Zoe Rahman (piano); Laura MacDonald
(alto sax)
(Review by
Steve H/Photos courtesy of Ken Drew)
I have seen Zoe Rahman on several occasions and
always enjoyed her performances immensely. I had not previously seen Laura MacDonald but
her CV was very impressive. So I was really looking forward to this sell out
joint promotion by JNE & GemArts Masala Festival at the Lit and Phil. Although the evening was pleasant enough I felt that the sum of the parts seemed greater than that of the whole. Apart from one occasion where Rahman played second fiddle to Courtney Pine’s ego at Sage Gateshead a couple of years ago I had not previously seen her in duo format.
Rahman's solo gigs are always
amazing affairs as she constantly improvises and moves seamlessly between
genres (classical, Bengali, free, swing etc. etc.) On these occasions you can’t
help but get swept along with the ebb and flow of the music. MacDonald on alto
sax has a lovely swinging crisp sound. It was probably no surprise then
that the songs I enjoyed the most were both solo pieces - one from each
artist. 
The pair played mainly their own
compositions apart from an Abdullah Ibrahim tune, a Thelonious Monk tune and
two pieces from the late Indian polymath Rabindranath Tagore the last of which
was the encore which had such a Scottish feel to it that it reminded me of Auld Lang Syne!
Steve H
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