Aaron McCoullough Quartet - Provenience (www.aaronmccoullough.com)

Historical article recovered from a Wayback capture dated 2018-02-24.

The focus of Provenience is embedded in a reflection upon and a rediscovery of specific localities of the Illawarra region in New South Wales, Australia. The tunes, written by drum master/composer Aaron McCoullough, represent his personal responses to growing up there and are named after places and localities that he has a special affinity with. Throughout all tracks the exemplary guitar playing of Hugh Stuckey is a standout as each track pursues its own distinctive path. A tune named after Bombo beach (a magical location) provides the perfect vehicle for the steadfast prowess of pianism displayed by James Bowers whose extended solo on this track is a feature of the album. McCoullough is generous with the amount of space he provides these musicians to shine in allowing them to freely stretch their improvisations alongside his technically superb drumming skills which maintain perfect tempos throughout. He is a true master of form. New York bassist Marty Holoubek engages beautifully gentle bass playing giving inconceivably cosmic atmosphere to the album. This is most notable on Mystics named after a beach in the Illawarra which is an all-time favourite with locals. From start to finish perfection reigns on this album with every number worthy of the endorsement Shortcomings? To state the case as clearly as possible, there are none. This album is a class act with some first rate musicianship

Barry O’Sullivan