I've waited a lifetime to hear a Turkish jazz musician then two come along at once - in a band led by a Swiss no less! The Swiss was Nicolas Meier who, wisely, didn't yodel but instead laid down some awesome guitar playing touching on many different styles and using, in the main, a nylon strung semi acoustic; truly incredible. The Turkish Delights came from Gilad Atzmon on alto and Asaf Sirkis, drums.Atzmon is a wonderfully accomplished alto player who manages to incorporate elaborated Charlie Parker based phrases into a form of Turkish modality that could have come straight from the Casbah (or its Turkish equivalent!). This strange melange produced some exciting, and at times humourous, solos that had the room stomping its approval. Fellow Turk Sirkis kept the Ay Yildiz flying in the engine room whilst the lone Englishman, Tom Morris on bass who must have felt like an asylum seeker, kept it all together.
A frantic couple of sets. I guess I'll be rooting for Turkey in the European football championships from now on.
Mention of football brings me nicely into the support band TASQ aka The Alan Shearer Quartet until they are done on the trade descriptions act.
I'd heard them earlier in the year at the Side so I knew what to expect and I wasn't disappointed. Adam Hastings (gtr), Russ Henderson (alt), Sam Vicary (bs) and Dan Hayman (dms) are all excellent musicians and more than justified being on the same bill as the Meier Group. In a few years time the positions could be reversed!
One thought about TASQ; do they get many gigs in Sunderland?
No comments :
Post a Comment