Played some damn fine piano – that’s what. Birmingham-based Steve Tromans has shared with me a link to a video of his recent solo piano playing. So I thought I’d share it with all of you:
You can find out more about Steve and what he’s up to here.
Mike Green took the great display picture.
Mistico Mediterraneo
(ECM 274 5621)
Sardinian-born trumpeter Paolo Fresu has developed a distinctive and individual style, and set it off beautifully in a variety of settings, from being a guest with the Carla Bley Lost Chords band to interacting with guitarist Ralph Towner.
On the nearby island of Corsica an all-male group called A Filetta has been developing an ancient vocal music with both respect for the tradition and a new vitality.
Add the bandoneon of Daniele de Bonaventura and the result is a strikingly original disc – one of the most attractive I have heard in months.
Mistico Mediterraneo is a song cycle developed by the choir and the musicians and intersperses the sometimes strident, sometimes lush vocal septet – at times they remind me of one of those Bulgarian choirs, though with a gruffer pitch – with rich and gracious trumpet, sometimes electronically manipulated, plus a wide range of sounds from the bandoneon.
Fresu is strongly influenced by Gil Evans-era Miles, but with that unmistakeable Italian flair, while Bonaventura shows great flexibility, sometimes playing elongated chords as a wash beneath the voices, sometimes setting up an almost reggae rhythm.
On paper this might look a bit like a Garbarek/Hilliard project, but the actuality is greatly different. Less ethereal, much more earthy and physical.
If you are a signed-up, paid-up member of Cheltenham Festivals you can book from this morning for the 2011 Cheltenham Jazz Festival. Lots of strong strands, with the Jazz Legends including the monumental Pharoah Sanders and the fundamental Dave Holland, Norwegian Jazz featuring the sublime Tord Gustavsen and the remarkable Susanna Wallumrod, and the Best Of British which includes the ingenious Django Bates, the innovative Kit Downes and the soulful Denys Baptiste.
Visit the website, flick digitally through the brochure and get booking – unless, of course, you are not a member, in which case plan ahead for next Monday morning when you can book.
The 2011 Cheltenham Jazz Festival runs from 27 April to 2 May. Go here for all the information you need.
Russ Escritt ‘s pic of the week is from the Matthew Shipp Trio gig, courtesy of Birmingham Jazz, at the CBSO Centre on Friday evening. Just click on the picture to find Russ’s website with loads of his other pictures plus his blog in which he says: “Shipp himself was stunning and moved from quiet passages to some of the loudest piano playing I’ve heard in ages”. Russ has a new book of his photographs available to buy. It’s called A Jazz Year In Birmingham and covers September 2009 to August 2010. Get a preview of this and also of his previous collections here.
CBSO Centre, Birmingham UK
18-02-2011
Reviewed by JJ Wheeler
Entering the familiar surrounding of the CBSO Centre with little knowledge of what I was about to hear was an exciting prospect. Although audience numbers were perhaps a little low, there was an immediate sense of anticipation in the air, a willingness to witness the exploration of possibilities within the traditional piano trio setting.
Armed only with the title of Shipp’s current album release Art Of The Improviser and a comment from a friend that “this could be quite avant-garde”, the rate at which the trio strode into long passages of (seemingly) free improvisation actually took me by surprise. So much so that it took a while to get into the music.
However, this was not the biggest surprise of the night. That came when the trio finally revealed what they were actually doing was playing a standards gig! The first audible melody being On Green Dolphin Street, alongside outings of various other favourites including What Is This Thing Called Love, children’s favourite The Animals Went In Two By Two (Hurrah!) and a short encore on Take The ‘A’ Train.
The trio would take fragments of the melodies, improvising off one section, before developing once, twice, three times until a completely new mood or texture was created, a springboard for further improvisation. Following a string of successive ideas the trio exchanged phrases and each took solo passages, either accompanied or (in the case of bass and drums, once each) unaccompanied.
Underneath Summertime, Shipp chose a seven chord series played in consecutive time, which reminded me of post-rock/live electronic band 65 Days Of Static, contrasting greatly with the previous sheets of notes, cascading like a waterfall from the Steinway at which he sat. Whit Dickey on drums mainly opted out of playing strict time, instead described by the bandleader as “playing like a percussionist”, more inclined to creating textures and colours than grooves.
The creativity and willingness to follow wherever their ears led them has to justify the title of their latest recorded output; this really was a display of interesting, multi-layered improvisation – a masterclass to all in attendance.
