Review: Norma Winstone at the Oxford Jazz Festival

Norma Winstone, Klaus Gesing, Glauco Venier
(Randolph Hotel, April 24th 2011,part of Oxford Jazz Festival, review by Paul Guest, photo credit: Barker Evans)
  
My first encounter with Norma Winstone in concert was at the London Jazz Festival in November last year. I remember that I had been apprehensive beforehand, but that her trio's performance had dramatically changed my perspective: music which I hadn't known at all had brought me the same feelings of contentment as the renewal of an old friendship.

Now I find myself in Oxford to hear their beautiful music once more, as part of the Oxford Jazz Festival. You couldn’t have had a more perfect day, with Oxford basking in the sunshine. I decided to arrive at the Randolph Hotel early to get the feel of the venue, to take stock of the audience before the concert began.

In London I had been greeted by a wealth of young people. I wanted to know whether this transcended to the Oxford Jazz scene: Not really. I sat in the bar waiting and all I saw was grey hair after white hair, but then, late - as ever - a flock of young professionals came through the doors, thank god!

On first impressions, the venue was dire; it was the room where I would have had my sixth birthday party with a cheap DJ, party balloons and probably a twister mat: Yes, my parents were that cruel to me. Not that I’m a usual jazz goer but the seating seemed much too formal, I really wanted to be in a dark room with the spotlight on Norma; you know, something much more intimate, because that is how I feel when I listen, like Norma’s best friend, it can be very personable.

“I wear flats for the sound check and heels for the gig” Norma said while adjusting her mic. The music began, instantly I had disappeared into a world of just the music; the venue that I hated didn’t matter; the damn photographer snapping photographs in front of me didn’t matter.

Norma Winstone, Klaus Gesing and Glauco Venier are a trio matched in heaven; they can read each other like books and they also create beautiful music but not only do they create music but they give you story, a journey. That journey begins from the very first note and only ends at complete silence. Gesing’s well-placed harmonic lines slyly become the second voice with his beautiful velvety notes from either the bass clarinet or soprano sax that acted so versatile throughout the performance. Venier on the piano becomes a master of his craft visibly using both eyes and ear to deliver a compilation of chord, melody and décor; he gives the piano some touch love. When Norma Winstone starts to sing the flower blossoms, the Barbra Streisand of Jazz; her beautiful lyrics combined with her sublime vocal colour of a deep red transport you from reality to another world; far away, somewhere unknown; you feel the floor disappear beneath you.
The programme was a mixture of work from the trio’s most recent album “Stories Yet To Tell” and the previous “Distances”.

During a chat with Norma she told me “I never remember the order… I didn’t even realise we were going to perform ‘Mermaid’… it just felt right, right key, right time” – It shows just how lost Norma is in the music too. Renditions of ‘Just Sometimes’, ‘Among the Clouds” and a personal favourite “Goddess” all portrayed immense beauty. Norma sings into the microphone as it if were a delicate rose. ‘Rush’ is most haunting, beautiful too.

Even the incredibly technical improvisations and the mass of talented, articulate scat singing that split up the trio’s softer songs came together to create something so perfectly infectious, in fact I found it really overwhelming. During the improvisation you had to search through a jungle of notes to find the melody- appropriately like a musical egg hunt.




I’ve read things about Norma that suggest she has found success late in the game; I disagree, her voice has matured into something of great beauty and almost like finding your soul mates, she has found two perfect musical partners in Venier and Gesing.

The magic of their music is that the Piano, Voice and Saxophone coalesce into one, one self, one existence.

Review: Bobby Wellins

Bobby Wellins Quartet
(North Wall Arts Centre, Oxford, 23rd April 2011, part of Oxford Jazz Festival Review by Hamish Birchall; photo credit: Barker Evans )

North Wall Arts Centre is an intimate venue, a small theatre with an excellent acoustic, perfectly suited to the confiding style and sublimely beautiful improvisations of Scottish tenorman Bobby Wellins. His performance was, in turn, perfectly complemented by the sensitive yet powerful trio of Liam Noble, Dave Wickens and Dave Whitford.


At 75, Wellins might be forgiven for taking it easy. But while he confessed to a touch of sciatica, there is no sign of an artistic sunset. His unique jazz talent shines as brightly as it did in the 1960s.

He dedicated his opening number, a ballad, to his friend Ray Smith, who died only a week ago. Wellins and Smith shared a London flat in the 1950s. Smith, a drummer and jazz devotee, opened the famous Ray's Jazz Shop in Shaftesbury Avenue in 1983 where it remained for nearly 20 years, until moving to Foyles under new management.

The magic began with the opening melody. Wellins' characteristic thoughtful phrasing, and slow vibrato, full of pathos, made every note count. Noble's piano was delicate and supportive, while drummer Dave Wickens applied minimal percussive decoration, susurrating brushwork and gentle cymbal touches. Dave Whitford's warmly resonant double bass underpinned the whole, even while taking a lyrical, well-paced solo.

Wickens' superb brushes continued, opening the second piece, 'Mad about the boy', with an irrestible samba groove. Introduced by Wellins as a tribute to Noel Coward, the phrasing in his own solo took up the infectious rhythm effortlessly. Noble is clearly more than adept at latin grooves himself, but never heavy-handed, implying rather than stating the time. Whitford again moved from groove to solo and back without any loss of momentum.

Gershwin's 'Fascinating Rhythm' was delivered with equal artistry by all. Noble started the Rogers and Hart ballad 'It never entered my mind' with a masterly, introspective solo, and Wellins' solo was tenderly evocative.

Returning after the interval, Wellins paid generous tribute to the musicianship of Soweto Kinch, a fellow OJF highlight, and who was in the audience. The second set began with one of Wellins' own compositions from the late 70s, 'Dreams are free'. Starting in African 12/8 time, it metamorphosed seamlessly into swing and double-time. Wickens solo was a joy, always musical, never dominating.

Wellins left the stage to the trio for 'Take 5', from their 2009 CD 'Brubeck' (which prompted Brubeck himself to write in fulsome praise to Noble). But although the treatment was inventive and the playing collectively masterful, the evening's focus was temporarily lost. It returned in full strength, however, with Wellins' return. Moving renditions of Antonio Carlos Jobim's 'If you never come to me' and 'Monk's mood' by Thelonious Monk. The evening closed with a 12 bar blues.

Thanking the audience, Wellins turned to the band: 'These gentlemen are an absolute joy to make music with'. Undoubtedly true, but they must surely say the same of you, Bobby.

www.oxfordjazzfestival.com

Review: Preston Reed at Oxford Jazz Festival

Preston Reed
(Modern Art, Oxford, 23rd April, part of Oxford Jazz Festival, review by Hamish Birchall; photo credit: Barker Evans)

'It's not really jazz, is it?' Before I got anywhere near Preston Reed's gig at Modern Art Oxford, it was clear that some festival-goers considered his inclusion on the programme inappropriate. Well, he's not modern art either, but he is a very good guitarist. Indeed, he is an amazing guitarist.

If we're going to pigeon-hole music, Reed is not jazz. Born in New York, and based in Scotland since 2000,his influences are predominantly bluegrass, blues, rock and country. His often programmatic compositions do include a relatively small proportion of certain chords, rhythms and improvisation that jazz fans prefer. These sections are not, in my opinion, his best.

But this is to miss the point. He is rightly lauded in America and Europe not only as a fine exponent of finger-picking guitar, with many albums and broadcasts under his belt, but also as a genuine innovator. In 1987 he invented a way of two-handed playing that integrates the full percussive potential of the guitar body. On the acoustic six-string he really can sound like a one-man band.

Opening with a piece called 'Hangman', Reed's optimistic, energy-packed performance blew the cobwebs out of the rather stuffy, claustrophobic basement, already standing room only. At first sight, his technique looks awkward, left hand hanging over the guitar neck from above, playing almost keyboard-style, with both right and left hands at the same time tapping and slapping for bass drum and snare backbeat effect. Two numbers in similar vein followed, one inspired by the Japanese 'bullet train' and going almost as fast.

For 'Street Beat' he switched to semi-acoustic, gentler in tone and mood - jazzier too, although of the easy-listening variety. 'Half life' followed, a jaunty shuffle and catchy tune from his most recent album, 'Spirit'.

'Overture', he explained, switching to a 12-string guitar, 'was about the moments immediately before and immediately after the birth of my daughter'. A series of chiming chords built the tension. A repeated two-note bass figure suggested things were moving. The jangly, bluegrass finale was, presumably, the happy outcome (she will be 18 on Monday).

Reed played on without a break for 90 minutes, a total of 18 original compositions. Those that stood out included the funky 'Fat Boy', named after his favourite model of Harley Davidson, 'Far Horizon', an evocative, almost mournful ballad, both played conventionally on six-string acoustic. 'Delayed train' (yes, engines seem to be a theme) chugged along nicely with bottleneck slide, and his encore piece 'Rainmaker', featured a convincing drum solo.

This genial guitar wizard enthralled his audience from the start, and they stayed with him to the finish.

www.prestonreed.com

Review: Soweto Kinch at the Oxford Jazz Festival

Soweto Kinch
(Oxford Town Hall, 22nd April 2011, part of Oxford Jazz Festival, review by Hamish Birchall; Photo credit: Barker Evans)

Multi award-winning alto sax virtuoso Soweto Kinch topped the bill last night at the third Oxford Jazz Festival, a four-day Easter treat with over 50 performances, talks, interviews and workshops in 32 venues.

The ornate, cathedral-like space of Oxford Town Hall reverberated to Kinch's exuberant fusion of jazz, hip-hop and MC rap. His intelligent and humorous introductions quickly established a warm rapport with the audience, and the thoughtful and creative spirit behind the music.

The evening's programme was taken from his third and most recent album 'The New Emancipation', a musical exploration of the idea of freedom.

A soulful sax cadenza opened the show, morphing into the medium-slow funk of 'Never Ending', with hints of a reggae drop-beat. Drummer Graham Godfrey ('The Big G') expertly navigated varying time signatures with crackling snare accents, Karl Rasheed-Abel delivered a solid, subterranean bass, guitarist Femi Temowo supplied the first of many mellifluous and apparently effortless solos, not to mention a beaming smile that lasted all evening. The audience was hooked.

Interviewed days before by Julian Joseph on BBC R3's 'Jazz Line-up', Kinch talked about his influences, ranging from Delius to Ellington and Booker Little. His idea was 'to embrace the whole gamut of African diaspora expression to tell this story...'. If it is not always entirely clear how the music and these ideas connect, there is no doubting the sincerity of the project.

'Trying to be a star', had Temowo doubling on backing vocals while Kinch rapped a tale of futile striving for celebrity. Rasheed-Abel was effective on electric bass this time, and again drummer Godfrey shone with a series of increasingly intense fills.

'An ancient worksong' followed, appropriately to a slow shuffle beat, then 'A people with no past', a headlong post-bop tumble seemingly on the edge of chaos but with bravura solos from Temowo and Kinch . The set closed with a dramatic change of mood, 'The love of money', a brooding, lumbering number, Kinch again in declamatory vocal mode.

The second half began with 'Trade', a lazy swing groove. Kinch and Godfrey exchanged rhythmic phrases, and Rashid-Abel took a lyrical and inventive double-bass solo. 'Axis of Evil' had Kinch MC-ing: 'Is the Obama nation an abomination when it bombs a nation?', with echoes of the pioneering socio-political rap of 1970s Gil Scott-Heron.

An instrumental, 'Escape', was introduced as a deliberate excursion 'to a far less morose universe', and succeeded with a subtle but accessible melodic theme.




The evening closed with two audience participation numbers, obviously enjoyed by the whole band. 'Freestyle' showcased Kinch's formidable improvisatory rhyming skill. Members of the audience were invited to shout words beginning with the letters of 'Freedom'. These included 'eggs', 'David Cameron', 'Oxford' and 'mojo'. Improbably, and to the delight of all, Kinch wove them into a coherent and comic rap.

The finale, 'Raise your spirit', had the audience shouting 'spirit' as one, a tribute to Soweto Kinch's talent for fusing diverse genres, and bringing their otherwise fragmented audiences together in one joyful celebration.


Oxford Jazz Festival website

Oxford Jazz Festival - Thurs April 21-Sun 24

The Oxford Jazz Festival programme shows the imaginative team behind it branching out and trying new things. Such as:

-A visit by BBC Radio 3 for a live recording of Jazz Library with Bobby Wellins at North Wall Arts Centre

-The luxury 5-Star Randolph Hotel (above) hosting a luxury 5-star Trio: Norma Winstone, Klaus Gesing and Glauco Venier. Kit Downes' Sextet will also be there, performing material from the not-yet-released album.

-Tim Whitehead will be at that friendly regular venue the Spin

-Concerts in the 1897 Town Hall by Rory Simmons' Fringe Magnetic and Soweto Kinch.

- New venues: the Jacqueline Du Pre Music Building and the Said Business School

The full programme/booking is here and there is also an OJF Jukebox