In my early childhood my parents would take (drag?) me along to concerts by, amongst others, the Hallé Orchestra at the City Hall in Newcastle. To my mother the Hallé were the equivalent of the Beatles and Sir John Barbirolli her 'Elvis'. I was perhaps less enamoured although I did eventually come to appreciate the changes of mood and tempo during the movements of the various symphonies that I learned to love (and sometimes hate!)
The thunderous crescendos, the pastoral calm that followed, the intricacies of the strings sawing away against the stentorian bombast of the brass, the woodwind caught in the crossfire and all underpinned by the clashing of the cymbals and the boiling kettle drums triumphantly telling us that victory was nigh.
Although there were no kettle drums, violins, brass or woodwind at last night's concert at the Glasshouse by the award-winning Fergus McCreadie Trio's magnificent first set the overall effect was similar and, after 45 minutes of nonstop music I was so emotionally drained that a second set would have totally wrecked me.
This was jazz for tomorrow and the day after maybe even the day after that linked with the undercurrent of the pianist's Scottish homeland. Piano technique in abundance to the extent that, at one stage I feared a demolition job on the Steinway was imminent only for it to be pulled back from the brink with some delicate, melodious passage and all done without a cheat-sheet in sight.
Bassist Bowden was also responsible for some of the calmer moments his arco solos reminiscent of those early City Hall concerts whilst his pizzicato playing also took me back to City Hall although this time for, say, Ray Brown or Reggie Workman.
On drums, Henderson was relatively subdued (other drummers take note) making his presence felt rather than heard apart from when the mood demanded it.
It was an unforgettable experience that, from this listener's point of view would have benefitted from a few words about the three pieces played rather than the continuous uninterrupted set. Lance
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