Steve said:

For all the right reasons, it is a struggle to articulate the sensation caused by Theo Travis’ Doubletalk as they returned to Fleece Jazz for the first time in just over seven years. The music was an emotional rollercoaster and, at times, completely overwhelming in its intensity. Judging from the wild applause, as well as the whoops and the cries of delight from our highly appreciative audience after almost every number, I was far from alone in feeling this way.

The gospel-tinged organ sound of Pete Whittaker that introduced the first number, ‘Ascending’, soon opens up for Theo Travis to weave his magic on soprano sax with the central, haunting melody followed by the first of many stunning and enrapturing guitar solos from Mike Outram. Throughout, the driving beat from Nic France’s drums sets the pulse racing and the sheer joy on his face as he looks to his fellow musicians reflects how many of us feel and reminds us of how patently aware the band are of each other’s musical thoughts.  The pace doesn’t let up with ‘Fire Mountain’, inspired by a volcanic national park on the Canary Islands. The tempo is ramped up even further as organ and drums set the rhythm with guitar mirroring the runs on tenor sax with excoriating energy. Fittingly, the band seemed truly on fire! The pace then eases for the lovely ballad, ‘Shore Thing’, which featured a memorable solo from Mike’s guitar. Somewhat of a departure for the band, but completely in tune with Theo’s influences, is Pharoah Sanders’ ‘The Creator Has A Master Plan’ with Theo’s flute-playing featuring for the first time this evening. Sanders’ tune was a kind of sequel to his mentor John Coltrane’s legendary 1964 recording ‘A Love Supreme’ and has the same spiritual feeling, which comes across superbly from the quartet before leading seamlessly into Floating Points’ ‘Peroration Six’. The first set concludes with the title track of the quartet’s second album, ‘Transgression’, another longform piece of progressive music in the jazz idiom, a heady mix that ticks all the boxes – jazz, rock and prog. As with all the numbers played this evening, there is a rigorous musicality beneath the sound and fury.

The second set kicks off with a piece by The Beatles’ record producer, George Martin, made famous by English progressive rock band Van der Graaf Generator, ‘Theme One’. The piece develops into a catchy anthem concluding with Outram sparring with Travis. One of Theo’s older numbers, ‘Lulworth Night’, features an inspiring solo from Whittaker who elsewhere largely binds the sound of the whole band with a sublety that gives free rein to the more ecstatic contributions of Outram and Travis. ‘Freedom Coda’ is a reworking of ‘Freedom’ and ‘Song for Samuel’ is a joyous, vivacious tribute to Theo’s son. Another prog-rock-jazz epic, ‘A Place In The Queue’ once again features Pete Whittaker resplendent on keys as he mixes Larry Young-style modal jazz into the overall sound and does so once again on the much demanded encore, ‘The Relegation of Pluto’, fittingly introduced with otherworldly sounds from the organ which crystallised into a funky, swampy sound, before the sax, guitar and drums resumed.

We want them back soon.

Dave said:

I loved this show for all the reasons that Steve recorded above. For techies, I can say that it was great fun to run the sound desk for this one. The prime job was to keep Theo in front when he was soloing. His tenor came to me directly from a mic. The flute and soprano used his mic, which was connected to a stomp box connected to me. These two instruments needed different volume and reverb changes, which were also dependent on the volume of the other four. That kept me hopping. The nice thing was that the technology was used with delicacy and relevance. Nice.

For me, the favourite bit of the gig was Mike and Theo trading 4’s, and them all trading with Nic. “Polyrhythms Are Us”.I

In three weeks time, we have the return of the wonderful Norwegian piano trio, the Oddgeir Berg Trio, with Audun Ramo on bass and  Lars Berntsen on drums. We loved them when they were here last. Don’t miss them.

Take care,

Dave

SETLIST, FLEECE JAZZ 24/7/2

All compositions by Theo Travis except for 4 and 6

1. Ascending
2. Fire Mountain
3. Shore Thing
4. The Creator Has A Master Plan (Pharoah Sanders and Leon Thomas) / Peroration Six (Sam Shepherd aka Floating Points)
5. Transgression

*          *          *           *         *        *        *

6. Theme One (George Martin)
7. Lulworth Night
8. Freedom Coda
9. Everything I Feared 
10. Song for Samuel
11. A Place In The Queue

Encore: The Relegation of Pluto

In tribute to the 1958 “West Coast Cool” recording of the Cal Tjader and Stan Getz sextet, Mark Crooks and Nat Steele treated us to an enjoyable selection of jazz standards and Tjader originals.  Mark described what we heard from the first three numbers as a “listenable dynamic” with a “lack of racket” and indeed it was; a welcome antidote to what was taking place simultaneously in Dortmund. Bracing and calming like the best of West Coast, the album itself is a hidden gem and a real cool classic with a simply incredible line-up including pianist Vince Guaraldi, guitarist Eddie Duran, bassist Scott La Faro and drummer Billy Higgins. 

The jaunty “Ginza Samba” sets the scene with nimble and imaginative contributions from all soloists. Nat Steele is a vigorous, resourceful performer who demonstrated his wizardry on vibes throughout the evening – all eyes were on his speed and dexterity as he took each solo, including those of compere and fellow frontman, Mark Crooks. Like Getz and Tjader, the warm, silky sound of Mark’s tenor blended effortlessly with Nat’s vibes, especially on the beautiful ballad, “I’ve Grown Accustomed To Her Face”. Both frontmen showed an ability to switch from lyric smoothness as on the waltz, “Liz-Anne” and “For All We Know” to gutsy swing as on “Ginza Samba”, “Big Bear” and “Crow’s Nest”. 

Cole Porter’s “Get Out of Town”, which Mark wryly dedicated to former members of the cabinet, was performed as a quartet with Nat and Mátyás sitting out for this one number, allowing us to witness a superb, tight interplay between the tenor and rhythm section. The liquid, bluesy sound of Colin Oxley’s guitar, Jeremy Brown’s extraordinary agility across the whole range of the bass (especially on Tjader’s beautiful waltz, “Liz-Anne”) and Mark Taylor’s versatility of style were present across both sets.

We finished with “Parker 51”, a number covered most famously by Stan Getz and based on the changes of Bird’s “Cherokee”, the most animated (frenetic?) tune heard all evening that gave every band member an opportunity to demonstrate their agile technique and featured a rousing drum solo from Mark Taylor.

A final word on our pianist, Mátyás Gayer, who played a key role throughout both sets .  His solos were thoughtful, always gentle, appropriate to the West Coast cool. His obligato though came out of intense listening to his colleagues, very fine.

The next gig has the return of Theo Travis (tenor sax) with organist Pete Whittaker, Mike Outram on guitar, and Nic France on drums. The passion and flow of ideas will amaze you. We hope to see you on Wednesday July 24.

Take care,

Steve

CAL TJADER-STAN GETZ SEXTET ALBUM TRIBUTE

SETLIST, FLEECE JAZZ 10/7/24

1. Ginza Samba (Vince Guaraldi)
2. Liz-Anne (Cal Tjader)
3. I’ve Grown Accustomed To Her Face (Loewe/Lerner)
4. Get Out Of Town (Cole Porter)
5. Crow’s Nest (Cal Tjader)

*          *          *           *         *        *        *

6. Fried Bananas (Dexter Gordon)
7. For All We Know (J. Fred Coots)
8. Speak Low (Kurt Weill) 
9. Big Bear (Cal Tjader)
10. Nobody Else But Me (Jerome Kern)
11. Parker 51 (Jimmy Raney)