Jazz & Butternut Squash

Here are some thoughts on the tunes I managed to remember in an over-tired and cold befuddled state when I got home from hearing Ivo Neame Octet at the Vortex last night. 

Notes on individual tunes.

That Syncing Feeling.

This is apparently about technology. Lyrical clarinet melody & solo evoking either a) nostalgia for life when the kit was simpler and had bigger buttons or b) a bitter-sweet reflection on the dysfunctional co-dependent relationship we have with have with our computers/gadgets. #knowthefeeling

Resignation

Despite assurances that the papal resignation was just a co-incidence with the title of this new tune the lights did start doing strange things in the second set. So who knows? Loved the LH piano, bass, bass clarinet tripling of riffs. I was a tiny bit disappointed that they weren't restated at the end. 

Charm Defensive

This piece is steadily growing on me after an unpromising initial 'nice, but, meh' reaction when i first heard it on Walking Dark. The rich octet arrangement with the rising melodic lines stated in unison by the reeds is especially lovely. I keep finding more in it.  

Deep Space

We were politely asked to imagine we were floating in space for this one. Quite frankly if deep space is this groovy I'm moving there. Engage the warp drive and make it so, captain. 

Butternut squash *

I have been thinking recently that bass clarinet is the butternut squash ingredient of jazz. Bear with me. I shall explain. Butternut squash -  whilst it doesn't go with everything, improves a lot of recipes. It is rarely a mistake in soups (Ok you might not want to add it to your favourite chilled minted pea, dolcelatte and parmesan concoction) or hearty stews. Equally good as a main ingredient or supporting player. Many savoury dishes are even better for having butternut squash in them and it is my opinion that bass clarinet brings a similar property to jazz ensembles.

Ivo Neame Octet

Ivo Neame - Piano, accordion & Compositions

Tori Freestone - Saxophone, flute & birthday 

Jon Shenoy - Clarinet

Jason Yarde - Alto saxophone

Shabaka Hutchings - Bass Clarinet

Jim Hart - Vibraphone

Jasper Hoiby - Double Bass (just imagine the line through the O, I'm being lazy today)

Dave Hamblett - Drums

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* I am currently making butternut squash, lentil, apricot and orange soup. Also has cumin and corriander in it. It is lovely. Twitter has quietly censored the picture I posted of the rudest butternut squash ever, which I just had to buy from Lidl to prevent it corrumpting the minds of small children/nuns. They never said anything about it - but it's never properly displayed on my timeline.

In which I am wowed!

Django Bates Beloved: The Vortex. 8th February 2013.

Like paintings by Cezanne. If Cezanne had been a touch more abstract. Architectural almost landscapes.

More layers of sound that it ought to be possible for 3 people to produce.

I doubt Cezanne wore an acid green T-shirt covered in cartoon sheep. Perhaps he wore a woolly hat with a single, scraggy, tassel atop.

I don't know.

I don't know very much about Cezanne. I just remember once getting raptly lost in his paintings in this way.

We are not lost, we're just finding our way

Django Bates Beloved

Django Bates Piano
Petter Eldh Double Bass
Peter Bruun Drums

Gig's In Brief

Since I would like, at the end of the year to be able to list all the gigs I've been to - before I lose track here are some scribblings about my visits to the Con Cellar so far this year.

If you don't know about the Con Cellar you should. The cellar of a pub It's a teeny tiny space with old church pews and rickety chairs beneath a Camden boozer that hasn't yet succumbed to the Camden disease of becoming a tourist version of itself - a mixture of rock 'n' roll and local. Whilst it's not the most comfortable place to hear jazz - it is unlikely that you will be physically closer to the band without actually sitting in their laps anywhere else. Which when it's the likes of Troyka or Ivo Neame Ensemble is a bit special. Be warned though, that the resident piano is verging on shonky enough to be worthy of a Morley College award for decrpit pianos.*

18/01/2013
Black Eyed Hawk + The Strobes

Black Eyed Hawk
I have to confess It took me a while to warm up to Lauren Kinsella's vocals - my first impression involved the word pretentious. But the more I listened - and the more I reflect back - the more I like her unusual instrumental-like approach - the exploration of the range of sounds available in the words used. This is nothing like conventional scatting - more the sound of struggling to express things that words and melodies don't fit. There is an understated but rock solid understanding in the interaction between her and Laura Jurd. Jurd's compositions were standouts of the evening, I like them more every time I hear them. If she does not end up being BIG in the UK Jazz scene I will eat my hat (and be very, foot stompingly, poutingly disappointed).

Strobes
I very much enjoyed the Strobes set but did not form any distinctive impressions of their music beyond the incredible fleetness of Dan Nicholl's hands. This may be a second set on a Friday night after a long weeks' work thing.

01/02/2013
Mike Chillingworth Sextet + Martin Speake Trio

Mike Chillingworth Sextet.
Some very interesting elements reminiscent to me of Trad Jazz and Bepop. Really good stuff but not quite fused coherently within the pieces. Distinct sections bolted together rather than welded/melded. Be interesting to see where this goes - there's good stuff here - but I'd like to see it smooshed together a bit more.

Martin Speake Trio.
Again I enjoyed this without massively forming a distinct impression beyond that I'm starting to hear a difference in the sound between an 'older' generation of composers and more recent conservatoire graduates. What precisely that difference is I haven't quite defined for myself yet. Though this was an 'intergenerational band' as it were with Kit Downes on keys. When Kit Downes is an international jazz legend (it's surely only a matter of time) I will be able to look back and say in my best mad old jazz crone voice "he took my stool so he could sit down and play once, you know,"... Oh man...I'm looking forward to being a bonkers old jazz crone. It's going to be fun!
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*anyone who has done a course involving non digital pianos at Morley College will know what I mean...it's just time for some pianos to go to piano heaven where they will be forgiven their agedness, looked kindly upon after a life of mistreatment and lovingly played by Errol Garner.