Nice gig at a village pub last night, the Greyhound in West Rainton. The first outing for our new quintet – previously we were four. New girl Karen Rann on soprano sax did very well, especially considering the lack of full band rehearsals. She and Jeff Smith on tenor went off into extended improvised duets on Angel Eyes, Beautiful Love, and A Foggy Day. The effect was edgy and unpredictable. A nice change from the usual ‘your solo, my solo’ approach.
We were followed by Off the Leash, a quartet put together just for the night with John Steele (saxes), Paul Beck (piano), Mike Clarke (bass), Stan Praszczalek (drums). They played more modern and fusion than us and even included numbers written by people who are still alive (Herbie Hancock)! For me the high points were a super fast version of Impressions and a haunting This Masquerade.
John has been working in a quiet but determined way to ensure that there are regular music nights at his local pub. There have been a number of setbacks. Last year the pub went into receivership and looked like it was going to be knocked down. But fortunately the new landlord aims to have something going on every night of the week. And slipped in amongst karaoke, darts and quiz are two jazz sessions a month. Well done John.
Thursday 17 September 2009
Thursday 3 September 2009
Simple and complex
Our new quintet got together for a run through some new numbers last night. What with holidays etc, it seemed ages since we had played together, and we were all looking forward to it.
But first we had to have 'a meeting'. We'd been negotiating with the venue to continue to use one of the 20 or so practice rooms that stand empty for most of the time. It have been should be so simple: Music Education Centre with empty rooms + group of musicians who participate in the learning programmes needing space to practice = everbody happy. Three weeks ago we thought we had a deal, but new conditions and provisos have been introduced.
Anyway we talked around in circles for a while and took much longer that we needed to come to a simple decision.
Then we played music, exploring together the new material - the complex rhythms of Afro Blue, the difficult chord changes of Goodbye Pork Pie Hat. It was wonderful. We are clearly much better at making music than having meetings.
I was reminded the wise words of Charles Mingus:
'Making the simple complex is commonplace; making the complex simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity'.
But first we had to have 'a meeting'. We'd been negotiating with the venue to continue to use one of the 20 or so practice rooms that stand empty for most of the time. It have been should be so simple: Music Education Centre with empty rooms + group of musicians who participate in the learning programmes needing space to practice = everbody happy. Three weeks ago we thought we had a deal, but new conditions and provisos have been introduced.
Anyway we talked around in circles for a while and took much longer that we needed to come to a simple decision.
Then we played music, exploring together the new material - the complex rhythms of Afro Blue, the difficult chord changes of Goodbye Pork Pie Hat. It was wonderful. We are clearly much better at making music than having meetings.
I was reminded the wise words of Charles Mingus:
'Making the simple complex is commonplace; making the complex simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity'.
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