Francis Tulip (guitar); Ben Lawrence
(keys); Michael Dunlop (bass guitar); Matthew MacKellar (drums)
(Review
by Ann Alex)
These musicians were on top form, no doubt
about it. And the Jazz Coop promoted gig had nothing to do with Christmas apart from a quick
reference to We Three Kings during the encore, so that made a nice break
from the festivities. Thoroughly enjoyable, even though I was hampered by
deafness in one ear (wax, you don't want to know) so Francis kindly supplied
details of the tunes at half time, when he should have been resting after all
that guitaring.
Readers will have gathered that this music has
a very different 'feel' from standard songs played as jazz. This music often
involves repeated riffs, or by contrast, tunes which are entrancingly hard to
pin down, a wispy feel, as in Infant Eyes (Wayne Shorter), which was
gentle and contemplative, with light drumsticks and cymbals, and interesting
bass. After Herbie Hancock's I Have A Dream, there came what sounded
like the most difficult tune of the night – Birdless, composed by
American drummer Ari Hoenig, which displayed a few different time signatures
and goes to a bar of 2, so I was informed. The first set ended with Dizzy
Gillespie's Con Alma.
The second set opened with The Hills Of
Kykuit (Mike Moreno), a strong, smooth tune including a skilled drum solo,
no less than we expect from Mr MacKellar who studies in the USA, then a boppy
tune which I didn't catch the name of: this was followed by a continuation of
the geographical theme, Shade Of The Cedar Tree (Christian McBride)
which sounded very singable.
Matters Of Fact was
composed by Francis himself and the tune compared well with those we'd heard
tonight from the well-known composers. It was a seemingly simple yet strong
theme of 4 lines, 9 notes per line I think, with the guitar ending the tune
with constant repetitions, very intriguing to listen to. Next, a Charlie Parker
homage, short punchy lines, rhythm changes, a drum solo keeping to the shape of
the tune, and a sudden stop. Herbie Hancock's One Finger Snap was the
last official tune, solos all round, and the demanded encore was a standard,
Gene De Paul's I'll Remember April.
The audience went home well satisfied.
Catch these fine young musicians now while you still can – they have a great
future ahead, so you may have to travel further before too long.
Ann
Alex
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