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| © Patti |
Vasilis Xenopoulos (tenor sax, flute); Paul Edis (piano)BSH Editor-in-Chief LL reviewed the fifth of five north east of England concerts featuring the London-exiled duo Vasilis Xenopoulos (Greece) and Paul Edis (exotic Chester-le-Street). The review captured the essence of the duo's outstanding Sunday evening quartet gig at Newcastle Jazz Co-op's Railway Street HQ. Earlier (Friday), Vasilis and Paul appeared at Newcastle's Lit & Phil (lunchtime) and Blyth's Yamaha Music School (evening) and on Saturday evening, our globetrotting duo made a first visit to Elvet Methodist Church in Durham.
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| © Patti |
Feels Like Home is an exploration of place: what/where is home? What feels like home?
Going Home (Dvořák or the Hovis ad, depending on your cultural preference and/or age) opened the regional tour at a sold out Lit & Phil.
The Yard (comp. V. Xenopoulos), a rip-roaring
Collywood (comp. P. Edis), Vasilis' sublime coda to
Lockdown London (com p. P. Edis), the boys were on form! Later in the day they would venture north to Blyth to do it all again (this Yamaha Music School appearance was the one concert BSH couldn't get to thanks to a prior engagement at Gateshead's Glasshouse).
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| © Russell |
Saturday evening: Vasilis and Paul made a first visit to
Elvet Methodist Church. Standing in the lee of Durham Cathedral or HMP Durham, depending on your point of view/location (if you were in the vicinity of the former you would be welcome to attend, on the other hand, if you were behind the barbed wire walls of the latter establishment, you wouldn't be going anywhere) our Methodist hosts made us feel welcome. Sitting in a comfortable front row pew - something of an oxymoron, nevertheless, it
was a comfortable seat - the acoustics proved to be excellent. The church's organ as a backdrop, neither Vasilis nor Paul required a mic.
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| © Russell |
Just as up the road in Newcastle, this Durham performance opened with
Going Home. Paul's
The Coast (riding Tyne and Wear's supposed rapid transit system), at least in the mind's eye, evoked Monkseaton, Cullercoats, Tynemouth and other coastal destinations,
Awaiting Boarding (comp. P. Edis) tore it up, Vasilis' flute soared on
Mikey's Samba, Paul's
A Rainy Day in Manhattan stirred memories of the Big Apple, and then our duo's rollercoaster contrafact of Cole Porter,
Get Off My Lawn (comp. V. Xenopoulos). Quickfire quotes, bouncing off one another, we had been listening to two masters of their craft.
Sunday promised to be a treat with two performances - afternoon and evening - featuring the Xenopoulos-Edis Quartet. Russell
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