JKL DUO
Usher Hall 15/9/2025
Jacopo Lazzaretti guitar, Kerry Lazzaretti flute/whistle/bodhran
Jacopo and Kerry Lazzaretti, the JKL DUO, have been working with Live Music Now Scotland for some years, and their experience shows in this welcoming and imaginatively programmed concert which delights the good-sized audience this morning. In her introduction, Kerry says that they are playing music that brings them joy and hopes it will do the same for us.
They begin with two of Burns’ songs from their first album ‘The International Poet’ for which they asked composers from round the world to write arrangements as if the songs were part of their musical culture. ‘Breton Fantasy’ by L Snowden begins with a slow version of ‘Ye Jacobites by Name’ which develops into a vigorous dance for both instruments with Kerry providing interesting breathy effects on the flute. Chilean composer Roberto Kuhn creates an interesting set of variations on ‘Ae Fond Kiss.’
Much of the music in the Celtic Set, arranged by the duo, is energetic, but includes a beautifully simple ‘Danny Boy’ with Kerry’s well-chosen grace notes embellishing the melody. She explains that the modern piece ‘The New King’s Road’ was written for the Irish flute, a simpler wooden instrument than her classical flute, but she has learned from the composer the technique of “feathering”, a hovering around the note which is also used in pipe music. Introducing ‘Homer’s Reel’, Jacopo delights the younger members of the audience, on this Edinburgh school holiday, by encouraging clappping along to the beat that Kerry sets on her bodhran before playing her part on the whistle.
The Jazz Selection is a medley, with Jacopo sometimes channelling Django Reinhardt and at others taking the role of the bass underpinning a jazz singer. ‘Autumn Leaves,’ has a particularly fine arrangement with Kerry’s cantabile flute over Jacopo’s syncopated accompaniment. The perky ‘C’est si bon’ has the six-year-olds in front of me swaying along and snapping their fingers. I particularly enjoyed Jacopo’s authentic guitar in the Latin American Set. In ‘Insensatez’, Kerry begins slowly on the lower notes of her flute using the lovely breathy technique before both players build up speed culminating in swoops on the flute. They finish with three movements from Roberto di Marino’s Suite III, more complex pieces which employ South American rhythms, culminating in a tango.
Kerry and Jacopo Lazzaretti are accomplished musicians and this concert has combined virtuosity with enjoyment. Their stage manner is relaxed, sharing the introductions and providing the right mix of information about the music and their instruments to suit their multi-generational audience. I’ve followed Jacopo’s career with interest since appreciating his solo guitar playing in a hospital day ward, and it’s good to note that his and Kerry’s music is increasingly widely appreciated: since their concert at Paxton House in June (see EMR review by David Byrne) they have played at the Buxton International Festival. Their new album, appropriately called ‘Joy’ is now on sale and can be sampled here JOY | JKL DUO.
Next week’s concert in the Emerging Artist’s Series featuring No Borders Trio is in the Usher Hall on the 22nd September at 11am.
