This CD Features original compositions and Guitar playing by Kevin Mackenzie, Julian Arguelles on Saxes, Aidan O'Donnel on Bass and Alyn Cosker on Drums. Kevin Mackenzie is one of Scotland’s most in demand musicians with projects ranging from Trio AAB and the Scottish Guitar Quartet to the Finlay Macdonald Band and Jenna Reid. He has toured all over the world and has recorded on over 40 albums. His groups have been featured along side guitarist Robben Fords power trio, Bob Berg and Mike Stern, the Crusaders and Seminal Jazz figure Ornette Coleman. In 2001 Kevin received the prestigious ‘Creative Scotland Award’, which he used to write and record music for his nine-piece band ‘Kevin Mackenzie’s Vital Signs’. The CD gathered great reviews including album of the month in The Observer and CD of the week in The Guardian. Some musicians he has performed with include Boris Koslow, Pete King, Benny Carter, Kenny Wheeler, Tommy Smith, Joe Locke, Bobby Wellins, Jim Mullen, David Berkman, Reid Anderson, Ari Hoenig ,Pettre Wettre, Jenna Reid, Alyth McCormack, John McCusker, Fiddlers Bid, Marie Fielding, Maggie Macinness, Sunhoney, Finlay Macdoald Band, Keep It Up, Karen Tweed, Brian Finegan, Gino Lupari and many Others. an international-class jazz player” The Herald “Mackenzie demonstrates a composer's ear and vision that equals his improvising skills” The Guardian “Cooking is the best way to describe award-winning jazz-guitarist, Kevin Mackenzie's stellar performance” Daily Record “..an excellent example of what's going on north of the border” The Observer Chiasmus “These twelve tracks, clear in intention and played with understated assertiveness, capture Mackenzie, Saxophonist Julian Arguelles , bassist Aidan O'Donnell and Drummer Alyn Cosker in brilliantly persuasive form. Only Albaquirky gives the Scottish game away- in its folk melody as well as its title; the others from acoustic romance to businesslike boogaloo, are simply model citizens of the planet jazz.” “4 Stars” The Herald JAZZ KEVIN MACKENZIE: CHIASMUS **** GUITARIST Kevin Mackenzie has been at least as prominent a presence in Scottish folk music as in jazz in recent years, but this disc focuses squarely on his jazz work, not only as a conspicuously inventive soloist, but also as a composer. His first set of original compositions since he recorded his Creative Scotland Award project in 2004 features a fine quartet with saxophonist Julian Argüelles, bassist Aidan O'Donnell and drummer Alyn Cosker. The guitarist weaves fluent melodic lines through the spacious textures of the music in intricate and imaginative fashion, while Argüelles provides an ideal foil on both tenor and soprano saxophones, underpinned by Cosker's supple, propulsive drumming. The Scotsman