Legendary Belgian guitarist
Philip Catherine returns to the US after a 15-year absence with “New Folks”
with Martin Wind. The now 71-year-old
has toured with Jean-Luc Ponty, Chet Baker (with whom he recorded 6 albums),
Tom Harrell and many others.
When
Martin Wind was studying bass in his hometown of Flensburg/Germany in the 80s
one day his teacher gave him a copy of Philip Catherine’s duo recording “The
Viking” (1983) with the Danish bass legend Niels-Henning Oersted Pedersen. “That
was the first jazz recording that I listened to over and over again and as a
result of that had a big influence me,” remembers Wind.
Catherine and Wind are esthetes that love melodic jazz with Swing roots. Probably the best example
of how Wind and Catherine tap into the tradition is the old standard “Old
Folks”: without any haste or superficial virtuosity, but instead with complete
mutual trust they find the ideal tone, the right timbre for each note, lining
up sound and space perfectly.
This is the key to the
encounter of Martin Wind and Philip Catherine: in the spirit of the Old Folks
from Swanee River the New Folks create jazz in the club and in the studio – a
meeting of generations marked by harmony and respect.