Sid Peacock takes his band Surge into the mac on Thursday evening for a live work out of the material from the band’s new album, La Fête. He spoke to me across the(virtual)jazzbreakfast table.
Q Tell us about your band Surge – how it came to be, and how you see it. What’s it a vehicle for? What’s the philosophy behind it, if you like..?
A Surge was first formed in 2003 with a commission from Paul Murphy of the Destroyers to mark the launch of the Birmingham St Patrick day celebrations. It is the main vehicle for my music making enabling me to incorporate all aspects of my compositional approach. By this I mean notated stuff, conduction, graphic scores and of course multiple genres as well. I see it as a big melting pot of music…
The most important aspect of the ensemble is the musicians themselves. They are all people I have built relationships with either via smaller projects or education work. As well as being a very talented and enthusiastic ensemble they have all got great personalities and great fun to work with.
Q You have an album out by the band – tell us about that, the material on it, how, where and when you recorded it.
A The album was recorded at CMAT studios in Birmingham and painstakingly mixed in Rooksmere studios, Northampton. I had been working on a lot of this music for a couple of years but a three month residency in the Irish Cultural Centre in Paris gave me the opportunity to bring it all together and write the title piece La Fête. The music was recorded directly before our first gig as a big band in Cheltenham 2010 and I think as a result has the energy and excitement of that first coming together experience.
Q How would you say your music fits in to the jazz scene in Britain in the 21st Century – is it part of a general movement or trend? Or does it stand outside of it? And what do you think of the current state of jazz in the nation?
A I grew up listening to Rockabilly, early Jazz and Blues, Soul, Gospel and other early 20th century Americana. This has had a massive influence on my work in terms of mood and energy. Growing up in Northern Ireland things like the weariness yet optimism of the Blues had a real resonance.
Alongside that I have been very influenced by the British scene of the ’80s: Loose Tubes, Django Bates, Iain Ballamy, Julian Arguelles, Billy Jenkins, etc. These are all guys we would get very excited about in Northern Ireland when they came to play. They were obviously in the jazz tradition but their music had it’s own identity and represented who they were and where they where. I felt that group of musicians had as a strong an identity as Motown or Bebop.
This then follows on to the current state. There is a lot of great music going on and more and more incredibly great musicians. For me the best stuff is when people are telling their story through the music, and not being too serious. Smashing up TVs would help the scene too.
Q I once read an entertaining article which classified jazz musicians according to the liberal philosopher Isaiah Berlin’s Fox and Hedgehog concept – the idea is that a fox knows many little things; the hedgehog knows one big thing. So Miles Davis was a fox; Charlie Parker was a hedgehog, for example… There is nothing pejorative about either – they are just different kinds of people, thinkers, artists, etc. Would you say you are a fox or a hedgehog?
A A mockingbird?
Q You have Django Bates joining you for the Surge gig at the CBSO Centre next week. How did that come about? What does Django bring to jazz, do you think, and what does he bring to your band?
A I have been visiting Django for about four years now in irregular intervals in London to talk about and study composition. I got a grant initially from the arts council for this which was great and then kept it up after that. Tony had suggested getting a guest in for this gig and I thought it would be great if Django could do it, when I asked him I was half expecting he wouldn’t be able to given he is so busy etc but he said yes and we are very excited.
Django is one of the most important musicians around. His compositions are incredibly creative and complex yet manage to engage an audience, he easily sits up there alongside Frank Zappa, John Zorn and Hermeto Pascoal. I don’t get why he works in another country, surely Britain could be more supportive?
I could go on here, I feel a rant coming on…
Q There is a strong political element to your music (I surmise…) Do you think better jazz is made under a Labour or a Conservative (or Coalition) government?
A Jazz, everything is better under no government.
To book for Sid Peacock’s Surge, go here.
