Different Pebbles, One Beach – presented by Auntie Joy @ Holy Cross Church, Ryton, Gateshead. Sept. 18

(Collage  © Ken Drew)

This was the introductory offering in what is planned to be “a short series of multi-media events”.

The afternoon began with the pealing of the bells. To maximise the sound internally, openings to the bell tower had been left ajar, including the alarmingly named “suicide door” – a small hatch high up near the roof. Thus, the bells felt very immediate and we could hear the cries of – presumably – the Tower Captain, John Robinson. There is obviously a considerable skill to these campanological changes of pattern.

The bells were soon joined by the keyboards of noted improviser Paul Taylor. Abstract musical shapes gradually displaced the ancient peals from the tower, as Paul moved into a solo excursion of many moods and textures…… deep organ chords (befitting a church) beneath a flow of upper atmospheric sound.

He then disappeared into the inner sanctum of the church organ itself, treating us to a passage of improv that managed to suggest (in this listener’s mind, anyway) a half-remembered, but non-existent hymn, at least until it headed off into more abstract realms.

There followed various combinations of vocalists – Pinnel (aka Lindsay Duncanson) and Mobius (James and Skylar) all of whom processed their voices electronically to create hypnotic, looping layers, whispers and a wonderful, other-worldly choral effect. I had a wander round the church at one point and it was remarkable how good it sounded from all angles.

Again, a bell tolled, with a single, steady note. The combined sounds of the various musicians ebbed and flowed, until this remarkable event drew to a close. Geoff Fimister

See also TQ zine