Sarah
Travena (sop sax/flute) Mark Williams (guitar) Alan Law (piano) John
Pope (bass) Mark Robertson (Drums)
(Review
by Ed Case)
A
very well attended night at Hoochie Coochie kicked off with a
flawless arrangement of No
More Blues,
Sarah's sop. sax making light work of the many changes and the rhythm
section kept the piece firmly placed in Brasilia.
How
High the Moon
was excellently handled by Sarah, floating over the band, ornamenting
beautifully a loose interpretation of the melody rubato before
kicking it into tempo with a three times tag. As if this wasn't pleasing enough the whole thing morphed into Ornithology
half way through with Mark and Sarah taking an obviously well
rehearsed dual head. (Sounds filthy!)
Angel
Eyes
was beautifully brought in with sax and guitar harmonising over a
Dave Liebman composition, setting a precedent for Sarah’s sax to bring
real thought to a very tenderly played piece. Mark Williams took up
the B languidly, making as much of a statement with his use of
dynamics as the notes he chose; as ever, improving and owning any
tune he embarks on.
The
whole band took a nice change of pace, heading towards a rolling,
gospel feel for Joe Zawinul’s Country
Preacher,
its laid back Cannonball groove working very well in the context of
the set and piqued the interest of even the non ‘jazz’ members of
the audience.
All
or Nothing at All
fairly skipped along, the work of John Pope and Mark Robertson
allowing Sarah to take a tasteful and brief solo to finish the first
set. The band leaving the stage so quickly some of us thought they
had split up...
But
no, Alan Law opened the second set with a solo account of All
the Things You Are,
a nice defined ‘Oscary’ moment before the band joined into a
medium swing over a dinky motif. Mark’s solo playfully
quoting from some equally well known pieces, all the time being fully
supported by John’s bass playing. Some fours allowed Mark Robertson
to come to the fore (no pun..), his sense of humour obvious even when
its medium is wordless.
Chucho
had some drunks - sorry, punters - dancing at the bar but they were at a
loss as what to do over Donna
Lee Ha!
Not surprised, it was a fair clip.
The
classic There Will Never be Another You’ was never allowed
to descend into cliche, the band really proving that an accomplished
group of musicians can bring a fresh feel to any tune, no matter how
many times it’s been played. The solo’s taken by Sarah, Alan,
Mark and John were kept consistently interesting not only by the sense of
personality each brought but the rhythm section’s refusal to rest
on their laurels, the pedal John wrought over the end of Mark's solo a
particular high for me. And one member audibly shouting ‘8’s,
4’s, 2’s!’ over the rest of the band meant the fun was only
starting.
They
finished with a funk (don’t know what it was) giving Sarah a chance
to break out her flute and for Mark to use some of the extensive
effects he had with him. Shame the flute was only out for the one
song but well worth it regardless.
I
really hope this band continue in this vein, a hugely promising start
to Sarah Travena as a saxophonist and leader.
Ed
Case
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