Arun Ghosh (clarinet); Faye MacCalman
(tenor sax); John Ellis (keyboard); Matt Owens (double bass); Dave Walsh
(drums).
(Review by Steve T/ Photo courtesy of Ken Drew).
I'd seen Arun Ghosh three times previous
and enjoyed it each time, but could never have foreseen he would give the Third
Durham City Jazz Festival such a resounding opening.
This is one of the finest spaces in a
city loaded with fantastic spaces, including one of - and if you've lived in
Durham - the finest buildings in the world, though I still can't quite believe
those old pit-men didn't have the foresight to include a bar, but I quibble.
Ghosh entered the stage and
immediately stamped his authority, his hair cropped since I last saw him, a
white frock over jeans and ox-blood Docs laying out his multi-cultural
credentials.
His considerable technique on the
clarinet seemed up on previous performances too, exercising wonderful control
and subtlety when the mood required it, as on his tribute to the River Wear,
based on Bengali folk music, where he sat on the edge of the stage for the
start. I don't know the title of this piece but I remember him dedicating it to
the Tyne during a Sage Two performance.
He shared with us that he'd walked
the riverbanks earlier and crossed the Wear but, not getting carried away with
his white robe, he'd used a bridge. Always a charismatic performer, the
audience quickly warmed to his jokes, anecdotes and introductions, rewarding
each piece with rapturous applause and cheers, which would continue through
much of the festival.
I was told afterwards he'd only
played six numbers and one was Smash
Through the Gates of Thought (I think) and another was Longside Lagoon, after an area of Manchester I'm reliably informed.
The band were great too, featuring
our very own Faye on tenor, Leeds powerhouse drummer Dave Walsh and fine piano
and bass from Ellis and Owens respectively, but it was all about Ghosh, on
stupendous form and in full control.
Steve T.
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