Mat Maneri (viola); Evan Parker (soprano saxes); Lucian Ban (piano)
(Review by Steve H/Photo courtesy of Ken Drew)
There are some things frustrate me about Sage Gateshead - the parking is expensive, the beer is overpriced (and keg) and the place has a certain officiousness about it (for example even for informal style gigs they can make you wait outside the auditorium until a number finishes). However, since it always succeeds in its primary objective of putting on world-class musical acts in great spaces with wonderful acoustics all the above can be forgiven.
Saturday night was a case in point with this international free jazz super trio. The only false note of the evening came before a quaver had even been sounded when Mat Maneri said ‘how good it was to be back in Newcastle’. ‘It’s Gateshead’ some of the tribal crowd hissed back at him.
At the halfway point, although impressed with both the technique and the telepathic interaction between the members of the trio, I wasn’t completely blown away as the pre-publicity had suggested I might be. However, this all changed as soon as the second set began with a beautiful duet by Maneri and Ban. From there on in I was really able to get into proceedings and it seemed to me that the band played with a lot more energy and drive than in the first set. Parker’s soprano and Maneri’s viola were in such perfect harmony with each other that at times I couldn’t tell which one was which. The quality and intricacy of the music were quite mind-blowing you just couldn’t see the joins. The second set concluded all too soon and the band was given a thunderous reception by the more than respectably sized audience. A curtain call ensued but sadly no encore though in all fairness the trio had probably nothing left in the tank after such a formidable performance.
Steve H.
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