Live recordings of improvised music don’t usually work for me but the latest release by the fledgling New Jazz and Improvised Recording Label is a fine exception. The King’s Hall Concert by Têlêmaque is an exceptional recording so thrilling that at times it felt like I was actually experiencing the music live. The album was recorded in Newcastle University’s King’s Hall in 2018.
The album consist of two pieces: St Elmo’s Fire: Part I and St Elmo’s Fire Part II. A very atmospheric start with chanting and great percussive effects lead into some whirlwind ensemble playing but it is not all crash, bang, wallop, there are some lovely, quieter, reflective passages too.
Some of McPhee’s playing has a real John Coltrane feel.
Part I stomped out with a great flourish. Part II began with a long intro from the double bass of John Pope and the multi-layered percussion of Paul Hession. Joe McPhee then joins in a Rollins-esque style employing a repetitive motif to build up the tension, the whole piece then explodes into a glorious, exhilarating , pulsating groove. Gently we are brought back down to earth and McPhee produces a wonderful melodic, melancholic and poignant solo again in Coltrane like style, Hession and Pope then return to deliver the perfect ending.
A wonderful album, fantastic musicianship, and mutual understanding shown by a fabulous multi–generational transatlantic trio.
The album was recorded in Newcastle
University’s King’s Hall in 2018 and the trio regrouped for another performance
in pre-pandemic 2020 - hopefully there will be a recording released of that gig
in the not too distant future.
Steve H
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