Newcastle Festival of Jazz and Improvised Music: Orphy Robinson in conversation + Beck Hunters with Laura Cole & John Pope + Daniel Levin + Black Top with Mariam Rezaei @ The Lit & Phil - Oct. 1

(© Ken Drew)

Beck Hunters: Mick Beck (tenor sax, bassoon, whistles); Laura Cole (piano); Anton Hunter (guitar); John Pope (bass); Johnny Hunter (drums)

Beck Hunters, an established trio, with the addition of Laura Cole and John Pope got proceedings underway for Saturday Night at the Lit and Phil. 

Rarely is a bassoon  seen in a jazz context but Mick Beck employed this orchestral woodwind behemoth to marvellous effect yet that was only one of the many instruments employed by the doyen of the Sheffield improvised jazz scene. An ordinary whistle and a swanee whistle were also employed and of course the more conventional tenor saxophone. 

You would not have believed that this was the first time this band had played together. The music was absolutely exceptional as it flowed seamlessly throughout. Beck is a master saxophonist, the fabulous Hunter boys were fabulous as usual, festival favourite John Pope on double bass (by my calculations the  Pontiff will have participated on 5 of the 8 festival's days) was his usual ebullient self. Laura Cole on the piano was sensational. There was so much fantastic playing it was impossible who to select who to focus on as wonderful sounds seemed to be emanating from every  corner of the stage. A real great performance -  my favourite of the festival.

Daniel Levin (cello)

In keeping with the theme of instruments rarely seen in a jazz context the cello was featured in the solo spot of the night. Brooklyn based Daniel Levin is a one man activity centre. 

Every part of the cello is incorporated into his routine. Even the bow is used in a number of non-standard ways including swishing it through the air (as I was  seated literally in front of Levin  this was quite alarming as any miscalculation would have seen me floored) and using it as a stick to beat things with. Levin mixes classical passages with free improvisation and the percussive effects he manages to carve out from every part of the instrument  including the spike on the bottom of the cello was captivating.

The cello is more often than not associated with gentle and melancholy music. In the hands of Daniel Levin it is a brute of an instrument able to conjure up an exciting and exhilarating  musical and visual extravaganza.

Black Top: Orphy Robinson (xylosynth & electronics); Pat Thomas (piano & electronics); Mariam Rezaei (turntables).

(© Ken Drew)

The evening culminated with yet another unusual vehicle rarely, if ever, seen at a jazz gig. This time it was the turntables of Mariam Razaei. Black Top is the brainchild of Orphy Robinson and Pat Thomas and since its inception they have invited many guests to participate. Both Thomas and Robinson had their regular instruments but they also had electronic devices so to be honest at times it was hard to work out who was doing what with what but judging by the amount of activity on stage it appeared that Razaei was doing most of the hard yards as she frantically worked the dials and knobs of her music station.  

The band themselves describe their output as "archaic Nubian dubstep". I'm not sure what that means but what was witnessed was a high tech, high energy, high volume  celebration of improvised electronic composition.

 

(© Ken Drew)

At the start of the evening there was an  enjoyable conversation between Orphy Robinson and Corey Mwamba. I remember seeing Orphy Robinson in the Jazz Warriors in the 1980s' so it was a very enjoyable trip down memory lane for me. Robinson reminisced about his journey as a multi instrumentalist, composer and educator going as far back as his early school days in Hackney. As a youngster he used to take teaspoons up to his room at night to use them to practice with hoping he wouldn’t disturb the rest of the house. Of course they heard the disturbance and also noticed there was nothing to stir their tea with. Robinson has certainly had a fulfilling and illustrious  career to date and judging from his number of appearances in this festival fortunately shows no signs of slowing down. Steve H