Bluebut @ The Bridge. November 2

Chris Janka guitar,  Mark Holub drums, Pamelia Kurstin theremin

 (Review by Steve H.)

What a week that was for jazz in Newcastle. One only need glance down the gig reviews on this blog to see just how many and how varied the programme was. Can any city of this size ever have boasted such a veritable feast of quality music? Not surprisingly not everyone can attend every gig and the audience does seem to divide along somewhat factional lines.

The final gig of an entertaining and dare I say it exhaustive week provided the most original offering of all – Bluebut. This is a trio comprising of guitarist Chris Janka, drummer Mark Holub of Led Bib fame and Pamelia Kurstin on theremin. I have seen countless configurations of jazz ensembles over the years from soloists to big bands but none of them has ever featured a theremin. This omission was put quite magnificently to rights on Sunday night at The Bridge. This gig had been described as thrash jazz, improv rock meeting rampaging robots with Captain Beefheart and Jimi Hendrix additions. In fact I didn’t find it that crazy, the hard drumming and throbbing guitar were ever present but amongst all of it I could hear fragments of all the previous gigs I’d attended during the week. Quite easily the highlight of the week was the virtuoso playing of the ever so jolly Kurstin; she was literally playing thin air ! Someone in the audience suggested that Pamelia appeared to be playing air guitar but to me it seemed more like she was sewing an invisible coat as she plucked delicately in the vortex between the theremin and her fingers. The sounds elicited were not as one imagines emanating from a horror or sci-fi movie but were fascinating genuine musical solos. I’ve heard somewhat irreverently that Kurstin is the finest  improvising theremin player in the world. Well if there is a better one around I certainly want to hear them – simply mesmerising.    

Steve.