John Surman (bar/sop); Alexander Hawkins (pno); Neil Charles (bs); Tom Skinner (dms).
(Review by Lance/Photo Credit: John Watson/Jazzcamera.co.uk).
It was back in the late 1960s when, still in his early '20s, Surman emerged as the fastest baritone saxophone player in the west (country) when he was the anchor man of the, then, revolutionary Mike Westbrook group. Fifty years on, He's still fast out of the blocks and a stayer too! The first piece lasted 30 minutes.
"I won't bother with titles," said Surman, "They're meaningless!"
Surman appears, like Evan Parker, to have conquered the circular breathing thing. At one point he appeared to be able to play shimmering notes until the cows came home or the audience left without breathing. Some did leave. The second number was a mere 15 minutes - I felt short changed! Hawkins was let loose on this one with a solo of such ferocity it made Cecil Taylor sound like Russ Conway
. Charles played a lot of bowed bass albeit, seemingly, without any resin on the bow - even jazz musicians have to face up to austerity cuts. Skinner played in and around the gaps, occasionally exploding. There were times when it all came together and times when it didn't. I didn't hang around for the next number - it could have been a 3-day event and, besides, the Northern Monkey Brass Band were on the Concourse...
Lance.
. Charles played a lot of bowed bass albeit, seemingly, without any resin on the bow - even jazz musicians have to face up to austerity cuts. Skinner played in and around the gaps, occasionally exploding. There were times when it all came together and times when it didn't. I didn't hang around for the next number - it could have been a 3-day event and, besides, the Northern Monkey Brass Band were on the Concourse...
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