Mick Beck (tenor sax, bassoon, whistles); Anton Hunter
(guitar); Johnny Hunter (drums).
(Review by Steve H/Photos courtesy of Ken Drew.)
Mick Beck accompanied by the fabulous Hunter brothers,
Anton on guitar and Johnny on drums, gave a very challenging performance of
improvised free jazz in this JNE "On the Outside" gig at the Bridge Hotel in front
of a more than reasonable sized and mainly bearded audience.
Beck started the night on bassoon accompanied by Anton
using a slide on the neck of the guitar to provide scratchy type noises whilst
Johnny assisted with a variety of percussive effects. The number was punctuated
with assorted whistles emanating from Beck.
For the second number Beck picked up
his tenor saxophone and blew up a storm. Anton provided an echoing
wall of guitar background as the band began to move through
the gears reaching a magnificent crash bang wallop crescendo of maximum
intensity. At the conclusion of this piece Beck informed the audience that this
was the end of the first set but not to worry a CD was
available to purchase should anyone wish be able to listen to
the identical tunes again!
The second set began with an inspired swannee whistle solo
(this was the instrument responsible for the voices of the children’s TV
programme The Clangers). The guitar
and the tenor then seemed to be massaged by their respective players to produce
some extraordinary sounds. Once again the band picked it up with ferocious
power producing an apocalyptic storm with the addition of recorder, assorted
whistles and chanting from Beck. The final piece of the night saw Beck back on
bassoon and this piece was a gentler affair than what had gone before, in fact
the recorder solo had a distinct classical Japanese feel to it. After a
seemingly everlasting note on the recorder a single toot on a football
referee’s whistle signified full time and brought this gig to a sudden
and triumphant conclusion.
Steve H.
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