Arun
Ghosh (clarinet), Zoe Rahman (piano), Chris Williams (alto saxophone), Liran
Donin (double bass & electric bass), Nilesh Gulhane (tabla) & Pat
Illingworth (drums)
(Review by Russell/Photo by Ken Drew.)
Clarinetist Arun Ghosh recently released
his third album – A South Asian Suite
– and to celebrate the occasion embarked on a tour with his sextet. The
itinerary included a visit to Sage Gateshead. The Gem Arts promoted gig (with a
little help from Jazz North East and Sage Gateshead) attracted a good number of
folk – regular jazzers, world music fans, Sage patrons, in fact, anyone with an
interest in great music. Ghosh, hailing from the north
west of England ,
brought huge enthusiasm and brilliant musicianship to the party.
The sextet
matched him every step of the way. The band’s rhythm section had it down from
the first bar of Gypsies of Rajasthan:
drummer Pat Illingworth (remembered for a commanding performance with the
Spatial AKA Orchestra at Sage Gateshead) gave a master class alongside tabla maestro
Nilesh Gulhane with bassist Liran Donin ‘s commitment to the project clearly
evident. Tunes ranged from the elegant to the explosive.
Virtuoso pianist Zoe
Rahman is elegance personified. She never fails to captivate, communicating
with band mates, picking up on the subtleties of Ghosh’s compositions with a
knowing smile, reciprocated by Donin, altoist Chris Williams, Gulhane and
Illingworth. Ghosh himself, immersed in the music, danced, cajoled and, quite
simply, enjoyed the whole experience. His solo flights drew upon innumerable
Asian influences – the music of Bangladesh ,
India , Pakistan , Nepal ,
Sri Lanka
– inspired by the fishermen of great rivers (River Song) to independence celebrations across the continent (Lal Qil’ah).
Highlights were many, one
such being an exquisite Rahman piano solo followed by After the Monsoon. The devotional Sufi Stomp (Soul of Sindh) really did stomp. In concert, one
noticed the Ellingtonian voicings for clarinet and alto sax on intros, often as
a prelude to fearsome blowing. Arun Ghosh may be the front man but he has put
together a fine band, the group sound to the fore. The Gateshead
audience demanded an encore and the self deprecating Ghosh said we would end
with something from the ‘hippy dippy’ era. The Beatles’ (John Lennon) Tomorrow Never Knows sent us on our
way…man.
Russell.
(PS: Photo by Ken Drew posted by kind permission of Sage Gateshead.)
(PS: Photo by Ken Drew posted by kind permission of Sage Gateshead.)
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