Paul Edis (piano/MD); Zoë Gilby (voice); Andy Champion (double bass); John Garner, Marie Schreer (violins); Matt Anderson (tenor sax); Knarika Karadetian (viola).
What can I say? To put this together at Sage Gateshead live and after much rehearsal would be in itself an achievement. To do it so successfully online where social distancing is not just metres but miles is closer to a miracle.
Apart from showcasing Paul Edis' ever increasing and broadening skills, it also served to show just how closer the genres are merging.
Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing is for the individual to decide. Certainly this experiment proved that today's musicians aren't hidebound to whatever their first love is unlike so many of their predecessors.
The main event featured all seven musicians in a suite composed for the occasion by Paul Edis. It wasn't totally classical and nor was it jazz but music for a time and place in our lives that, hopefully, will never happen again. The balance was less than perfect but that wasn't such a bad thing as it made me listen all the more intently not wanting to miss any of the nuances of which there were many.
Prior to this we had cameo duo streams from Zoë and Andy; John and Marie; Matt and Knarika and a couple of solos from the man who made it all happen - Dr. Paul Edis.
This wasn't a time for jollity, rather a time to sit back and reflect, to look to the future and hope that, when this is all over, the musicians, and not just these star performers but ALL musicians, will have gigs to go to.
Lance
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