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| (© Ken Drew) |
Johnny Hunter (drums);
Graham South (trumpet); Seth Bennett (bass); Gemma Bass (violin); Michael
Bardon (cello); Aby Vulliamy (viola)
I reviewed the album Pale Blue Dot here almost 2 years ago and my final comment in the review pale was how great it would be to experience this music performed live. On Saturday night my wish was fulfilled courtesy the remarkably innovative Sound of Science Festival.
My intuition that this would be a wonderful live experience was completely justified. Against projections of NASA photographs of the earth shot from space the music seemed to have an increased poignancy especially given the devastating situation the world finds itself in at the moment. The four movements all take their titles from Carl Sagan’s commentary inspired by the photograph taken by Voyager 1 in 1990 where the earth was represented by a pale blue dot no more than a pixel in size. The titles of the pieces Everyone You Love, Endless Cruelties, Momentary Masters of a Fraction of a Dot and Save Us from Ourselves sadly couldn’t be more appropriate.
Replacing Mark Hanslip who played sax on the recording was Graham South on trumpet and although Hanslip provided the most free improvisational moments on the album the substitution for South’s moving and stark trumpet seemed to fit the mood of the evening perfectly (what price a performance including both of these players?).
Everyone in the audience seemed to be both enthralled and moved. Flippantly I suggested that the piece was more ‘Bartok than Basie’ and the general consensus seemed to be in agreement with this synopsis even drawing a nod of approval from composer and bandleader Hunter.
“Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that in glory and triumph they could become the ‘Momentary’ masters of a ‘Fraction’ of a ‘Dot” - Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot.
Steve H
PS. Johnny’s father, Professor Paul Hunter, a medical expert, has been a frequent commentator on our screens and airwaves explaining various aspects of the Covid crisis. Apparently, the only reference he made about his musician sons (Johnny and Anton) was when discussing transmission in venues saying “with the sort of music his sons play social distancing wasn’t really going to be an issue”.
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