Anyone who might be apprehensive at the future of jazz in Britain need only listen to last night’s broadcast of the ‘BBC Presents’ stage at this year’s Cheltenham Jazz Festival on Radio 3 to be reassured that the future looks bright.
The show presents two hours of live sets from earlier this year, and features the emerging talents Trish Clowes, Rachel Musson’s Skein, Saltwater Samurai, and Edinburgh-based The Discordian Trio.
Music ranges from the dextrous sax-playing of Trish Clowes, with her wonderfully agile group (including a cellist) – special mention to drummer James Maddren for his vibrant yet subtle drumming – to the deft, bright-sounding improvisations of Rachel Musson, the elctro-dance-infused Saltwater Samurai from South London, and the free-ranging explorations of The Discordian Trio.
The programme also includes interviews with some of the young players of today, who may well be the stars of tomorrow, if the quality of their music-making is anything to go by. Trish Clowes talks in particular about the benefits of studying at the Royal Academy, including working with luminary of the British saxophone world, Iain Ballamy, and about the challenge of being a working jazz artist. All the groups demonstrate an assurety and confidence in their playing that bodes well.
Check them out on iPlayer, and see photos from the event on the Jazz on 3 Flickr site here: the future of British jazz, in the hands of these young musicians, is very bright indeed.
Be My Guest: an occasional series featuring guest post and contributions. This week, first-year International Business and French student Matt Bamford reviews last Friday’s concert by the Chamber Choir.
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The rural village of Wye was the setting for another fantastic concert by the University of Kent Chamber Choir, conducted by the Deputy Director of Music, Dan Harding. The church at Wye is a great building, although we quickly realised that it was also very cold- warmer outside than inside in fact!
The concert aimed to explore the rich and varied music of England, Wales and Scotland and this aim was certainly achieved as the programme travelled from madrigals by Weelkes to a brilliant arrangement of the jazz piece Flowers by Watkiss.
The concert began with the religious version of the English round Perspice Christicola which was the oldest piece that was sung by the choir. The audience were then treated to two pieces of Henry Purcell which were again, excellently delivered.
The piece that stood out for me in the first half and was received with great applause from the rest of the audience was The Gallant Weaver by James Macmillan. The modern piece composed in 1997, based on the 1791 text by Robert Burns, had a very Gaelic feel and the sopranos really did excel. All three soprano parts in the arrangement were all handled very well and this allowed the tranquil mood of the piece to be brought out well.
After a short interval, (and an unsuccessful trip to try and find a glass of wine!) the second half began with the secular lyrics to the same English round that began the concert, Sumer is Icumen in. The second half was full of excellent performances but the last three pieces really did stand out.
Weelkes’ madrigal Hark, All Ye Lovely Saints Above was superbly performed and the contrast in dynamics really stood out. There was a fantastic beat that was defined by the emphasis of certain words and this really added to the madrigal fun!
I have heard many arrangements of Steal Away but there really is something quite incredible about Chilcott’s. It begins with an almost dissonant and uncertain feel but there is a climax in the middle of the piece that was probably the most powerful part of the concert. Again, fantastic dynamic control here from the choir.
The concert certainly ended with a bang, Harding’s arrangement of Cleveland Watkiss’ piece Flowers. The audience really took well to this piece that you would not normally expect to hear in this programme. As I looked around I could see many pensioners almost dancing to the fantastic beat that was held down by the bass section. I must point out here also that there was some brilliant improvised scatting from Steph Richardson.
Congratulations to all on a clever programme that was delivered to a very high standard! I am already excited for June’s concert at St. Vincent’s Church, Littlebourne!
Congratulations to all the performers who brought the term’s jazz-making to a fine conclusion this evening, in the last of the current season of Jazz @ 5 gigs. A packed audience in the Gulbenkian Foyer gave an enthusiastic and supportive reception to all the players, and were clearly enjoying themselves at the end of the day.
An adventurous programme saw a mixture of groove-based tunes mixed with straight-ahead swing and some folk-inflected music: Grover Washington Jnr’s funky Mr Magic and EST’s Good Morning, Suzie Soho sat next to Hallelujah, I Love Him So and The Best Is Yet To Come, whilst Bad Moon Rising and songs by Fairground Attraction added a folky element to the evening.
Some fine performing from Alanya Holder, Steph Richardson and Jo Gray at the microphone, whilst newcomer Marina Ivanova made her Jazz @ 5 debut with great assurety, accompanied by guitarist Martin Lestra.
The regular quintet, led by Dan Harding on piano, saw Will Rathbone (sax), Andrew Kitchin (guitar) and Sophie Meikle changing with Melissa Hicks on bass, backed up by Matt Bardrick on drums. Andrew borrowed a new gadget for the occasion, an effects box, which added new elements to his improvised solos.
Well done to all: a fine way to bring the term’s jazz to a conclusion. Hopefully, there’ll be some more next term: watch this space…
With less than thirty-six hours to go before the Chorus and Orchestra storm the Cathedral (musically, that is) for the annual Colyer-Fergusson Concert, all systems are powering ahead.
Chorus of approval: photo credit Robert Berry
Final rehearsals this week, including tonight, before rehearsing in situ tomorrow, when the Chorus are reminded of the literal heights to which they can ascend on the tiered choral seating, and the Orchestra remember just how close they will be sitting to the audience. With a battery of percussion required for the Stravinsky ‘Firebird Suite,’ there’ll be an even bigger orchestra than usual.
Combined with the mighty Meistersingers Overture by Wagner and Mozart’s sublime Requiem, it promises to be a titanic occasion: see you there!
With some surprise, I find that this blog has today reached its first birthday. What started out as a simple (or so I thought) way of looking at the world of music has grown into a fully-fledged adjunct to the department’s musical life, embracing concert reviews, alumni profiles, student articles, audio and video examples and a way of fomenting discussion and debate about music; all good.
It’s even spawned blog-offspring (blogspring ?) of its own, in the form of the choral blog ‘Cantus Firmus,’ the Concert and Big Band blog ‘On the Beat’ and the nascent orchestra blog, ‘Playing Up.’
Having your cake and eating it...?
With thanks to all of you who read, contribute, comment, share, tweet and in each way keep it alive and still reflecting both musical life here at the University, as well as beyond.
Be My Guest: an occasional series featuring guest post and contributions. This week, third-year student Andrew Bailey reviews the Rite of Spring lunchtime concert.
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The reputation of Stravinsky’s magnum opus had clearly preceded it, with a packed Gulbenkian visibly demonstrating the esteem that ‘The Rite of Spring’ continues to hold with audiences today. Sitting with a clear view of the grand piano and the score, I wondered how Peter Hill and Benjamin Frith’s interpretation of the infamous score would challenge my own understanding of it. Having worn out three copies of “Fantasia” on VHS when I was a toddler, The Rite and Stravinsky’s work has always continued to fascinate me and I have continuously endeavoured to experience its different adaptations. As my old music teacher used to recount: “Every time you listen to The Rite, you always discover something new; be it a note, a motif, or a new feeling”. She has yet to be proved wrong.
Prior to the performance, Hill presented a concise yet detailed synopsis of the piece’s origins and I was glad that he took care in running through the “plot” of the piece. What was clear from his emphasis on its genesis and the difficulty in rehearsals was that Hill wanted us to appreciate the piece as Stravinsky would have first written it and how innovative it is musically; discarding our memories of the spectacle we now associate it with. It was then that the theatre went silent; a soft C was then heard, almost floating its way around the room, as the infamous opening began.
Without the visuals of an extravagant ballet, the audience’s attention was drawn to the physical performance of the musicians; clearly caught in the music as they thrashed their heads to the rumblings of ‘The Augurs of Spring’. Undoubtedly, one could not ignore the musicality of the piece as its dissonance, sometimes suppressed by an orchestra, was all but fully exposed on the piano. Despite what could seem a cacophony of sound, Hill and Frith demonstrated without a doubt that they knew the piece intimately and that all the right notes were indeed being played in the right order. The rapturous applause the musicians received was indisputably well deserved (alongside Dan Harding’s impeccable page turning skills!)
This Lunchtime Concert definitely demonstrated the musical complexities of The Rite and the four hands arrangement is certainly the optimum version to take notice of if one wishes to examine Stravinsky’s musical innovations. Is it now my favourite arrangement though? No. Not that I believe Hill and Frith did not play well enough; on the contrary I think they performed outstandingly! However in my opinion, The Rite should be as much a spectacle as it is a musical innovation. As Hill pointed out in his synopsis, Stravinsky remembered the violent image of the Spring as the ice would crack open around St Petersburg; he dreamt the disturbing image of a girl dancing herself to death. The notorious riot at its premiere was as much a reaction to Vaslav Nijinsky’s controversial choreography, as to Stravinsky’s score.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t believe the piece is not ‘innovative’ enough; I will happily acknowledge and rant about how it is a landmark piece in the history of music. What I want to emphasise it that I personally believe the piece works best with a spectacle to watch. In Sir Simon Rattle’s documentary on the piece, ‘The Augurs of Spring’ and ‘Sacrificial Dance’ are performed whilst images of a maiden dancing through a forest are shown, consequently making the piece more haunting in my opinion. There is even some filtered footage of the First World War thrown in to demonstrate how the violence of the work was reflected the following year with the outbreak of the conflict.
Although a complete different interpretation of Stravinsky’s intentions (as well as harshly cutting out and editing the various sections all over the place) I still think that watching The Rite segment in Fantasia is fascinating and the fight between the Stegosaurus and the Tyrannosaurus heightens the tension and excitement of “The Naming and Honouring of the Chosen One” movement.
But that is just my opinion.
Overall, a great Lunchtime Concert which will, I feel, be talked about for years. But if you want to experience more Stravinsky before the Colyer-Fergusson Concert on March 12th, where “The Firebird Suite (1919 Version)” will be performed by the UKC Music Society Orchestra, then I cannot recommend highly enough watching The Rite in its original ballet form (choreography, sets, costumes etc) to truly experience its spectacle.
Barry is perhaps best known for scoring eleven films in the Bond franchise, as well as the Oscar-winning soundtracks to, amongst other films, Born Free and Dances With Wolves.
Everyone has their own favourite Bond-Barry soundtrack: for me, it’s Mooraker from 1979. MGM’s answer to Star Wars, which had premiered two years previously, and an attempt to take Bond into space, the music is a rich tapestry of sound which capture the grandeur of space, as well as the slow-moving rotation of megalomaniac Hugo Drax’s epic space-station.
(In 1998, Barry also wrote the music for Play It By Heart, an altogether different, non-Bond movie, which to my ears seems to use ccast-offs from the Moonraker music, as though there were bits lying around on the floor which Barry re-used; I love that soundtrack as well.)
A sad weekend for music: here’s to all of them.
Because it does. Doesn't it ? Blogging about extra-curricular musical life at the University of Kent.
An adventurous programme saw a mixture of groove-based tunes mixed with straight-ahead swing and some folk-inflected music: Grover Washington Jnr’s funky Mr Magic and EST’s Good Morning, Suzie Soho sat next to Hallelujah, I Love Him So and The Best Is Yet To Come, whilst Bad Moon Rising and songs by Fairground Attraction added a folky element to the evening.
