In the Moment (30.4.11)
An evening of Contemporary Fusion Jazz
with Nicholas Kok, Director/Piano, and Andy Scott, Saxophone
at The Dukes, Lancaster, Saturday 30 April 2011 at 8pm
and The Grand, Clitheroe, Sunday 1 May at 3pm
What’s a classically-based orchestra doing performing jazz? Fair question, and Lancashire’s own orchestra does not limit its concerts and other educational work to symphonies and concertos: far from it. They have a thriving, strong commitment to working with young people in schools and other venues throughout the county, and this concert marked the end of a three-year project to experiment, compose and finally perform music rooted in classical, jazz, dance and other musical idioms.
So what was the concert like? Well, the Lancashire Sinfonietta’s 12-piece string ensemble, with an admirable Charles Ashby on Drums, performed eleven new pieces, written by Director/Pianist and internationally renowned conductor Nicholas Kok, and Saxophone performer and composer Andy Scott.
The offerings, in a wide range of style, texture, and mood, ranged from the elegant and soothing to the fast-paced, foot-tapping, full-on blast of Latin-American dance frenzy, and all points in between. The pieces could be equally have been at home in blockbuster film soundtracks, with Afternoon Tea in the Tower Ballroom, and in a spit-and-sawdust pub over a Sunday lunch with four pints and a meat pie.
There was some great playing from the solo string section, and in particular, solos from Violinists Sarah Brandwood Spencer and Frances Pye, as well as Saxophonist Andy Scott. Nicholas Kok’s piano playing is very versatile and can capture any mood or emotion, and he also sang a touching song of his, Yesterday and Today, an haunting and eloquent in memoriam tribute to a recently-departed close friend.
Scott too had written a similar tribute, Far Beyond the Stars, which featured elegiac Saxophone solos as well as the whole ensemble playing together. There was also, in the best Jazz and Classical Baroque traditions, some wonderfully imaginative extemporisation, not least from Ashby on Drums. And I’ve never seen or heard a Double Bass played - by Gethyn Griffiths - with a pencil!
All in all, this concert, the culmination of three years of dedicated work, was an inspiring and thoroughly enjoyable if unusual concert, demonstrating yet again that Lancashire is a rich mine of talent. All praise and credit - for a pleasant change! - to Lancashire County Council’s continuing commitment to support this venture in the face of the present financial and artistic barbarity.
The concert was both filmed and recorded, and I’m told that a CD of the event will be forthcoming, and also perhaps an arts documentary celebrating the three-year project. Also, the Lancashire Sinfonietta has produced a fine range of CDs, not just of classical collections, but also music for babies and children.
Copyright © 5 May 2011 Michael Nunn
by Michael Nunn