

10. INDIGO HUES  (7. 25)
Evans, Spence

11. 40 DEGREES  (4. 23)
Players: Evans, Greening, Hall, Hirst, Slater, Spence
Solos: Greening, Slater

12. HAND IN HAND  (4. 53)
Evans, Greening, Hall, Hirst, Slater, Spence

13. WITH THE SUN BEHIND ME  (4. 45)
Players: Evans, Greening, Hall, Hirst, Slater, Spence
Solo: Evans.

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Read a review on Ausjazz.net >

Used to couldn’t
I thought I used to couldn’t

For a while I thought I amn’t,
But really I used to could, you know,
I really used to could.

I shouldnae feel like I used to couldn’t,
But I amnae the man that I used to be,
I wouldnae couldn’t –
I couldnae wouldn’t –
But at least I amnae can’t.

Teeter totter – teeter totter,
After a while it’s heedrum – hodrum,
Teeter totter – teeter totter,
But at least I amnae can’t.

Tony Gorman

 

Review

The Australian
Date: 27 August 2011 11:15:16 AM AEST

4-1/2 stars
SYDNEY saxophonist-composer and multi-award winner Sandy Evans says the rainbow is a symbol of finding hope through suffering. Sadly, she has had her share of suffering since her husband, clarinettist Tony Gorman, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1996. She recalls: “Tony’s diagnosis was devastating . . . years went by in a haze of fear and depression.” Now Evans has composed a suite of works dedicated to Gorman and expanded her long-term trio with bassist Brett Hirst and drummer Toby Hall to sextet size, recording this 13-part suite. The title track opens with a sunburst of soprano sax, James Greening’s trombone and Phil Slater’s trumpet giving way to an introspective passage from solo soprano ornamented by Alister Spence’s glistening piano, before contrapuntal sequences from the three horns are enlivened by subtle grooves from bass and drums. Expressively swinging solos from soprano, piano and trumpet bring Rainbows back to its descriptive, floating theme. Evans’s rich, warm-toned tenor sax begins an out-of-tempo Indigo Hues with just the piano’s soft chords and flowing accompaniment, while Spectre is a two-minute trumpet solo of aching beauty. These outstanding works embody sadness and hope in a landmark album, adding to Evans’s remarkable repertoire.

John McBeath