For anyone living in Hampshire, the Turner Sim's concerts are something of a godsend when it comes to hearing quality, world-class jazz and this has historically been a venue for some of the best gigs in Southampton for since about 1987 and after the marketing fiasco of the George Russell orchestra gig at the old Mountbatten Theatre which was so poorly publicised it made the Evening Echo. Over the last few years some of the more recent names have been featured and perhaps given an impression that the European / UK scene doesn't quite match up to more important artists from the US such as Steve Coleman.
In this month, the situation has been rectified by Gwilym Simcock's Anglo-American band and last week by David Murray's latest quartet. I would have to admit to not being a devotee to Murray's music - I've seen him on four previous occasions and sometimes been impressed whilst on others I've been a bit bored by the bravado. His big bands have never really appealed, for example and I think that he is an artist who has worked with musicians who aren't quite of the same stature. David Murray has been a musician I felt that I should have liked but he has never been a favourite. Thursday night was something else, however.
The band consisted of Jaribu Shahid on bass, Rod Williams on piano and the legendary Nasheet Waits on drums (wearig the kind of jumper that looked like he had escaped from the set of "Star Trek.") I'm not sure how this band ranks in terms of his other groups (the mixing was a bit muddy sometimes) but the leader was in imperious form. Sometimes the band didn't sound quite as tight as other groups I have heard (compare with Branford's quartet with Tain's atomic precision) but it provided the perfect spring-board for the tenor solos. The key to the success of this concert was was truly catchy and infectious tunes played by a band who seemed to be taking directions on the spot as opposed to performing charts. This ensured that the music was totally spontaneous and exciting. On top of that, David Murray produced some of the most passionate and cohesive tenor I've heard in a long time. To my ears, this performance suggested that it has taken over the mantle from Sonny Rollins with an ability to conjure solos that are logical whilst being very outside some times. I was also struck at just how much he was taking his cures from players like Herschal Evans and Ben Webster - one of the highlights of the big was a duet with the bassist whereby they performed Dukes' "Solitude." The best moment was a tune dedicated to a baseball team where David Murray switched to bass clarinet. This was sensational.
Although Williams had his moments on piano, I think this concert was primarily an exercise for Murray to front a rhythm section with one of the very greatest drummers in the business in his line up .You could argue that Waits has been more "outside" whilst performing with the wonderful Tarus Mateen but I think as a platform for a soloist to launch in to the stratosphere, this groups did all that was necessary. I don't think anyone could have complained that the encore featured Murray as the only soloist. This was a gig where the leader has no agenda or point to prove and yet demonstrated that he would have slayed any competition that this country would have presented. This was "Real jazz" and for those on this board who have lauded some of the local talent on this board recently, ample prove that when measured up against a titanic figure like David Murray, the likes of the girl featured on last week's JLU are merely tinkering with the music. Murray produced a performance that coupled unboundless exploration with a knowledge and appreciation of the music's history that singles this concert out as one of the highlights of 2103. After a gig like that, it is impossible not to be converted. The next DM album needs to be a Duke Ellington album. In summary, this concert was so good that it would have even made Bluesnik burn his Barney Willen LP's.
Odd not to have seen any reviews of this quartet's gigs. Mr Shipton.......?
In this month, the situation has been rectified by Gwilym Simcock's Anglo-American band and last week by David Murray's latest quartet. I would have to admit to not being a devotee to Murray's music - I've seen him on four previous occasions and sometimes been impressed whilst on others I've been a bit bored by the bravado. His big bands have never really appealed, for example and I think that he is an artist who has worked with musicians who aren't quite of the same stature. David Murray has been a musician I felt that I should have liked but he has never been a favourite. Thursday night was something else, however.
The band consisted of Jaribu Shahid on bass, Rod Williams on piano and the legendary Nasheet Waits on drums (wearig the kind of jumper that looked like he had escaped from the set of "Star Trek.") I'm not sure how this band ranks in terms of his other groups (the mixing was a bit muddy sometimes) but the leader was in imperious form. Sometimes the band didn't sound quite as tight as other groups I have heard (compare with Branford's quartet with Tain's atomic precision) but it provided the perfect spring-board for the tenor solos. The key to the success of this concert was was truly catchy and infectious tunes played by a band who seemed to be taking directions on the spot as opposed to performing charts. This ensured that the music was totally spontaneous and exciting. On top of that, David Murray produced some of the most passionate and cohesive tenor I've heard in a long time. To my ears, this performance suggested that it has taken over the mantle from Sonny Rollins with an ability to conjure solos that are logical whilst being very outside some times. I was also struck at just how much he was taking his cures from players like Herschal Evans and Ben Webster - one of the highlights of the big was a duet with the bassist whereby they performed Dukes' "Solitude." The best moment was a tune dedicated to a baseball team where David Murray switched to bass clarinet. This was sensational.
Although Williams had his moments on piano, I think this concert was primarily an exercise for Murray to front a rhythm section with one of the very greatest drummers in the business in his line up .You could argue that Waits has been more "outside" whilst performing with the wonderful Tarus Mateen but I think as a platform for a soloist to launch in to the stratosphere, this groups did all that was necessary. I don't think anyone could have complained that the encore featured Murray as the only soloist. This was a gig where the leader has no agenda or point to prove and yet demonstrated that he would have slayed any competition that this country would have presented. This was "Real jazz" and for those on this board who have lauded some of the local talent on this board recently, ample prove that when measured up against a titanic figure like David Murray, the likes of the girl featured on last week's JLU are merely tinkering with the music. Murray produced a performance that coupled unboundless exploration with a knowledge and appreciation of the music's history that singles this concert out as one of the highlights of 2103. After a gig like that, it is impossible not to be converted. The next DM album needs to be a Duke Ellington album. In summary, this concert was so good that it would have even made Bluesnik burn his Barney Willen LP's.
Odd not to have seen any reviews of this quartet's gigs. Mr Shipton.......?
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