Review: Ornette Coleman/The Master Musicians of Jajouka at the Meltdown Festival, Royal Festival Hall, Sunday June 21st, 2009...

Support band out of the ordinary for the South Bank – in that they actually complemented the show rather than made up the numbers. The Master Musicians of Jajouka, whom I saw outside on the terrace a few days before, were inside tonight and delivered a fascinating and well-received show. Minimal skirling melodies that overlapped and shifted, surrounded by wild drumming. Out in the desert this must be an overwhelming experience – pretty good here, as well. The MMOJ are a visually striking crew – the green robes, white turbans (black for the leader), yellow shoes. Showmen as well, they know how to get the crowd moving. One of the drummers broke from the line at one point, did a weird dance out front and got the audience raggedly clapping along... great fun. The only annoyance – the usual crap, people wandering in late throughout, which is mightily distracting. Easy enough to stop: let no one in during a number. What is it with the South Bank? But onwards...

To the main event, on this last night of his curatorial duties for Meltdown... Ornette gets physically older, but still retains his radical edge with his sharp intelligence and his ever-youthful spirit. A gentle presence, softly spoken – although his announcements was barely audible anyway due to the rubbish sound (again – Mapsadaisical made the same point in his review of an earlier gig). The drum balance seemed odd, as well... Ornette played a lot throughout, never coasting, as his seniority would have allowed, looping through some of his favorite tunes and I couple I didn't recognise, which recurred in places, like refracting mirrors that offered new visions of old material. Backed initially by Tony Falanga on acoustic bass and Al McDowell on electric bass, who both wove a stunning and intricate tapestry of lines throughout. Falanga roaming deep while McDowell in the main played high up, giving a guitar line almost. Denardo, always a heavy hitter, held it all together (despite the eccentric and muddy sound). They gave up sudden explosions of those twisty reconstructed boppy themes – including a couple of good-natured false starts - and some slowed down, haunting, lyrical moments – especially coming from Falanga's arco bass. Positioned at the leader's right shoulder, he seemed to be the conduit to the rest of the band. Ornette, switching between his alto, violin and trumpet, paced himself as you would expect but played more than I remember the last time I saw him, using favourite licks sure, then occasionally spinning a sudden twist out of nowhere, his sound still as powerful and intense as ever. He leads from the front while allowing his musicians the freedom to exercise their imaginations – to produce a unique sound world. Which is as drenched in the blues as it always was, the main bloodline of his contributions to the 'free jazz' revolution, yet has a generous inclusiveness which is an intrinsic part of his musical philosophy - for example, Malanga bringing Bach into the gig when he reprised the Prelude that Ornette had ragged on circa the 'Tone Dialling album where the classical line was played on electric guitar. (Actually, I think it worked better here).

The inclusion continued with guest appearances as befitting the last night: Flea,from the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, sent out some fleet bass, and Baaba Maal (I think) who briefly popped up for some wordless vocal colour. Then the Master Musicians of Jajouka returned to jam at the end – a wild and joyous noise that rocked the place. Another masterclass in harmolodics? - it was fascinating to see how a space slowly spread outwards from the Arabian band to encompass contributions from the others with Ornette joining in and his musicians picking their own (somewhat hesitant) way into the chaotic democracy being created. The packed house had given a tumultuous reception throughout, but this blew the doors off, the audience up on their feet for a long bout of applause, some girl calling out 'We love you, Ornette,' - to which he made a nice reply – what I caught of it. The crap sound again... To the encore – 'Lonely Woman,' as usual, now joined by one of his long-standing cohorts, the mighty Charlie Haden, playing in a trio with Denardo and his father to end the evening and the festival. Somehow fitting, taking the music back to near its beginnings, while giving a frail and wistful update, spirit balancing out and overriding the encroaching years.

A ragged but overwelmingly emotional and brilliant night, then... Harmolodics triumphant – and love...

Sunday in the City...

A great day on Sunday – got to town, checked in to hotel and then off to the Tate Modern – saw the Futurism show and the Per Kirkeby – too much to absorb in one go, really, so another visit asap. The Futurism exhibition is amazing, the Kirkeby... mmm, not sure, his early stuff looks a bit scrappy but some of the later enormous canvases have a certain power. Reserved judgement – too quick a shunt round to make up my mind. Then off to the Festival Hall down the river walk – where I came across the guys in the photo. Another great band of buskers, the East Europeans showing the locals how to do it. The trumpet gave the music a flavour of Mexican, oddly – great surging stuff, perfect for a sunny afternoon.
Got to the Queen Elisabeth Hall and tried to break in! Forcing the door, I didnt realise at first that it was locked. Then noticed a CLOSED sign. Though: WTF – where's the gig? Then checked my ticket and discovered Ornette was playing the main joint. Hmmm... wake up, Warner... wandered in to discoverLeafcutter John and his combo setting up in the Clore Ballroom so grabbed a foul over-priced lager and found a seat. Leafcutter (was he a gardener in another existence? Must go google...) was doing his balloon routine at first but the set progressed into some interesting areas and was nicely abrasive, given the odd circumstances of its positioning, people wandering about etc. But quite a good crowd sat listening. A good - and uncompromising - no pub bands - warm up for the main show... review to follow...

Noted in passing – Mapsadaisical has a review of the earlier Coleman show on the 19th June... check out the other write-ups for Meltdown on the same site...

Review: James 'Blood' Ulmer at the Queen Elisabeth Hall, London, Tuesday June 16th, 2009...

James 'Blood' Ulmer was a blast... but my predictions about the poor quality and mismatching of the South Bank's support groups were verified again – as overall curator, Ornette holds the blame, although I guess this disparate bunch were put through on the local nod. I spent the set drifting off mostly when I wasn't inventing insults for this review. Put to one side in the end – what is the point? In the interests of recording the event, someone called Shlomo bounded on, with the demeanour of an early morning children's show host and announced a quartet of 'improvising' vocalists would improvise a set inspired by listening to some of Ornette Coleman's records and by his harmolodic theories. Two of them were ok-ish – apart from some boobedoo scatting which should have been left in some low rent supper club way back. Apparently Shlomo was 'Artist in Residence' and had been rowed in to create a 'Harmolodic' vocal event. Bits of it were not too bad – when the two singers who had some idea of what jazz is – albeit in its mainstream incarnation – seemed to be grasping towards something interesting. But it bogged down in the human beat box lockstep of the other two – look, I can sound like a hi-hat. Tish tish... Far out, as we used to say... Ba-boom...

Ulmer played a long set, as if in some karmic compensation for the earlier froth. He passed through various bands when he arrived in New York in the early 1970s, including Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, but ended up studying and playing with Ornette for several years during which he was deeply imbedded in the saxophonist/composers harmolodic theories while playing electric guitar in his band – hence the festival link. A big man, he came on stage and sat in front of a low riding music stand, a couple of monitors, a vocal mike, a couple of pedals, his guitar and amp. That was it. He proceeded to demonstrate not just how vital the blues still can be, but arguably, how central their freedoms were historically to 'free jazz' – well, that part of the African-American stream, exemplified by his mentor's influence – to whom he offered fulsome praise throughout. Whatever 'harmolodics' may or may not be – and that's an on-going debate without end – I certainly got the feel of it here. His guitar was anchored firmly on a monotonic bass underpinning an open guitar tuning which goes back to the country blues and various folk music modalities but the spurts of single note lines display his jazzier side. Few have put these elements together into such an organic whole. At times the lack of key changes veered to a certain monotony – but Ulmer would pull you back with a flashing and unpredictable run, a sudden change of rhythm. The music ebbed and flowed across a variety of levels – back porch picking meets the concert hall via many cultural and musical points in between, shotgunned into an area where, for the duration of the set, the barriers were erased. The blues disrupted, chopped up and taken to areas beyond the museum/heritage space they often too easily reside in. Ulmer has brought his singing skills to the fore over the years, tonight delivering a set of free-rolling compositions inspired by Hurricane Katrina, his family, relationships: 'Harmolodic Kisses' – wouldn't I just love to see a title like that in the top-twenty – the old tensions between the Devil and the Lord, barrelhouse and church, tangling his vocals in the guitar line that delivers unpredictable sideways leaps and skitters. Echoes of John Lee Hooker and Lightning Hopkins in both the freedoms of the playing and the timbres of the singing – and, to my ears, an odder cultural cross reference, something about the dry way he hit on certain words reminded me of the splendidly named folk singer Bascom Lamar Lunceford – who came North Carolina. (Ulmer was originally from from South Carolina). Indeed, there were a few almost country riffs poking through in places...

His in-between patter was easy-going yet informative – in an albeit gnomic way – his speaking voice very soft and deep which made him a little hard to understand at times – could have been the sound system, perhaps. I didn't make out a lot of his lyrics either because the guitar lines, dancing, echoing, predicting and chasing the vocal stream, blended in maybe too well. Again a bit more separation in the mix would have helped. Overall, it didn't matter – in the sense that if you were listening to any intense performance in a language far from your own the intrinsic feeling/soul will hit you. This is music of passion laced with a wider anger at social and political injustices, leavened with humour and humanity. He broke up the rhythms, slowed down, sped up – all of it done with his thumb, which gives a certain texture to the string impact – not the sharp click of a plectrum or the pull and snap of finger-stylings but a flexible digit to strum, bass thump and unleash the single string melodies. Wes Montgomery fed back into the history and whirled round to emerge in a new century. If Mississippi blues was the music that retained more obvious fragments of the African heritage, and that bloodline was on particular display here, the modal tuning gave occasional hints of other related musics – North African/Arabic. Plus that occasional country tinge... What also fascinated me was the variation he got from what can be a limiting strategy, this use of an open tuning. The chromaticism of the single note runs pushed a level of tension across the static pull of the repeated bass note and tuning overtones, where the vertical architecture of folk/blues meets jazz linearities and is stretched into new areas. A moving, living breathing music with scope to evolve further. Struggling to define Mr Ulmer's muse beyond its constituent parts, I wrestled with – the usual categorical wahoo – and even 'postmodern' cropped up at one point... then realised that Ornette had, of course, been there already. Harmolodics, is what it is...

Ornette's concepts have a lot of life left in them. As James 'Blood' Ulmer proves. Great show, I look forward to seeing Mr Coleman and company on Sunday night...

Back from London - review to follow...

Back from the James Blood Ulmer gig - on the terrace before the show, these guys were playing - some nifty footwear. Pity they weren't doing the support - the Curse of the South Bank is getting predictable - Shlomo's Harmolodic Bollox this time out. Still, Blood Ulmer was impressive - a great show... review to follow asap...

Breaking the silence... off to London (again)...

I have been deeply embedded in an ongoing project which is moving nicely forwards... so time for a break! Off to London later on to have a mosey round the Futurism Exhibition at the Tate Modern. A walk down by the river, then grab a beer and off to James 'Blood' Ulmer's gig at my unfavourite venue... hope the support is better than they usually are... report tomorrow...
Part of Ornette's Meltdown Festival - going to catch him on sunday night...

Review (belated!)... Tom McConville/David Newey at Traditions at the Tiger, Sunday 17th May, 2009

I wrote this the day after the gig - and promptly forgot to post it - it's been one of those weeks... But here are a few thoughts on a great evening...

I have been meaning to get over to 'Traditions at the Tiger' in Long Eaton for a long time – but for a variety of obscure reasons, have never made it. My loss... Finally dragging myself from God's Little Acre over the county line with the automotive help of Mr and Mrs B – who help to run this club. A reasonable sized room in the traditional way – over the pub. With an incongruous pool table in the middle – which was useful for putting cds and tapes on... (I had wondered if there would be a game in the interval, as a couple of lines from an old Jackie Crowley song went through my mind: 'And every man jack was up for the crack, with his arse in the air playing pool.') High ceiling, which resembles the club room above the Swan in the Rushes back home. Good for resonance...

Tonight: violin master Tom McConville in a duo with guitarist David Newey. But beforehand, in both halves, a demonstration of the depth of talent this club has – with their residents apparently a little depleted, still, some fascinating songs delivered in a variety of styles and voices – from Dave Sutherland, John Bentham, Al Atkinson, Corrine Male, Jack Crawford - plus Sheila Bentham's storytelling skills – and another nice surprise, the redoubtable Bill Wilkes and Lynne Cooper from the Barrow club (where I would be the next night) who had also crossed the county line. Great singing from the tradition, backed with a depth of knowledge and erudition, delivered with skill - and humour...

Tom McConville has been around, as they say... Supported by supple guitar, flatpicked and fingerstyle as applicable, he delivered tunes and songs, a lyrical voice with plenty held back in reserve, nothing forced, soaring violin, underpinned with the rhythm section of John Lee Hooker – a firm stomping brogue. David Newey accompanied sympathetically, switching from up on the one – for the traditional stuff – to the more syncopated 2 and 4 for more American influenced syncopation. A class act - and to my mind, ample room for crossover – this is music that is well capable of reaching a wider audience – without compromising integrity. I know McConville has played around Europe and beyond to the USA and that widespread experience is easily detected in the broad spread appeal of his material where different traditions can blend easily, held together by a sharply focused vision, exemplary skill – and abundant good humour... He's a droll cove...

Roll on the next one - Tom Kitching and Gren Bartley (no strangers!) on June 7th...

Review: Joel Holmes/'African Skies'...

Pigeon holes have become more confusing these last years, especially with regard to the music(s) we call 'jazz.' Born on the cusp of the electronic age and accelerated by the developing technologies, its development has been rapid compared to the longer, more sedate span of western art/classical music. Measure from plainsong to Schoenberg and beyond, for example and compare the years travelled against work song/ragtime/marching band/blues to... 'modern post bop,' which is how Blue Canoe, the digital jazz label based in Georgia, defines this new release by the young pianist Joel Holmes. A separate journey of course – jazz as a majestic African-American achievement (in the main, but not exclusively) went down many different roads compared to its Western art music relation, while recapitulating and folding much of that music's advances into itself – wheels within wheels indeed. So: there is a lot to unpack in the tight compression of a hundred years of jazz history leading up to the term 'post-bop.' Leaving aside 'free jazz' – Holmes is broadly in the mainstream lineage – what lies under the large panorama of his album 'African Skies?' Joel Holmes shows his influences – as a young musician should – but also demonstrates how far he has travelled from them (while retaining his links with those earlier styles) and some of the areas he wants to explore further. Which indicates, perhaps, the breadth of possibilities that the mainstream of jazz still has to explore. Here you will find adaptions of Chinese folk song, homages to Coltrane and Herbie Hancock, original compositions and a nod to the American standard songbook, played by: solo piano, straight ahead piano trios, burning quartets with Gary Thomas's tenor saxophone added, further extensions with added strings and flute, spiced with African/Latin percussion. All these different angles held together by the leader's keyboard skills and highly developed sense of structure – and strong spirituality – the whole kicked along by the booting drums of Eric Kennedy, rhythm being at the heart of the mainstream/modern postbop whatever, the solid link with the tradition. It all swings...

A brief overview:

'African Skies' starts on a slow rumble to suddenly bounce into a lithe line, fast piano echoed by tenor and punctuated by the added percussion whose rolling rhythms evoke both African and Latin styles. Solo honours from tenor and strong but melodic piano.

'Impressions,' and 'Impressions – Take Two.' Two fast runs through the Coltrane number. Holmes shows his two-handed skills and fleet sense of melody, shadowed by nimble bass and the powering drums. Gary Thomas proves himself deserving of wider recognition...

'Chinese Fishing Song' signals a change of gear and direction – heading East, rhapsodic piano evoking the rippling of waves and then slow stately violin takes the folk song theme. Moving into a steady tempo as the violin (Chia Yin Holmes) slowly builds an elegant yet intense solo, increasingly prodded by drum interjections, followed by muscular, jaunty piano.

Another Coltrane tune, 'Mr P.C.' Straight up quartet again. Tenor solos first then piano comes running fast out of the blocks. Then: a trading section across the band - swapping choruses rather than fours or eights, in a round robin, which demonstrates again the intelligent arranging/structuring, to get as much out of the various smallband lineups as possible.

'Fatima' - another sonic area opens here – piano trio with added percussion, strings and flute. The strings are used sparingly, the airy pastorality of the flute balanced by strong bass ostinatos and – again – the powerful drums that are never far away.

'Summer night.' A piano trio: surefooted spin through a light waltz. A standard, from Harry Warren and Al Dubin, taken skilfully round the floor. Perhaps a nod at another Holmes's hero – the late Oscar Peterson.

Another pick from the jazz songbook – the patter of bongoes gives a Latin feel to Herbie Hancock's 'Maiden Voyage.' Contrasts aplenty – reflective passages giving way to storming drums. Another well-structured track with much dynamic variety.

'Soliloquy of trouble.' Solo piano – evoking one of his favourite pianist influences, Art Tatum with sudden swirling jaunts away from the slow tempo. Exposed, Holmes passes the test...

'Moment's Notice.' Back to the trio... chorded theme with fast-skittering drums – then quick fire, sparkling lines from the leader. Eric Kennedy really boots this along, taking the track, and fittingly, the session, out with a thumping solo.

An impressive album... Holmes is not afraid of showing his strong links back, not just to the immediate past – Coltrane, Herbie Hancock etc but further, Oscar Peterson, back to the great Art Tatum (and beyond – interestingly he says that ragtime was his first influence), but avoiding pastiche or retro/tribute band lockdown in his incorporation of wider musical streams – 'folk/world music,' etc. Again, these terms have often implied a watering down blandout – avoided here by the tough, supple drumming of Eric Kennedy which provides a flexible platform throughout – and the leader's overall maturity of vision. The relatively short tracks offer concise episodes where Holmes sense of structure and dynamics is displayed effectively– the individual pieces refracting each other to offer a kaleidoscopic panorama of the possibilities still open 'within the tradition.'

Final thoughts: Holmes is well-supported on the album: Gary Thomas and the other musicians bend their individual skills to the wider endeavour – the tenor saxophonist, especially, I would like to hear more of...



Collective Personnel:

Joel Holmes - piano
Gary Thomas, Tim Green - sax/flute
Eric Kennedy - drums
Jeff Reed, Eric Wheeler - bass
Melena - percussion
Themba Mikhatshwa - conga, djembe
Chun-Wen Chuan - cello
Chia Yin Holmes - violin