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Jazzwise UK Review

3.8.2010

Sachal Vasandani

We Move

Jazzwise March 2010

**** (four stars)

Two years of touring following his 2007 Mack Avenue debut, Eyes Wide Open, has seen the New York-based singer-songwriter Sachal Vasandani stretch his talents yet further. Named a “rising Star' in the 2009 DownBeat Critics Poll, the terrific pacing and charismatic interpretations on his sophomore CD We Move really grab the attention.

The singer's self – penned contributions rank especially highly, whether it's prefixing a brief, minute-long fragment to provide a subtly diferent context for a standard, delivering the tender ruminations of 'Every Ocean, Every Star', or enveloping the vocal line with the magnificently full textural paette of the anthemic 'Hearbeat'. As evidenced by an impressive 'Monk's Dream' he's also something of a Thelonious fan, which can only be a good thing. The singer has been performing with his core quartet of Patton, Wong and Davis since 2001 and there's a palpable sense of a deep musical familiarity and understanding amongst the group which can often be lacking from vocal jazz recordings. “

-Peter Quinn