Pete Tanton (trumpet, flugelhorn); Mark Williams (guitar);
Andy Champion (bass); Russ Morgan (drums).
(Review by Brian Ebbatson/Photos
courtesy of Malcolm Sinclair).
It’s
not often that a band arrives with a mission statement, but that is the case
with the Riviera Quartet, who arrived to play the Gala Studio Friday lunchtime
set, but found themselves transferred to the main theatre with its spacious
stage, sophisticated lighting and ample room for the 100+ audience. And they
spread the magic of their music in accordance with their mission. Which - in
case you missed it - is “to bring the combined energy of bossa nova, blues and
bebop to new listeners and to build a broad audience. Imagine driving along the
highway from Nice to Monaco, or even Los Angeles to Monterey, in a convertible
– this is the music you would listen to.”
Pete
Tanton opened the set with Chega de Saudade (aka No More Blues) in
direct tribute both to “our spiritual guide”, composer Antonio Carlos Jobim,
and “our musical inspiration”, Dizzy Gillespie and Lalo Schifrin’s 1962 album Dizzy
on the Riviera. Pete’s opening trumpet gave a taste of what was to follow,
clear fresh tones, melodic improvisation, a tight, driving rhythm section and inventive
guitar work. A suitable scene-setter for a series of originals from the pens of
Tanton and Williams, none of which failed to meet the mission statement criteria
and all of which sat well with the Jobim/Gillespie/Schifrin classic.
Barbados
– a
track from their CD – followed. A catchy melody with a Caribbean lilt,
giving space not just for Pete’s trumpet but for extended guitar work by Mark. Turf
War (also on the CD) followed, a Horace Silverish opening theme, countered
by Mark’s smooth chords, leading to relaxed flugel and guitar solos.
Pete
switched to muted trumpet – more cool Miles than Dizzy – for the third CD
track, Mark’s There They’re There. With Russ weaving his patterns on
brushes and Andy just doing what he does best, Mark again strode out on guitar
and Andy showed he too can improvise melody. Drums, bass, guitar and muted
trumpet exchange eights, before Mark and Pete roll the music to an atmospheric
close.
Time
for Pete to reveal another aspect of the quartet’s playing – his voice - in
three numbers. First To Heaven Overnight, a sort of celebratory love
song, lyrics and composition both by Tanton, to be released as a single next
year. Very Jobimesque lyrics – "To heaven overnight, please take me there …..
come with me tonight .. carry us away on its wings…." . Then One Kiss, a
single now available on Spotify and iTunes, a distinctly Brazilian feel,
particularly the theme of loss and desertion (shades of Chega de Saudade – “Não
há beleza é só tristeza e a melancholia – look it up!). “I kissed her
lips just yesterday, but now she kisses someone else today”. Another –
happier – love affair is told in I Fall in Love, again a Latin rhythm
featuring Mark on guitar. “I fall in love every time you are near me. I fall in
love every time you whisper to me ….)
Before
the final number Pete paid tribute to Mike Furlonger, a close friend and jazz
enthusiast who passed away last year after a diagnosis with Motor Neurone Disease
and invited the audience to express their appreciation in a collection for the
Motor Neurone Disease Association (MDNA). Whether Mark’s Booze Blues was an
appropriate title is open, but the boppish number certainly gave the band the
opportunity to stretch out with flowing solos – all enthusiastically received –
by Mark, Andy and Russ (the loudest applause of the set) and Pete, a great
close to a great gig.
A
great reception too, many in the audience wanting them back, saying it was the
best concert yet in the series, a complement repaid by Pete’s “What a lovely
crowd to play for. It was a real pleasure to play here.” This was a polished
performance, each player standing out. The musicians know each other inside out
and it shows. OK, the A1(M) through Durham is not the highway to Monterey or
the autoroute du midi, but the music was what it says on the tin - fresh,
melodious and different – and you want to hear it again. Mission accomplished.
Brian E
Brian E
PS Over £200 was
raised for MNDA. If you want to add your support, follow this link.
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