Stuart McCallum & Mike Walker

“The Space Between”

(Edition Records EDN 1082)

“The Space Between” is the second album by the Manchester based guitar duo of Stuart McCallum and Mike Walker and their first for Edition Records. It represents a follow up to 2014’s self released “Beholden”.

The two guitarists are long term friends and both are musicians with national reputations. Both have released their own albums as leaders but are arguably best known for their work with other ensembles, McCallum with the Cinematic Orchestra and Walker with the Impossible Gentlemen, two bands with substantial followings that have, in jazz terms at least, achieved considerable commercial success.

McCallum’s other credits include the band Slowly Rolling Camera plus groups led by drummer Richard Spaven, pianist Sean Foran and bassist Ben Crosland among others. 

Walker is part of the acclaimed Printmakers sextet led by pianist Nikki Iles and has also performed with bands led by the late composer George Russell, saxophonists Stan Sulzmann and Julian Arguelles and the late trumpeter and composer Kenny Wheeler.

“The Space Between” builds upon the promise of the earlier “Beholden”, an enjoyable album that somehow slipped through the Jazzmann net in terms of reviews. These days it’s physically impossible to review every release I get sent, even allowing for this site’s primary focus on British jazz musicians and labels. My apologies to Mike and Stuart for the omission, hope this makes up for it!

The move to Edition helped to facilitate the recording of the new album in the Wood Room at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios at Box, near Bath. This results in a warm, spacious sound that brings out the full range of sounds and timbres that the combination of two guitars is able to offer.

In addition four of the nine tracks feature the core duo augmented by the additional colours and textures of a string quartet who recorded their parts under the direction of McCallum at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. Consisting of violinists Laura Senior and Gemma South, violist Lucy Nolan and cellist Peggy Nolan the quartet play arrangements jointly written by McCallum and Walker.

Given his reputation as a sound artist it’s perhaps unexpected to find McCallum playing acoustic guitar throughout the album, although he is also credited with electronics. Walker plays electric guitar throughout but does so with great subtlety and skill, qualities that he brings to every musical situation in which he finds himself. However there’s comparatively little of the turbo-charged soloing that he sometimes brings to the Impossible Gentlemen, in general “The Space Between” is more relaxed and conversational, a genial but intelligent dialogue between two old friends and musical equals.

That said it’s McCallum who is the senior partner in terms of composition, contributing six new pieces written specifically for this project. Unusually there’s nothing from the pen of Walker, a talented composer in his own right, but there are three outside pieces, the Burt Bacharach/Hal David song “Alfie”, the jazz standard “My Ideal” and a McCallum arrangement of Debussy’s “String Quartet in G Minor” - ironically the RNCM string quartet don’t actually play on it!

They do however appear on the album opener, a McCallum original titled “And Finally”. Scheduling this piece at the beginning epitomises the duo’s wry Mancunian humour but it’s a great first track, quickly attracting the listener’s attention with its dovetailing guitars and the use of the body of McCallum’s instrument as auxiliary percussion. The piece is loosely based on Beethoven’s “Ode To Joy” so it’s appropriate that the string quartet are called upon to add extra colour and texture, their soaring lines complementing Walker’s searing electric guitar which can be heard heading for the stratosphere at some points with some of his most ‘full on’ playing of the entire set.

The Bacharach/David song “Alfie” is given a very different treatment with the two guitars intertwining to bring out the full beauty of the melody. McCallum and Walker treat it in relatively straightforward fashion, putting the emphasis on beauty and making effective use of space in the manner that the album title suggests.

McCallum’s “Moment Us” initially sounds like something from Pat Metheny’s solo guitar album “New Chatauqua” but also features the layered sounds of the string quartet cushioning and enhancing the sounds of the guitars with McCallum the featured soloist with some nimble acoustic picking . The string arrangement works well although I’m less keen on the electronic elements that weave in and out of the music and, to me, sound like an unnecessary adjunct.

Another McCallum original, “Yewfield”, mines similar territory but this time with just the guitars. It’s another convincing piece of ‘Metheny-ana’ as Walker’s melodic electric guitar lines glide gracefully above McCallum’s brisk acoustic strum. 

The Debussy piece is a delightful solo performance by McCallum that again emphasises the beauty of the melody and expertly utilises the spaces between the notes.

Strings and electronics also augment the title track but here the additional sounds are more integrated and organic on a piece that is more reminiscent of McCallum’s solo albums such as “City” and “Distilled”  or his work with the Cinematic Orchestra. The strings are particularly effective on a piece with a strong filmic quality that draws judiciously upon the worlds of ambient music and electronica.

McCallum’s original “When The Trees Waltz” opens with the sound of his delicately picked acoustic guitar which later combines with the blues tinged sustain of Walker’s electric with the string quartet subsequently providing additional depth and, indeed, grandeur.

Credited to Richard Whiting, Newell Chase and Leo Robin the standard “My Ideal” features just the two guitarists. In this sense it’s treated in a similar fashion to “Alfie” but this time the duo bring an ‘Americana’ feel to it that some commentators have likened to Bill Frisell, surely an important influence on both of these performers.

The album concludes with McCallum’s “Sky Dancer” which combines an electronically generated drone with tabla like guitar body percussion to create an Indian feel, something enhanced by McCallum’s vaguely sitar like string bending . The percussive groove persists throughout but the mood changes with Walker’s brilliant electric guitar onslaught, his feverish, spiralling solo still making allusions to Indian music. The many fans of Walker’s playing with the Impossible Gentlemen will appreciate just how powerful and fluent a soloist he can be, qualities that are there in abundance throughout this unique electric guitar feature.

“The Space Between” represents an impressive joint statement from McCallum and Walker. Beautifully played and immaculately crafted it also contains some excellent original writing from McCallum. The two guitarists complement each other well and the inclusion of additional elements such as electronics and strings are, in the main, well judged. The members of the string quartet bring much to the record and should also be congratulated on their performances.

Guitar duos of this type are still relatively rare in jazz, one thinks of illustrious pairings such as Pat Metheny and Jim Hall or Ralph Towner and John Abercrombie. On the evidence of “The Space Between” McCallum and Walker deserve to be spoken of in the same breath as these luminaries, as they also bring an additional contemporary sheen to the music. 

It’s possible that some jazz enthusiasts may find this album a little bloodless but it’s one that the majority of listeners should enjoy, particularly those who are already fans of these two fine musicians through their other projects.

 

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