Skip to main content

Horns of plenty

CHRIS SEARLE gets blown away by the brass on offer at a vintage year for the London Jazz Festival

Apart from the great Archie Shepp and his Attica Blues Orchesta at the Barbican, the opener at the Royal Festival Hall had to be one of the most inspirational of the festival.

South African flugelhorn maestro Hugh Masekela and veteran US pianist Larry Willis, who've been playing together off and on since their early days on the New York jazz scene from 1960, was one of the most moving jazz concerts I've been to.

The duo played tunes associated with their early heroes like Clifford Brown, Charlie Parker, Billie Holiday and Satchmo.

Easy Living, with Masekela's flawless notes and cadences and Willis's rhythmic keys, sounded like a lullaby while Rocking Chair took on a blues-like aura.

Masekela sang Fats Waller's Until The Real Thing Comes Along with a rampant humour and even took on You Make Me Feel Brand New by The Stylistics. A great festival start.

On to the Purcell Room and the trio of German pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach, Paul Lovens - sitting on the lowest of stools and scuttling his small drumset with brilliance and wit - and the epic Bristolian Evan Parker and his unique, rumbling tenor saxophone.

At the heart of that engine of his unique sound you could hear the history of the horn, from the creative breath of early masters like Coleman Hawkins and Chu Barry to all who came after. Alongside Parker, the ever-fluent von Schlippenbach shaped every note like a measured step into the unknown.

At the Barbican, the Sunday afternoon concert featured Detroit pianist Geri Allen, Terri Lyne Carrington on drums and bassist Esperanza Spalding, three superb jazzwomen.

Spalding's wordless vocals on Allen's Unconditional Love touched something sublime and her flickering stop-time fingers were ever alert to her sisters' soundscapes.

Carrington's stick-tapping earthy sound never smothered her companions' empathetic timbre and Allen, mostly soft-touched and ruminative, was as focused on her bandmates' virtuosity as her own keyboard journeys.

This was a trio of jazz mistresses at full power as they played compositions by prime saxophonist Wayne Shorter. Celebrating his 80th birthday, he followed them on the bill with drummer Brian Blade, bassist John Patitucci and Panamanian pianist Danilo Perez.

Shorter played in brief bursts and phrases, blowing his sax to boiling point by the end of the set. Blade's drums struck thunder, Patitucci danced on his strings and the songs of the Panamanian people imbued every note Perez played. A mighty quartet.

The Southbank Centre saw the low-pitched horn of Finnish trumpeter Verneri Pohjola delivering the tunes of Bjork and Radiohead, with the hard-struck piano of Aki Rissanen creating a quasi-Arctic beauty.

Another trumpeter, Toronto's Kenny Wheeler, headed a sextet of veterans including bassist Chris Laurence, Mancunian pianist James Taylor and tenor saxophonist Stan Sulzmann with his darkly flowing lines. All did full and beautiful justice to Wheeler's unforgettable melodies.

Back at the Barbican, New York-based Jamaican pianist Monty Alexander drove his Harlem/Kingston Express forward, playing an amalgam of Duke Ellington, Jamaican folk tunes and Bob Marley classics with a surging rhythmic undertow.

At the Queen Elizabeth Hall the concert celebrating two decades of British-based music-making by Gilad Atzmon was full of life, humour and unexpected sound combinations.

Atzmon, an outstanding tunesmith, played melodies from his album Songs Of The Metropolis with the Orient House Ensemble and a tribute to Charlie Parker with the Sigamos String Quartet.

There was a stomping session too with The Blockheads' bassman Norman Watt-Roy and the marvellous Wilko Johnson, whose clanging guitar, grating vocals and sideways marches across the stage were the very essence of a musical tribute to hyperactive freedom.

OWNED BY OUR READERS

We're a reader-owned co-operative, which means you can become part of the paper too by buying shares in the People’s Press Printing Society.

 

 

Become a supporter

Fighting fund

You've Raised:£ 13,288
We need:£ 4,712
3 Days remaining
Donate today