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| (© Malcolm Sinclair) |
Originally billed as the Brady/Rice Boss Nova Project, the billing was changed three days before the concert to Brazilian Project. This prompted me to see what jazz reference books had to say about Brazilian jazz and in particular bossa nova. In their programme notes James and Ed describe the project as “building on their shared love of Brazilian music and Brazilian jazz in particular ….. focussing on their shared interests in in-the-moment improvisational playfulness”.
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| (© Malcolm Sinclair) |
So I approached Friday’s concert at the Gala in Durham with inquisitive
curiosity. The audience was smaller than usual, perhaps reflecting an
uncertainty at what was on the menu, but there was repeated warmth in the
response the duo received and many generous complements afterwards. Certainly
they were not treated to ‘easy listening’, if by that is meant music that is
little more than simple tunes and comfortable melodies, but this is not to say
that James and Ed’s music was difficult to listen to and not requiring
reflection and engagement.
Nevertheless James and Ed opened - as if to reassure the
audience with the familiar - Tom Jobim’s Desafinado, James’ flugel
statement and Ed’s piano accompaniment and subsequent soloing by both fully
exploring the possibilities of the composition. This pattern was followed on
most of the pieces, Ed and James taking turns to introduce the music and take
the lead on the composition. James switched on some numbers to trumpet and on
others to melodica, the latter certainly giving a different dimension to
the music. James also added accompaniment on various Latin percussion
instruments when not blowing his horns or melodica.
Tom Jobim (and Vinicius de Moraes) featured on several
pieces in the programme (although not all were played because of the one hour
concert time limit). Other composers featured
were Wayne Shorter (Beauty and the Beast, from the 1974 Native Dancer
album), Eliane Elias (An up Dawn from her Dance in Time) and
Oscar Castro-Neves’ Felicia and Bianca. In addition one of the two pieces
by James (Hermeto’s Tune) was a tribute to multi-instrumentalist and
composer Hermeto Pascoal, the other (Armchair Traveller), a playful
piece, perhaps reflecting James taking flight from his sitting room to the
excitement of musical expression in Brazil. The Castro-Neves number was their
last full exploration of a tune, but they finished as they started, with the
familiar, a quick (and pacy) run-through on Jobim’s (now jazz classic) Chega
de Saudade.
Throughout the musicians interacted fluently, responding
readily and inventively to each other’s prompts and ideas and new iterations of
melody. The duo format has its
limitations for musicians, and it will be interesting to see how the project
develops. James and Ed are to play in quartet format at the Glasgow Jazz
Festival later this year. Certainly it felt as if the musical experience and
the possibilities of the project would be considerably enhanced by the addition
of a guitar or bass and a dedicated percussionist.
Desafinado, Beauty and the Beast, An Up Dawn,
Luiza, Fotografia, Hermeto’s Tune, Armchair Traveller, Felicia and Bianca,
Chega de Saudade.
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