May 1998

John Donaldson/Andy Cleyndert/Dave Mattacks
Sing The Line
E1 Music

By Sid Gribetz

This group includes three British musicians: Donaldson at the piano; Cleyndert on bass, and the popular Mattacks on drums in what is anything but a traditional jazz piano trio recording.

True, there are some swinging passages, and other impressionistic pieces by the likes of Steve Swallow and Abdullah Ibrahim. But there are other tracks augmented by new age strings, an anachronistic pop vocal by Agatha Coffey, and other touches that make this a strange mixed bag, though ably executed.