Three Tsuru Origami + Paul Edis & Graeme Wilson @ Jesmond United Reformed Church, Newcastle (NFOJAIM) - Sept. 22

(© Ken Drew)

This year's Newcastle Festival of Jazz and Improvised Music (NFOJIM) opened at three in the afternoon with a 'performance' of Newcastle Civic Centre's Edith Adamson Carillon (Jon Bradley, carillon, Paul Taylor, compositions & recording). Two further performances are scheduled for Friday 29 September and Friday 6 October.  

Three Tsuru Origami: Gabriele Mitelli (trumpet, sopranino, electronics, voice); John Edwards (double bass); Mark Sanders (drums, percussion)

In the evening at Jesmond United Reformed Church, NFOJAIM presented a double bill featuring a debut Tyneside appearance by Gabriele Mitelli working alongside two stalwarts of the British improvised music fraternity, John Edwards and Mark Sanders and the church organ-tenor saxophone duo comprising London based pianist Paul Edis and, from Edinburgh, saxophonist Graeme Wilson.

Italian Gabriele Mitelli arrived in town carrying a four-valve trumpet, a sopranino and a bundle of electronic gadgetry. One assumes Mitelli cleared customs without too much difficulty. As a trio, Mitelli, Edwards and Sanders have previously shared a concert stage, here in Jesmond it was a case of two familiar names known to a Tyneside audience and a first time visitor to the region, Señor Mitelli. A four-valve trumpet isn't your everyday instrument, Mitelli played it as if a hotshot bop trumpeter displaying quite dazzling technique. The Italian's other conventional instrument, sopranino, received a workout as Edwards applied brute force to his double bass, Sanders his usual clattering self, hitting every pot and pan in sight. Some forty minutes later, they were done.            

Paul Edis (church organ); Graeme Wilson (tenor sax)

(© Ken Drew)

Earlier, Messrs Edis and Wilson met up once more to further explore the musical possibilities of church organ and saxophone. The Henry Willis & Sons organ on Burdon Terrace was installed in the mid-fifties, replacing the original TC Lewis instrument dating from 1890. As Edis climbed into the organ loft, Wilson picked up his chosen horn, tenor saxophone. 

Our duo's previous outings mesmerised audiences in Durham Cathedral and Hexham Abbey. Here at Jesmond United Reformed Church the grandeur was scaled down, more fitting to a suburban place of worship. One wondered if Edis could hear Wilson. Edis later confirmed he could, although he was unaware of Wilson's decision to remain rooted to the spot rather than wander the length and breadth of the building, as the Scot had done in the Land of the Prince Bishops and in the Northumberland market town of Hexham. 

From time to time Edis demonstrated the organ's immense power, the phrase 'earth-shattering' sprung to mind. Wilson's tenor soared high into the rafters. Midway through an unbroken set of some forty minutes Wilson produced a highlight of the performance with his precise execution of a rapid-fire, repeated phrase, reaching ever-higher heights, Edis responding from on high. NFOJAIM is underway with more to come through to the first week of October. DETAILS. Russell