They've been around the block once or thrice, but Zrazy are still hanging in there, gently spouting their message of "let there be truce" amidst the emotive war zones. Currently promoting their recently released album, the jazz-inflected Private Wars, playing Renards is a smart move. Clearly the designated (and most stylish) jazz venue in Dublin, its intimacy suits the music and vice versa. A different venue could have killed the atmosphere stone dead.
With backing from a bunch of suitably mellow musicians (the kind who definitely know the difference between a paradiddle and a paradox) both Carole Nelson and Maria Walsh, the motivating forces behind the music, blend into the background like haze on a summer's day. They mix songs from the new album (Ecstasy, Beloved, I Just Like To Drink Alone) with reworked material (Private Wars) and early song-writing attempts (Walking On Air). Mostly, the gig is an object lesson in subtlety, the musicianship soft and superb throughout. Occasionally, extemporisation from the musicians and vocalist Maria Walsh gives way to lack of focus. Improvised or not (and it probably is) the effect is of epiphanies being searched for but not found. Still, at least they're trying.
Zrazy play Renards (01- 6775876) on Thursday, May 13th.
