photo by Finn Beales
Brecon 2011 by Sebastian Scotney
The Brecon Beacons beckon. The pretty market town by the River Usk has an inviting, lush-green backdrop of easily climbable hills. The beauty of the place really captured the imagination of one of the headliners at this year’s jazz festival, Allen Toussaint. The legendary singer-songwriter, resplendent in a bright red and gold suit, settled himself down gently at the piano and remarked, ‘This place is so beautiful, you people have got nowhere to go when you die!’
Allen Toussaint by Mick Destino
It’s not just the surroundings. The Brecon Jazz Festival has a friendly vibe and is well-run. Founded by Jed Williams in 1984, it was given new life in 2009 by the Welsh Arts Council and Hay Festivals company. The programming team for these past three years, led by Sarah Dennehy, is establishing a reputation for bringing a wide range of acts and healthy audience numbers to town.
I’m told that people tend to wait quite late before booking – yes, the weather can be variable – but the crowds this year looked healthy. The town centre is on a small scale, the venues are within easy walking distance of each other. A fringe programme of rock bands, based around the pubs, co-exists with the official festival. This year, there were also some jazz gigs in the Guildhall in tribute to Jed Williams.
To have a press pass for the main festival is a privilege. The proximity of the venues to each other encouraged a restlessness which meant that I checked out part or all of virtually a dozen gigs on Saturday. With that number of different experiences, some of them disappear into a blur. But one show clearly stands out as a special event from my Brecon Saturday: Phronesis‘ world premiere of Pitch Dark, a gig in complete darkness, proved to be the main talking-point of the festival.
Photo Credit: John LW’s Music Photos
Phronesis, a piano/bass/drums unit led by London-based Danish bassist Jasper Hoiby, with drummer Anton Eger and pianist Ivo Neame, builds on the legacy of the Esbjorn Svenson Trio. Hoiby had clearly thought through the concept for this gig. It was a deeply personal tribute to the courage of his blind sister. During the second number, the house lights were progressively dimmed to nothing, and the audience and performers then stayed in darkness for the next hour. It was fascinating to experience at first-hand an audience which clearly knows its jazz well having to almost re-learn the whole experience of being at a gig. The context was new and fresh for us all, and so we responded somewhat gingerly at first but gradually began to remember how one normally responds at a jazz gig. And, by the end, we were – understandably and justifiably – showing the band some real appreciation for a brilliant concept superbly realised.
The fourth, often unsung member of the band, Swedish sound engineer August Wanngren, also worked in darkness, balancing the band’s levels expertly through the more intimate episodes in the music. But he also cranked up drummer Eger’s ferocious and explosive onslaught too. Phronesis will be repeating the Pitch Dark experience at the Purcell Room as part of the London Jazz Festival and there are still tickets to be snapped up.
photo by Pedro Brown
Another Brecon highlight was Sara Mitra‘s afternoon gig in the Market Hall. This was a personal landmark event for this inspiring young singer. If debut albums are very often destined to sit indefinitely in the same boxes they arrive in, Mitra has bucked that trend. She told me gleefully after the gig that the last copies of her first album ‘April Song’ had completely sold out. This wasn’t a big suprise to me because she’s developing quite a following. Both Jamie Cullum and Gilles Peterson have heaped praise on this first album, Cullum for her sheer quality and Peterson for her very individual Englishness. But hearing her live, one gets a strong sense that she has already moved forward since making that debut recording. The voice can be small-scale, teasing, delicate. But (maybe recent motherhood makes a difference, how would I know?) when she turns on the gas, she has the power to both soar over and cut through the band’s textures. And the band is a Rolls-Royce of top UK players, capable of establishing the very different character of each of the songs right from the start. James Allsopp is an awesomely-equipped saxophone player who can switch effortlessly from soothing mainstream tenor in the manner of Zoot Sims to free and forceful bass clarinet taking forwards the legacy of Eric Dolphy. Fulvio Sigurta is a poetic trumpeter who always has a story to tell. Riaan Vosloo is one of the most musicianly bassists around, Ross Stanley the in-demand pianist and organist, and Tim Giles is an instinctively creative drummer who always has a surprise up his sleeve.
I also caught two of the finest communicators in jazz. Pianist Monty Alexander brought an infectious sense of swing to songs like ‘It Could Happen To You’ and ‘Fly Me To The Moon’. The enjoyment was palpable even at my seat in the back row of the Market Hall. People around me were tapping their feet, smiling, loving it.
A different kind of communication and quieter mood pervaded Norma Winstone‘s set, but it bred equally rapt concentration. Winstone also has that ability to make a cavernous venue feel very intimate. Her trio with pianist Glauco Venier and bass clarinet/soprano sax Klaus Gesing has now made two superb albums for ECM. The first got nominated for a Grammy. The second, ‘Stories Yet to Tell’ is even better. This is quiet chamber jazz at its best. I have a particular fondness for reedsman Gesing’s ability to produce a haunting, spectral sound in the lower reaches of the bass clarinet. You know he’s there somewhere but those deep frequencies just hover in the air.
Monty Alexander Trio by Pedro Brown
I was disappointed with the early part of the set I heard from American pianist Bill Carrothers. The trio apparently had an awful journey and were late starting. But people who stayed to the end told me that his playing settled wonderfully towards the finale of the set. That sometimes happens in jazz.
Derek Nash, alto saxophonist in the Jools Holland Rhythm and Blues Orchestra, brought his Sax Appeal project to Brecon. Now in its third decade, the group are about to launch its sixth album ‘Flat Five’. On a new number, Nash generously gave over the spotlight to fellow alto saxophonist Matt Wates who played sweetly in the Art Pepper mode. That tune also benefited from strong contributions from Alan Barnes on baritone sax and drummer Mike Bradley, discreet and fleet on brushes.
Rocking Chair are a French band, supported by Bureau Export. The name is a tad misleading, since there is nothing soporific about this band at all. They inhabit the boundaries between loud rock and loud jazz. Their bassist, turned up to eleven, shook the floor and roof of our tent.
Zoe Rahman by Pedro Brown
Two national treasures shared a bill in the Big Tent. First up was Zoe Rahman, who then changed outfit – ‘I’m going to do a Shirley Bassey’, she said – for her role as pianist in Courtney Pine‘s band. Audiences everywhere take Zoe Rahman to their hearts. Her compositions, her playing and her whole demeanour are approachable.
Courtney Pine’s lively band is inhabited by characterful musicians, but in the moments I heard they were just part of the backdrop, leaving me wanting to hear more of them. Particularly guitarist Cameron Pierre and violinist Omar Puente.
In the cathedral gig by pianist Terry Seabrook’s Milestones band, drummer Clark Tracey stole the show and bagged the loudest applause. He seized the moment when he traded fours with the rest of the band to declare his independence forcefully and loudly, perhaps encouraged by the name of the Miles Davis tune – ‘Four’.
Partikel are a sax/bass/drums band, led by saxophonist Duncan Eagles. Their first CD has been very well received, and a second is in production. Eagles is proving a natural as bandleader, partticularly when it comes to allowing his very convincing and characterful rhythm unit of bassist Max Luthert and drummer Eric Ford to set the pace and lay down some powerful grooves.
photo by Mick Destino
Brecon combines seasoned communicators such as Allen Toussaint, Norma Winstone and Monty Alexander with a fascinating selection of the up-and-coming. The Phronesis Pitch Dark gig was a major event. Partikel and Sara Mitra are at that fascinating stage where their second albums are already being talked about, with one wishing that they will confirm their character, identity and direction.
Brecon provides a superb context, both for people who know the music well and for younger audiences to try something new. The first and last photos on this page portray what’s going on here – in attractive, leisurely surroundings, this music is reaching new audiences and, hopefully, leaving them with an appetite for more. And that can only be good news for jazz.