Yurodny
Evenset
Diatribe Records
Rating: 4/5

LAST year's debut from Yurodny, Odd Set, announced a young Irish ensemble with the talent and the chutzpah to play Balkan and eastern European music as it should be played. Now with the follow-up, saxophonist Nick Roth and his eight-piece band have moved beyond arrangements of traditional Klezmer tunes and are creating their own music which is challenging, original and suffused with real feeling. Roth's mentor, Israeli-Palestinian saxophonist Gilad Atzmon, produces and has evidently been a positive influence, and other guests make fine instrumental contributions. But most of the credit must go to Roth and his ensemble for elevating their Eastern-leaning jazz to a new level.