Dave said:

I was very much looking forward to the Oddgeir Berg Trio, and my expectations were exceeded. It was one of those gigs where you could feel the listening almost as well as you could hear the sound. 

A friend asked me about the gig, and I told him that it was an easy one to rig: piano micing as usual, bass and a talk mic. Wrong.

The wonderful bassist, Audun Ramo came with a set of stomp boxes and without a bass amp. Between Gerry and I, we rigged a powered monitor for him as his foldback, and took a lead for me at the desk from the monitor. Audun used his bow a lot during the show, beautiful. 

The leader, Oddgeir Berg, brought a suitcase full of kit. A music stand with the top horizontal on either side of the piano held the stomp box on his left, and a keyboard on his right. The effects were used gently. Some of the tunes (all by Oddgeir) were about the landscapes of northern Norway, and family past and present. The effects he used evoked the feeling of that scenery, and the emotions of loss.

Lars Bernstein on drums had no electronics. He did have a huge range of sound out of his kit.

My friend asked me to describe the programme in a few words. The best I could do was Norwegian Jazz Noir. A lot of the music was indeed dark, and always intense, but there were jolly tracks too. Oddgeir presented the show with grace and humour.

I truly hope that we book this band again.

On the 28 of August, we welcome back Tony Kofi, complete with the Organization. Peter Cator is the drummer, Simon Fernsby the guitarist and Pete Whittaker the organist. Tony is advertised as using his baritone sax, but I would be surprised if he didn’t bring a trio of saxes. I hope to see you there.

Steve said:

Every music fan should experience a Scandinavian Jazz Piano Trio live gig at least once. There was something for everyone last night at Fleece Jazz as we welcomed back The Oddgeir Berg Trio (last here in March 2023), who are currently on their European tour from their homeland of Norway. 

The warmth and charm of pianist Oddgeir Berg compering between numbers set the tone of the whole evening with music to complement his style of delivery.  His songwriting injects elements of classical music into melodic piano jazz with occasional rock grooves via distorted electronic ambient sounds reminiscent of the Esbjorn Svensson Trio.

The setlist was largely from the new album: ‘A place called Home’, much of which was about his parents as well as the beauty of his area of Norway. It was the quieter, reflective numbers that drew most approval such as ‘Song for My Mother’ and ‘Triste’ in the first set, but a standout after the interval was the much more animated and extended ‘Vagabond’ which effortlessly segued via some freestyle piano into Joni Mitchell’s ‘Both Sides Now’, reminding us of how indebted Scandinavian Jazz is to its own folk tunes.

The warm lyricism of the music was so rapturously received that all copies of the new album on CD were sold out during the interval. Any vinyl copies had been sent to Germany by the record company, but a new format known as Tap-Tape was available – billed as the lovechild of vinyl and streaming, I saw one brave soul buy one.

THE ODDGEIR BERG TRIO SETLIST, FLEECE JAZZ 14/8/24

All compositions by Oddgeir Berg except for 14

1. Here Comes The Toughest
2. Into the Mountains (Sula)
3. Circles
4. As We Wander Around
5. Perpetuum Mobile
6. Song For My Mother
7. Hommage (sic) (Dance Like Nobody’s Watching)
8. Triste

*          *          *           *         *        *        *

9. Epilogue
10. Happiness Is Where You Are
11. Where The Sun Never Sleeps
12. The Escape
13. Vagabond
14. Both Sides Now (Joni Mitchell)
15. Post Mortem

Encore: Lullaby for A.O.

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)

Steve says:

Fletch’s Brew – it doesn’t take much imagination to guess how they got their name but rarely has a band been so accurately defined by it.  What we had last night was, indeed, a heady intoxicating brew, a melting pot of musical genres ranging from electric blues to jazz-funk and jazz-rock, creating the much-maligned jazz-fusion sound that originated in the late 1960s and was probably made most famous by Miles Davis with Bitches Brew.

The impact of the band’s sound took some getting used to as they treated us to an aural rollercoaster-ride through the first number, Pat Metheny’s “Timeline”: the clash of Mark Fletcher’s cymbals overlaid by the funky grooves of Jim Watson’s electric piano and Steve Pearce’s electric bass set the scene before Freddie Gavita and Paul Stacey on electric trumpet and electric guitar, respectively, traded bars to create an exhilarating “wall of sound”. The second number, a funky arrangement of Wayne Shorter’s “Beauty and the Beast” has become an ever-welcome signature tune for the band and John Scofield’s “Peculiar” was highly appreciated by several members of our audience who couldn’t resist moving to the funky beat.

Mingus’ “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” (an elegy for Lester Young) brought the tempo and the volume down and allowed for a moment of sad contemplation and reflection which was enhanced magnificently by Paul Stacey’s guitar adding an element of keening electric blues. Mark Fletcher mentioned that Joni Mitchell later covered the song on her album, Mingus. Those in the know may have recalled her added lyrics which highlighted the racism experienced by Lester, not least due to his mixed-race marriage.

In his arrangement of Herbie Hancock’s “Fat Albert Rotunda”, featuring more evidence of the virtuosity of each band member, Freddie Gavita uses trumpet and pedal effects to such impressive effect and did so once again to overlay electronic sci-fi sounds on Shorter’s “Footprints” in the second set.  In direct contrast, the beautiful ballad, “Infant Eyes”, also by Shorter provided another oasis of calm before the tempo was ramped up with Ornette Coleman’s “Law Years” (“feel free to join in if you know it!” quipped Fletch).

Joshua Redman Elastic Band’s driving and punchy “Greasy G” featured Jim Watson and Steve Pearce laying down some deep grooves combined with jazz harmony on electric piano and electric bass before Freddie Gavita took the lead on Freddie Hubbard’s “Birdlike”. 

I haven’t mentioned Mark Fletcher anything like as much as I should have. Mark can do all-guns blazing, animated pyrotechnics on his drumkit as effectively as he can do restrained, quiet contemplation with sensitive brushwork as he did on “Infant Eyes”. He is incredibly energetic, fast and highly co-ordinated as he creates some seemingly complex rhythms that anchor and complement the other musicians. It truly is Fletch’s Brew.

Dave says:

Steve has said most of what I thought of this amazing gig. Fire and soul from Mark Fletcher on drums, Freddie Gavita on trumpet, flugel and stomp-box, Jim Watson on keyboard, Paul Stacey on electric guitar, and on Steve Pearce on bass guitar. Both guitarists had their own stomp-boxes, but Freddie’s was a wonder to behold. He used it for the trumpet and produced amazing sounds as well as clear trumpet, but the flugel was on a simple mic, and sounded great.

I thought that after the Bill Evans gig two weeks ago, with Mark on delicate, intricate brushwork, that we would have an evening of total wow this time. The wow was there in spades, diamonds and heart. But the quiet brushwork was there too, in “Goodbye, Pork Pie Hat” and “Infant Eyes”.

It was fascinating to me that even at the volume that the guys produced, the individual instruments were not hidden, as often happens when the volume is high. Underneath the solos, the obligato was both one distinct sound, but you could hear the interesting things that the backing guys did, and how they interacted with each other.

That interaction was vital. It was clear that the band were having the time of their lives up there. Mark’s arrangements left a ton of room for trading, cross-rhythms and counterpoint, and other fun stuff.

On July 10th, we have a superb tribute to the Cal Tjader/Stan Getz Sextet. It is led by Nat Steele on vibes and Mark Crooks on tenor, with Colin Oxley on guitar, pianist Matyas Gayer, bassist Jeremy Brown and Mark Taylor on drums. Do join us. It will be a lovely evening

Take care,

Dave

“FLETCH’S BREW” SETLIST, FLEECE JAZZ 26/6/24

1. Timeline (Pat Metheny)
2. Beauty and the Beast (Wayne Shorter)
3. Peculiar (John Scofield)
4. Goodbye Pork Pie Hat (Charles Mingus)
5. Fat Albert Rotunda (Herbie Hancock)

*          *          *           *         *        *        *

6. Young and Fine (Josef Zawinul)
7. Footprints (Wayne Shorter)
8. Infant Eyes (Wayne Shorter) 
9. Law Years (Ornette Coleman)
10. Greasy G (Joshua Redman)
11. Birdlike (Freddie Hubbard)