(Review by Russell)
What a difference a day makes! Blue
skies overhead, Saturday's rain long gone, the DJazz outdoor stage was about to
come into its own. First, a noon date with Kinesis in the pop-up space.
Drummer Abbie Finn and
saxophonist Harry Keeble are Kinesis. Here at
Durham's Riverwalk development the duo enlisted friend Paul Grainger to
play the bass anchor role in a one hour set of classic numbers. Abbie, a postgraduate now picking up choice gigs as a professional musician (working with
Simon Spillett is on the cv), works in partnership with soon-to-graduate Harry
(Leeds College of Music) presenting a series of extended workouts ranging
from Caravan to Cheese Cake. Bassist Grainger
knows the pad inside and as an occasional trio, there is an obvious chemistry
between the three musicians. The many early birds enjoyed a swinging set,
probably the swinging set of the weekend.
A common issue at festivals is
competing or overlapping performances. A case in point was Kinesis' set
clashing with a Durham University big band set. Little more than twenty metres
from the pop-up a nineteen-piece big band assembled on the DJazz outdoor stage. The
Big Band Project wowed the (dancing - see photo) audience basking in
glorious sunshine with Durham's Cathedral and Castle providing a spectacular
backdrop. The couple of numbers BSH caught sounded great and these guys don't
hold chairs in the fully auditioned Durham University Big Band - that's the
standard in Durham!
Leeds continues to be a hothouse and
one of the latest 'products' is Jasmine. A six-piece band led by
alto saxophonist Jasmine Whalley offered a summer sun-filled
set. Whalley cites Soweto Kinch as an influence although her alto sound is
lighter and less insistent than that of the man from Brum. Original
compositions (King Cobra and Cold Sweat) and Shabaka
Hutchings' Joyous were given a mellow vibe treatment by
Whalley's band; Ben Haskins, guitar, George MacDonald,
piano, Owen Burns, bass and drummer George Hall.
The Holy GrAle bottled beer emporium
on Crossgate is neighbour to Durham City Workmen's Club and Institute. The idea
of a cheap pint and a game of doms appealed but a rare appearance by a Scottish
improv icon won the day. Holy GrAle's clientele preferred talk of Soviet poet
Vladimir Mayakovsky and a recitation of works by Scottish poet Edward Morgan.
Guitarist George Burt held court in a brick-lined, dimly lit
cellar with hipsters and the like sitting at the feet (literally) of the
brilliant Burt.
In a world of fakery George Burt is a
true original. Improv is what it is, no more, no less valid than any other 'art
form' but it takes someone like Burt to separate the wheat from the chaff. One
wonders what the hipsters made of the quietly spoken Scot incorporating GASbook
guitar accompaniment à la Joe Pass, a blues riff and echoes of the Fab Four
interspersed with volcanic eruptions of imperious improv (on occasion all of it
in the space of a couple of bars!). A highlight of the weekend.
DJazz continued on the outdoor stage
(Not Now Charlie) and in the pop-up (Archipelago's Between Waves
project). BSH caught a few minutes of MacCalman/Pope/Alderson's collaboration
with Fran Bundey including the oft-heard Puddles, Germs and
an as yet untitled piece. Time was pressing, the big event on this final day of
DJazz 2019 was looming...
Over Framwellgate Bridge, across
Market Place, up Saddler Street to the big house on the hill. When it comes
into view, no matter how many times, Durham Cathedral is one impressive piece
of architecture. DJazz's 'Sunday Headliner' presented Paul Edis and Graeme
Wilson in Durham's UNESCO World Heritage building. Reprising their performance
at last year's Ushaw Jazz Festival (in St Cuthbert's Chapel), pianist
Edis and saxophonist Wilson presented an improvised set of some forty-five
minutes. As the DJazz congregation took a pew (the joint was packed) Wilson,
with tenor sax in hand, waited patiently in the nave as Dr Edis climbed the
stairs to secrete himself in the organ loft. Could Edis see Wilson? Wilson
couldn't see Edis. No matter, the duo, with Wilson's Glasgow Improvisers
Orchestra colleague George Burt in the congregation, began to play. Cameras
clicked and flashed (the humble mobile phone alongside the serious hardware).
Photographing Wilson was straight forward, sighting Edis proved an
impossibility, hidden as he was beneath the towering pipes. It could be said
Edis (and Wilson) pulled out all the stops!
The Shakespeare beckoned, situated as
it is half way down Saddler Street. A well-kept pint of London Pride served as
a restorative. As the final event of DJazz 2019 was about to start the
organisers-in-chief Carlo, Nick and Heather offered a few words of thanks. The
crowded room erupted in applause for them - Carlo, Nick and Heather. And so
to Slow Loris.
A four-piece from Leeds,
Slow Loris were selected by Jazz North to be beneficiaries of touring
opportunities and professional mentoring with this Durham festival date part of
the package. Sam Lowther, guitar, Sam Evans,
guitar, Chris Sellers, bass and drummer Theo Goss combine
a love of rock, metal and hip hop rooted in jazz. This festival appearance
presented the rock and metal side of the band with the jazz element largely
absent. Goss' hard-hitting, relentless drumming powered the band as, for one
night only, jazz fans turned into head-banging metal freaks.
Russell
No comments :
Post a comment