(Review by Russell)
Following the resounding success of staging several
undergraduate final recitals earlier this year at the Jazz Café, two
postgraduate students chose the Pink Lane venue to give their recitals in the
presence of examiners, fellow students and supporters. Drinking tea, coffee or
something a little stronger in a real jazz venue beats the cloistered campus
set-up every time.
Stelios Arodites (alto saxophone) with Stuart
Collingwood (piano)
Alto saxophonist Stelios Arodites walked onto the
stage with a supportive pat on the back from accompanist Stuart Collingwood.
The duo ready, Arodites embarked upon a journey of twenty minutes or so interpreting
Phil Woods’ Sonata for alto saxophone and
piano. A challenging work, composed for Victor Morosco’s 1962 solo recital
at Carnegie Hall, the piece was originally named Four Moods, although thereafter it became known as Woods’ Sonata.
The composition presented four movements to negotiate
with frequent changes in time signature (in places every two or four bars). In
addition, some sections were marked free
improvisation. Arodites played acoustically; tone rich and unwavering.
Bespectacled Collingwood, the assured accompanist, the anchor, the buoy, Arodites’
reassurance. Each movement challenged the examinee, variously playing ‘tonic
minor’, ‘modal’ – Arodites’ programme notes were most useful! The audience
listened intently, a tension in the air. A ferocious section – alto traversing
into gritty, grinding tenor territory – lifted the duo onto a higher plain. Mr
Arodites is some player. His postgraduate studies continue into 2016, a further
recital is to be scheduled.
-----
Richard Hammond (vibraphone) MMus Major Creative
Project Recital
A familiar figure in and around the music department
in Armstrong Building, Newcastle University, a youthful Richard Hammond, with
carefully cultivated unruly mop-top, took to the stage in front of a full
house. The folk glitterati were out in force (a superstar of the scene took her
seat), Hammond was about to play a folk set. The improvised element did
materialise, due in no small part to the virtuosic skills of his band mates.
Vibraphone, not your regular folk instrument, took centre stage. To Hammond’s
left, Callum Younger sat with bohdrán, a bearded rhythm master. The examinee’s
presentation Room to grow: An exploration
of improvisation and ‘free’ music within folk styles embraced the five
string fiddler Robbie Sherratt (improvising for the Gaelic Isles), Alasdair
Paul (bouzouki) and a couple of familiar faces – Jessica Bates (piano) and
Mercedes Phillips (soprano sax). Ten or so tunes in three quarters of an hour,
some of them Hammond compositions, others an eclectic mix including Michael
‘Snarky Puppy’ League’s Shofukan.
Hammond referred to jazz players’ abilities to improvise and reharmonise and
this has informed his studies. Using four mallets, Hammond’s writing skills
opened-up tunes enabling the collective to improvise chorus upon chorus. The
audience showed its appreciation. Another success at the Jazz Café.
Hammond’s band: Jessica Bates (piano), Alasdair Paul
(bouzouki),
Mercedes Phillips (soprano sax), Robbie Sherratt
(fiddle), Callum Younger (bohdrán).
Russell.
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