reviews: Different Strokes

"For all its human-sounding expressive capabilities, and despite the popular efforts of Stephane Grappelli, the violin remains an exotic cousin in the jazz instrumentation family. Chris Garrick plays straight-up contemporary jazz of breathtaking virtuosity. Beautiful tone, dashing technique and a tumult of fresh ideas, Garrick has it all under his fingers and if there's justice, the world at his feet."

MOJO July 2000.

5
"Award-winning violinist Chris Garrick is one of the most important British talents to have emerged over the last few years. Having confirmed his expertise of the Hot Club style (with John Etheridge's Sweet Chorus) he goes on to show us more of what he can do with this seriously entertaining release. Opening with a solo version of Nuages, Garrick tackles this difficult tune head-on leaving no harmony understated but without overplaying. The Calypso inspired Coffee Time will get your feet tapping and the ballad Silver Scream provides contrast and maintains your interest in what's to come. The Mahavishnu inspired Shankra is a delight as Garrick spars with drummer Tom Hooper while the pair venture into the seemingly impossible. Listen out for the ever decreasing repeat melody sequence half way through. Confused! Don't be. It makes perfect sense to listen to but just don't try this at home! For my money though, the highlight is The Chase which features some of the most dramatic and passionate soloing I've heard for some time. Enjoy."

MATT SOFIANOS/THE JAZZ RAG

5
"For the first small-group album under his name, Chris Garrick sensibly ticks off what he he can do. The most acclaimed young violinist on the British jazz scene has been taking the role of Stephane Grappelli in guitarist John Etheridge's tribute quartet, so we get brief accounts of Nuages and China Boy. But there's much more, from the heart-on-the-sleeve ballad Flamingo to the agressive rhythms of John Taylor's Coffee Time and some furious fiddling in a duet with drummer Tom Hooper. One of Django Reinhardt's boppish blues has John Dankworth's clarinet adding extra colour, while Garrick swoops impressively over the fusion beats of Cricklemetal."

THE GUARDIAN

5
"After raving over Regina Carter's club debut, how heartening to find a British violinist who can compete in the same league and his name is not Nigel either. Chris Garrick, a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music, had already made an impression on guitarist John Etheridge's tribute to Stephane Grappelli. Even so, the versatility and self-confidence on display here still come as a shock. While Carter's recent Verve album was a little to FM-glossy for its own good, Garrick leaps across the genres with all the aplomb of a master. Little wonder that he caught the eye of John Dankworth who, besides financing this session, also makes a deft contribution to Chelsea Bridge and Django Reinhardt's Del Salle. The session opens with a soaring treatment of Nuages, but Garrick proves just as adept with fusion. Shankra is typically adventurous, a spiralling duel with Tom Hooper's drums that cleverly combines tonal effects of East and West. In short, the outstanding British album of the year so far."

CLIVE DAVIS/SUNDAY TIMES

5
"A full hour of splendid music, represented by 14 tracks of well-chosen titles, evidencing a high quotient of genuine originality, a state attained by virtue of genuine artistry, never descending to the outrageous or violently dissonant in order to crave attention. Chris Garrick has been raised in close contact with all that is best in jazz, the influence of his immensely talented father, Michael. profoundly present along the way, and in fact, a veritable dynasty bids fair to develop from this close association. But to Christian's approach to jazz violin. After the long, somewhat strangle-holding tenure of Steph, Stuff, Joe and Co., tinctured with, it has to be said, a certain amount of stylish formalism, it has come as revelation that with Garrick begins a new, fresh era of jazz violin, a doctrine which has, over the last few years, spread over our music with the speed of light. The first track on the disc, Nuages (a peerless Django tune in its own right, with an attractive harmonic sequence) is all Christian's solo violin courageous choice, but an inspired one,for here is paraded a dazzling virtuoso display of technical attributes, ravishing tone, impeccable intonation, multiple stopping, high breathtakingly accurate and sustained harmonics, and above all a wonderful way with the lyrical paraphrasing of the original melody. So anything which takes place after this virtuoso demonstration creates an aura of profound, totally expected wonderment. There is not one item in this dazzling recital which downgrades to sheet quality of this music. And what impresses me, and leads to repeated spins of the CD is that unmistakeable of-tomorrow originality of phrasing and delivery which attends this inredible celebration of talent. Garrick's colleagues have been well-chosen for their matching qualities of melodic, well-constructed improvisation, and it was a happy inspiration to include the pellucid, relaxed clarinet of John Dankworth on two titles, (Django's Del Salle and Strayhorn's Chelsea Bridge) the latter being a veritable masterclass in small-group integration. There's a brief acknowledgement of the Hot Club influence in China Boy, a couple of minutes long, but I still Maintain Garrick's true allegiance lies much later than that... In fact, the whole show, almost al recorded at the Stables, Wavendon during July 1998, bears imprint of concerned leadership, with careful orchestration leading to polish personified."

KEN RATTENBURY/CRESCENDO

5
"The field of jazz violin, never overcrowded, is blessed with the emergence of a world-class talent in Britain's Chris Garrick. On this brilliant, John Dankworth sponsored album, the young violinist doffs a metaphorical cap at a variety of styles, notably those of the Grappelli-Reinhardt Quintet, plus a frision of fusion and, most interestingly, some material that is, harmonically, rhythmically and in terms of group interaction, more contemporary. The ballads are gorgeously played, but those which most escape the the Grappelli influence - Silver Scream, the superb Judas Kiss(on viola) - particularly impress. These are the more modern pieces, where Garrick's virtuoso but always musical voice seems at its most individual. Different Strokes? There's enough here for different folks."

RAY COMISKEY/IRISH TIMES

5
"Name three living jazz violinists without repetition, deviation or hesitation etc. if you can, don't write to me complaining about the lack of respect accorded this most respectable and yet expressive of instruments. Complain to the gods of popularity instead, or blame weepy Country fiddle players and cheesy Hungarian trios in restaurants. Hertfordshire-bred Chris Garrick has been playing jazz for 20 years. He's 25 now, and he hasn't wasted the head start. Listen to him chase a very post-modern Asian dragon around his own Shankra composition, tame the fireworks and tapdance with David Gordon's piano leads on Bill Evan's Very Early, where he leavens the master's after-midnight mellow mood with somehow elegant slides through dissonance to the heart of the melody, then hear him plug in a play like Ponty on the very next track, and you'll see what I mean. Supported here by established worthies like John Etheridge on guitar and John Dankworth on clarinet plus his own generation's Tom Hooper on drums, bassist Jeremy Brown and guitarist Dave Kelbie. Garrick seems ready for anything and afraid of no-one. He'll touchdown briefly on regular jazz-violin runaways then leap into chamber music in a fairground hall of mirrors, or sound like the Hot Club heroes tucked up in a Bentley heading for the Cote D'Azur with Cole Porter on their tail. Already a prize winner at 1999's telecom Jazz Poll, there's talk of much more to come."

IAN NICOLSON/HI-FI WORLD