ACS : Geri
Allen (piano), Terri Lyne Carrington (drums), Esperanza Spalding (bass)
WAYNE SHORTER 4TET: Wayne Shorter (saxophone), Danilo Perez
(piano), John Patitucci (bass), Brian Blade (drums).
(Review by JC)
After an entertaining (but hot)
motorized meander through France ,
we arrived as planned at Marseille in time for Wayne Shorter’s appearance at
the local jazz festival. Cooling down in an air-conditioned room overlooking
the old port, the view from the window was very pleasant, even if there was no
sign of a pork pie hat – neither Popeye Doyle’s nor the ‘Prez’.
Arriving at the venue by taxi,
the Palais Longchamp had that quiet, understated elegance so typical of France , with a
towering entrance of fountains, statues and pillars at least six stories high
and curved staircases running up each side. We had expected something outdoors
but not quite as grand as this and so had brought some bottles of water and
bottles of wine. The smiling security at the gate were quite happy for us to
bring in as much wine as we wanted but insisted that the tops were taken off
all the bottles. When asked why, the mimed explanation was that they might be
used as missiles (fair enough, but just imagine an open air gig in England where
the audience would throw full bottles
of alcohol at the stage).
Of course, we needn't have
bothered bringing anything, as there were a variety of bars and stands selling
every kind of food and drink. There was even an open-air silver service
restaurant and champagne bar, unfortunately only available to VIPs, liggers and
other hangers on. The concert area itself was more Glynebourne than
The gig was billed as a
celebration of Wayne Shorter’s 80th birthday and the support band
were identified as part of the process. This was the all-women jazz group of
Geri Allen, Terri Lyne Carrington and Esperanza Spalding, which I was looking
forward to hearing. However, I found this set to be a disappointment, for
although the three were clearly excellent musicians and soloed together in a
complex manner, the music itself never really took off for me and a lot of the
tunes sounded quite similar. Even the sound of the cicadas in the trees became
a little repetitive and I don’t think that the continual clicking of the
membranes in their abdomen is ever going to get them an ‘On the Outside ‘ gig,
even in the insect jazz world.
So although the band seemed to be
well received there were quite a lot of people around us lying flat out on the
grass counting the stars or catching up on beauty sleep.
Another disadvantage of having a
‘support’ band was that it was now 11pm and still over 80 degrees, I could
sense my accompanist getting a little fidgety and starting to dream of some
shut eye in a nice cool bed.
However, I needn't have worried –
the moment Wayne Shorter and the 4tet started playing everyone in the audience
was gripped. This was exquisite music as each of the musicians listened closely
to each other, sometimes joining in and adding something or else leaving spaces
for their colleagues. For the first time I saw the value of having giant
screens at a gig as the cameraman didn't just show a general view of the stage
or an individual musician but focused in on the key board of the piano or Wayne
Shorter’s hands on the keys of his saxophone so you could see musical ideas
being worked out. Occasionally it focused on Shorter’s face, usually furrowed
in concentration but occasionally giving a slight hint of a smile as he
listened to some idea from one of the other band members. What he and the band
played I don’t know but the music was beautiful and enthralling. A magical gig.
Fortunately, unlike the No. 27
bus, the Marseille metro was still running at one o'clock in the morning….
JC
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