Antonin
Tri-Hoang (reeds); Francesco Diodati (guitar); Matteo Bortone (bass); Ariel
Tessier (drums)
(Review by Steve
H.)
This superb JNE/Schmazz double bill was served on two levels both
literally and metaphorically. The night began on the ground floor. Berlin based Julie Sassoon performed a superb solo
piano recital. It is hard to categorise her music - is it jazz or is it improvised contemporary
classical? But, frankly, who cares? it is simply spellbinding. Sassoon, after
apologising to the audience for playing with her back to them, opened with an
untitled piece which was something that just happened to take her mood at the
time. This was followed by 44 at
the conclusion of which Sassoon turned to the audience and explained the
context of the next piece Land of Shadows .
Six years ago, on her previous and inaugural visit to
Tyneside, Sassoon played a solo gig at the
After a well deserved encore the audience made their way upstairs..
The Travelers are a Euro Combo: Italian Diodati and Bortone on guitar
and bass respectively heading from Rome to hook
up in Paris
with Frenchmen Tri-Hoang and Tessier on reeds and drums. It took a while
to get into this gig probably because I was still overwhelmed from the earlier
downstairs performance. It was clear though from the first two numbers Locked
Room and Sunday Supermarket that this was a very talented band. By
the time the third number Just
Played had completed I was
completely won over by this tight blend of 21st Century jazz rock fusion. Diodati was
particularly inventive with all the electronic wizardry at his disposal.
A glorious ballad Olvidar featuring Tri-Hoang on
clarinet set up the rest of the evening perfectly. A Led Zeppelin tribute, Houses of the Holy was followed by No Land Highspot. By the time the finale, Beraska, was played the whole
room was buzzing. What I particularly liked about this band was that rather
than each member taking formulaic stage-managed solos on a rotational basis the
solos were integrated into the ensembles overall performance so that the groove
remained unbroken.
A delighted and fulfilled audience departed the
Jazz Café and I am sure I could hear shouts of Bravo,
Formidable and Wunderbar echoing down Pink Lane .
Steve H.
No comments :
Post a comment