Dan Garel (alto); Francis Tulip (guitar); John Pope (bass guitar); Matt MacKellar (drums).
(Review by Lance).
I'd heard Garel many times during his tenure at Durham University - usually at the various jam sessions around town - and I was duly impressed. However, this was the first time I'd heard him in situ where he was calling the shots and, to put it mildly, I was doubly duly impressed! Surround him with three other guys of equal stature and the end product is one that is more magical than anything out of Harry Potter - maybe even Chris Potter!
Francis Tulip met fire with fire and the exchanges between guitar and sax were as exciting as just about any jazz I've heard in recent months,
It's incredible to think that John Pope is now, in this company, the elder statesman - the youngest elder statesman since Pitt the Younger! The Encyclopedia Britannica describes the aforementioned Prime Minister as 'Clever, single-minded and confident of his own abilities' which, come to think about it, could also be applied to the four musicians on stage.
From the opening bars of Hank Mobley's This I Dig of You to Joe Henderson's Recorda Me via standards such as Speak Low, How Deep is the Ocean? some Garel originals, a knockout version of Josh Lawrence's Queensboro Bridge Stomp as well as several other numbers delivered with the power of a Jofra Archer short ball, this was an amazing session.
That they are so young makes you feel like you're getting in on the ground floor of something big. Perhaps hearing Eric Burdon and The Animals at Club A-Go-Go or the Emcee 5 at the Downbeat.
A lot of the music was hard bop but there were also freer moments that brought to mind Elvin, Trane and Ornette and it didn't hurt a bit. They will soon part and go there separate ways but, like true friends, let's hope there are more reunions.
Lance.
PS: Apologies for poor photo - forgot my camera and had to use my phone - never works for me.
PPS: Francis can be heard with the 2018 BBC Young Jazz Musician of the Year, Xhosa Cole, at Ushaw Jazz Festival on Saturday afternoon (August 24) and in a JNE promotion at the Bridge Hotel, Newcastle, the following night (August 25).
2 comments :
The most exciting jazz you will ever see/hear. This was without doubt. An 'I was there moment'
Fantastic Gig!!!!!!!
Excellent review of a superb gig.
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