 |
| (© Ken Drew) |
The opening performance for the Newcastle Festival of Jazz and Improvised Music 2022
Andrew Woodhead (compositions, conduction, keyboards, electronics); Charlotte Keeffe, Sam Wooster (trumpet); Sam Andreae, Lee Griffiths (alto sax); Alicia Gardener-Trejo, Helen Papaioannou (baritone sax); Sarah Farmer (live visuals) + 8 Bellringers from the Newcastle Diocesan Association of Church Ringers led by Kristopher King.
 |
| (© Ken Drew) |
A recording of the work was released in June 2021, and demonstrates the logical format of the various sections of this work. In Andrew Woodhead’s own summary of this project (can be found in on-line interviews) where he reveals it is a concept developed from his daily walks past the church, is quite enlightening “Some of it involves musicians pretending to be bells, other parts involve bellringers pretending to be metronomes”. But it is much much more besides!
 |
| (© Ken Drew) |
I can at the very least concur with recent comments about this work: ‘a quite stunning achievement’ Richard Williams, The Blue Moment - ‘extraordinary and compelling…an expansive, cacophonous triumph’ Adrian Pallant, LondonJazzNews - ‘a sumptuous piece of work ‘ Corey Mwamba, BBC Radio 3 Freeness.
 |
| (© Ken Drew) |
On reflection, this was a stunning multi-sensory work, making great use of the church’s space and acoustic qualities. The only improvement could be a handout for the audience with some background information and more importantly, listing the sections of the performance which would show how they were related and would demonstrate the concept and scope of the work.
There is a Livestream of this performance on YouTube (starts at 20 min in) - Ken Drew
No comments :
Post a Comment