Upcoming Gigs

Part two of my London Jazz Festival gig round up - just one gig to report on this time, but this one deserves a blog all of its own...

So where were we? Tuesday was a non-work night, but after seeing 7 concerts in the previous five days I felt like I was on something of a roll, so I figured there was no point in trying to take a night off. Besides, this was going to be something special. Playing at the LSO St. Luke's near Old Street was Aldo Romano on drums, Henri Texier on bass and Louis Sclavis on saxophones and clarinets. I have a CD of this trio that I 'borrowed' from a friend over a year ago ('Carnet Des Routes' - GO OUT AND BUY THIS RIGHT NOW) and I absolutely love, and I never thought I'd get the chance to see them play it live.

I've got to take a moment here to say that this gig gave me a deepened respect for anyone who has to relate their musical experiences to the public in any kind of critical fashion. I doubt very much I'd be able to give a reasoned, objective account of the gig if I had to turn in my copy to an editor that night for the following day's paper. I've just about calmed down now three days afterwards, so I hope you'll forgive any hyperbole that inevitably results.

So, reasoned and objective - the gig was totally and utterly incredible in every way. This trio is such an interesting group of musicians, and their playing left me slack-jawed throughout. As well as the music, the band was backed by a projection of photographs taken by Guy Le Querrec, a photographer who accompanied them through their trip to central Africa in the '70s (?), from which most of the music performed arose. Le Querrec's pictures were simple snapshots for the most part, beautifully composed but displaying ordinary events and scenes in an extraordinary way. In response to the images on the screen, the music was much the same - simple in the sense of the band's lineup and the structure of the tunes, but complex in the interplay between the different elements, and in the intracy of some of the playing.

Texier and Romano displayed a masterful but perfectly understated command of rhythm, both of them fantastically inventive without ever coming close to being excessive or domineering. Texier's bass playing made great use of drone-like parts and to underscore Sclavis' burning, freewheeling solos, occasionally using drumsticks and brushes to tap the strings for a completely different sound, pulsating along with Romano's drumming, which was tasteful and controlled but fiercesomely explorative.

Sclavis is a force of nature on his instruments, especially on bass clarinet (quickly becoming one of my favourite sounds) - the opening of the last tune, 'Les Petit Lits Blanc', began with a two minute unbroken solo (Sclavis can circular-breathe) that circled around and occasionally hinted at the main theme before tightening up launching into the melody.

I can't really put into words how impressive and awesome this performance was. Using a lot of adjectives and adverbs gets across my enthusiasm well enough but in no can I accurately express how it made me feel. The response from the sold-out crowd seemed to mirror my opinions too, the applause going on long after the band had left the stage.

Just incredible - a night I'll remember for a long time...

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You can watch a short video interview of Louis Sclavis talking to pianist Neil Cowley after the gig on the BBC's website - http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/jazz/londonjazzfestival/blog_neil7.shtml