Mainly Two: Marie Schreer & John Garner - LIVE Concerts at Home, Newcastle University

Marie Schreer (violin); John Garner (violin)

Another in Newcastle University's LIVE Concerts at Home series. Jazz? No, but yes! Today's artists - Marie Schreer and John Garner - embrace the classical canon, contemporary composition and, in the case of John, jazz. Bebop Spoken Here first heard John when he sat-in at a Newcastle Jazz Cafe jam session. An instant hit that evening, BSH spoke to John at the bar: What's your name? Where are you from? The rest, as they say, is history.

Hearing Béla Bartok's Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta at school, it was apparent to your reviewer's untrained ear that there was something jazz-like about the Hungarian composer's work. Central to today's performance was a selection from Bartok's 44 Duos for Two Violins (nos.7-13, excluding no.10 as it had been performed earlier in this King's Hall YouTube concert series) and it reaffirmed the view that Bartok was indeed a jazz man! These pieces from the early thirties would have been heard by Miles, Gil Evans and others*. 

Book-ending Marie and John's half hour performance was John's Summer from his Four Seasons suite and a set of dances from a commissioned work by James Brady (Brady has worked with Jambone at Sage Gateshead). Our duo selected five dances - Blues, Evil, Lunar, Counterpoint and Impatient - which were premiered earlier this year at St David's Hall, Cardiff. The compatability,  togetherness and understanding of our violin duo was clearly evident and it is to be hoped that when we return to something like normal Marie and John - they regularly gig as 'Mainly Two' -  will perform these and other pieces in front of a real, live audience! A short Japanese lullaby said goodnight, or rather, good afternoon.

* Bruno Heinen was scheduled to appear at Gosforth Civic Theatre in July to perform a Bartok-inspired programme. Fingers crossed the event will be rescheduled in the not too distant future. 

Russell