Ayanna (cello/vcl).
(Review by Lance)
(Review by Lance)
There was almost a sepulchral
silence in The Sage’s Northern Rock
Foundation Hall. No welcoming background music, no boozy chit-chat – only
silence. I’ve been in noisier libraries. I felt that perhaps I should say a few
Hail Mary’s. However, I didn't and by
the end of the first set I was saying Hail
Ayanna!
I’d seen Ayanna (Witter-Johnson)
at The Cluny a year or two back and she left an impression on me then.
Slender and graceful, Ayanna bows
the cello, then slaps the strings with the bow, and then moves into pizzicato
mode. Oh yes, and she sings as well. In fact Ayanna sings very well. It’s a
voice that sounds as if it’s travelled the Freeways as well as the country
roads. Occasionally the cello becomes a percussive instrument as she gently
taps the back and sides of the mellow toned instrument.
After Roxanne, for a well deserved encore, Ms. Witter-Johnson moved to
the piano and sang and played a piece entitled Truthfully and, truthfully, this had been quite a delightful set.
Kairos 4tet: Adam Waldmann (ten/sop/composition; Ivo Neame (pno);
Jasper Hoiby (bs); Jon Scott (dms).
The set opened with a piece
written by Waldmann for a friends wedding. Listening to the long, drawn out theme I
wondered what the bride’s mother thought of it all. It was interesting. His
soprano seemed to be in need of some TLC and he exited stage right to effect
some temporary repair with an elastic band. Where would sax players be without
elastic bands?
In the meantime, pianist Neame
played a stonker of a piano solo that brought to mind the late Michel
Petrucciani – Man of the Match award for Neame surely?
Not that the others were far
behind. Waldmann, particularly on tenor, was outstanding, Hoiby carried on the
tradition of great Danish bass playing (remember NHOP?) and Scott impressed in
his extended drum solo.
This was a Jazz Services sponsored/Sage/JNE presentation that was enjoyed by the 50 or
so present.
Lance.
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