Tomasz Stańko (trumpet);
Alexi Tuomarila (piano); Reuben Rogers (bass); Gerald Cleaver (drums)
(Review
by Hugh C).
It is always nice to be thanked
in public for something you have done, but even better, perhaps, for something
you have not yet done. This does,
however, put the pressure on to deliver!
By midnight, on the evening of
the gig, I was already in an anonymous Travelodge, way, way South of the Tees Delta, en route to
Devon's Jurassic coast to spend a week visiting elderly relatives (not in any
way dinosaurs though!).
I have now returned to my
laptop, and with Lance's agreement, deliver my somewhat tardy report.
The faithful few were gathered
outside the East level 1 entrance to Sage 2 just before 7 pm. By 7.10 there was still no sign of door staff
or the doors opening. On questioning an
unsuspecting Sage staff member we were told the doors opened at 7.30. “What pre-concert talk?” was the response to
our question. Your reporter was hoping
to obtain some nuggets of inside information on the main man from the billed
question and answer session with jazz journalist and critic Kevin Le Gendre. Eventually it was established that due to
flight delays, the session had been cancelled.
Oh, well – back to the bar!
At the appointed hour we
returned to take our seats for the gig at 8pm.
The hall was packed to the rafters, well at least from my seat in the
full hall on level 1, I could see heads peeping over the parapet on levels 2 and
3. As is customary, the gig was
introduced by Serious' John Cummings.
Gerald Cleaver (drums), Reuben Rogers (bass) and Alexi Tuomarila (piano)
entered and took their place on stage.
We were then asked to welcome the man with “the nattiest headgear in
jazz” - Tomasz Stańko. After a short
interval whilst he sorted out the connection of his bell microphone, Stańko,
replete with a fine cloth cap, took his place on a high wooden chair, from
which he did not depart during the entire set. My companion, unfamiliar with the artist,
remarked that he resembled a cross between Andy Capp and David Hockney
The format for the evening was a
series of extended solos interspersed by ensemble work. Slow, thoughtful, passages followed by the
merest increase in tempo. When not
playing, Stańko sat on the chair, his eyes shielded from the lights by his cap,
swaying gently to the groove. The
lightening pianism of Tuomarila during one of the faster passages drew the
first solo applause of the evening, the second was in response to Stańko's
stratospheric glissandi. During a
bass solo by Reuben Rogers, Stańko took the opportunity to methodically
dissemble his trumpet and allow the “moisture” out.
Twenty
five minutes in, there was a short pause, charts were changed on stands and
with the merest nod from the leader to the pianist, the second number
commenced. This set the form for the
evening. I cannot name the pieces
played, as there were no announcements, other than occasional name-checks for
the band members. I thought I
recognised some of the pieces played, which from the Sage listing are from the
double album, Wisłlawa – dedicated to the celebrated poet, essayist and
Nobel Laureate Wislława Symborska. I am
not familiar with this work, but listening through to the latest offering (December
Avenue – review to follow...) it may also contain familiar phrases.
The
first set lasted 50 minutes. After
interval refreshment we reconvened for the second half. The format was familiar. The second set featured exquisite bowed bass
from Rogers. Of all the band members he
was most obviously enjoying himself - to the extent that he would let out the
occasional whoop. Gerald Cleaver on
drums would also smile occasionally.
During one extended drum solo, Rogers put down his bass and retired to
the shadows behind the piano, perhaps to protect his eardrums. Cool Finn, Alexi Tuomarila on piano remained
impassive throughout and barely acknowledged applause for his solos. Tomasz Stańko likewise, apart from the gentlest
of chair dancing, and the occasional draft from his Badoit bottled
water.
The
second set ended after 45 minutes. The
enthusiastic audience would not let the band go without an encore, after which
there was a respectful moment of silence to allow the last chord to die away,
before the final applause. I certainly
enjoyed this gig and, so apparently did other audience members. From overheard conversations on the way out it
would seem some had travelled quite a way to be present. This was, after all, the Quartet's only UK
gig in their current tour. The Tomasz
Stańko quartet played the following evening in Ruesselsheim, Germany, pictured
and reviewed here.
Hugh C.
The best review of this year's GIJF.
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