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Cheltenham Jazz Festival 2010-Friday 30th April

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by Ian Mann

May 05, 2010

Ian Mann enjoys the very different talents of Eric Bibb and Trio VD. Photograph of Eric Bibb by Tim Dickeson.

Cheltenham Jazz Festival

Friday 30th April 2010

The 2010 Cheltenham Jazz Festival offered a typically wide ranging programme that tested the very definition of the word jazz-most of it in a good way. Huge box office draws such as Elaine Paige and Paloma Faith helped to subsidise music from the cutting edge featuring ground breaking artists from Europe and the US as well as indigenous British talents like the great Evan Parker.

Helping to bring it all together was the festival’s guest director Jamie Cullum. Despite his populist appeal Cullum also has an affinity with the more adventurous side of the music and he was responsible for bringing acts like Fringe Magnetic and Matt Calvert’s Soundtrack to the festival.  However the bulk of the programming was the work of the redoubtable Tony Dudley Evans, a man with an uncanny ability for discovering new and exciting talent and as ever the festival offered an intriguing mix of rising stars and bona fide jazz legends.

As usual I was determined to take in as much music as possible and I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a diverse array of music at Cheltenham as that which I witnessed this year. Friday evening was a case in point as I went straight from the acoustic country blues of Eric Bibb to the full on electric improvisation of Trio VD.

Following the decision not to use the much loved Everyman Theatre this year the festival organisers decided to make their second venue the “Jazz Arena”, a state of the art marquee located immediately behind the Town Hall. As I understand it the decision was based on a desire to make Cheltenham more like the legendary North Sea Jazz Festival in Holland which bases it’s events in a series of giant marquees. Last year’s power failure at The Everyman which saw some concerts cancelled may also have been a factor plus the sheer cost of hiring the theatre.

I suspect that for many the jury is still out on the “tent”. It’s certainly more convenient for moving between venues in true festival fashion but the direct result of this was a constant to-ing and fro-ing that distracted from the performances. Outside sounds such as traffic noise and music and crowd noise leaching in from other venues was also a problem as Bibb was to find out. A shortage of tiered seating also made sight lines difficult. At least it was warm though, the fears of freezing to death in the chilly night air were ungrounded. In some ways the Arena was better than I anticipated but given the choice I suspect that most regular festival goers would still have preferred the theatre.

On then with the music.

ERIC BIBB
I’d seen Bibb before at Worcester’s Huntingdon Hall venue a couple of years back, a gig I attended as a punter. That performance featured Bibb and his band and although he appeared tonight in a pared down solo or duo format I knew roughly what to expect from him.

The festival appearance was the first date of an extensive month long British tour and before Bibb took to the stage his support for the tour singer/songwriter Megan Henwood treated us to three of her highly literate original songs. Henwood, who had earlier appeared outside on the Budvar Free Stage as part of the Fringe Festival proved to be a strong singer with a pure, clear voice and a more than competent guitarist. “White Lies” and “Happy Healthy Boy”, the latter dealing with the ravages of time were dark little items but “Hope On The Horizon” ended her brief set on an upbeat note. She was very well received by a large and supportive crowd, their reaction boding well for the rest of tour.

Bibb is an assured and competent performer with a comprehensive understanding of blues and gospel music. His easy going charm has won him a loyal British following and I suspect that for many here tonight this was their only gig of the festival.

Bibb delivers his essentially acoustic blues with a smooth ( but not bland), authoritative voice whilst playing capable but unshowy finger picked acoustic or National guitar. In his trademark hat he’s a man happy in his own skin and seems totally unflappable. Even the sound of a high pitched burglar alarm didn’t seem to phase him “hey, it’s Jiminy Cricket” he said “I hope he goes away sometime soon”. Well he did eventually, after being joined in duet by the local wildlife in the form of “Jonathan Livingstone Seagull”. You wouldn’t have got that at the Everyman. Irritating as these distractions were Bibb, the consummate professional remained wholly unruffled.

Bibb’s new album “Booker’s Guitar” owes it’s title to the fact that Bibb really does own the guitar once used by the blues legend Booker (or Bukka) White. Bibb’s song telling the story of that guitar is descriptive, semi sung/spoken by Bibb in his conversational, velvet tones. He followed this with “Walkin’ Blues Again” and the jaunty “Pockets”, a tune that would sound corny coming from any body else.

For “New Home”, also from the “Booker’s Guitar” album Bibb was joined by harmonica player Grant Dermody who stayed with him for the rest of the set. As Dermody took the first of several excellent harp solos Bibb encouraged the audience to clap along. He’s a charismatic performer and hugely adept at working a crowd. He soon had everybody right with him.

But there’s more to Bibb than just the entertainer. For all his crowd pleasing tactics he’s a man with dignity who also carries a serious message. “Floodwater” referenced both the infamous 1927 flooding of the Mississippi, the source of so many classic blues songs, but also the more recent events of Hurricane Katrina and the shameful way in which the disaster was handled by the US government. With the BP oil slick currently threatening the Gulf Coast let’s hope there’s not another disaster waiting to be sung about.

Bibb’s set was peppered with old favourites such as “Tell Riley”, a song about Bukka White’s cousin B.B. King and “Connected” which featured Dermody’s “wah-wah” harp alongside Bibb’s typically conversational vocal.

In keeping with the theme of the “Booker’s Guitar” album Bibb’s current show is more authentically “bluesy” than when I saw him previously. Covers of Blind Willie Johnson’s 1927 classic “Nobody’s Fault But Mine” and Bob Gibson’s “Wayfaring Stranger” followed, the Johnson piece introducing a gospel edge to the music that Bibb now maintained until the end of the set. Bibb favourites “Don’t Ever Let Nobody Drag Your Spirit Down” and the traditional “Needed Time” were great audience participation numbers with the crowd clapping and singing along. “With My Maker I Am One” ended the set on a suitably valedictory note.

With nothing else due on in the arena that night Bibb and Dermody were one of the few acts awarded an encore, much deserved in this case. An unannounced piece for just voice and harp sent the audience away happy.

It had been a typically professional Eric Bibb show but beneath the guy’s accessibility there’s a certain spark. Bibb’s broad popular appeal isn’t surprising but he’s achieved his success without any real hint of compromise and he’s certainly an artist I’d consider seeing again. As for Dermody it was the first time I’d seen him and I enjoyed his contribution hugely. Oh and look out for Megan Henwood too. 


TRIO VD

Over in that long running festival venue the Town Hall Pillar Room Trio VD offered something completely different. But that’s half the appeal of this wide ranging festival. The young Leeds based trio are fearless improvisers on electric instruments with a strong rock bias.

Growing out of the LIMA (Leeds Improvising Musicians Association)  rock and improv scene the trio consist of Chris Sharkey (guitar), Christophe de Bezenac (alto saxophone) and drummer Chris Bussey. I was particularly keen to see them after reading my co-writer Tim Owen’s review of their recent show at London’s Vortex and hearing their excellent d?but album “Fill It Up With Ghosts”, a good forty minute summary of their powerful live shows.

Sharkey, also concurrently a member of Acoustic Ladyland is the group’s de facto leader but Trio VD is in effect a democratic entity with each musician having an equal input into the improvising process. The band are not totally free, there’s a structure of sorts behind their tunes and a loosely adhered to set list which includes set pieces like the closing “Only Dead Fish Go With The Flow”. Nonetheless improvisation and group interaction are a big part of what they do, the compositions providing the jumping off point for all kinds of sonic mayhem.

“Tonight”, announced Sharkey “we’re going to play like MC Hammer.” With that a thunderous roll from Bussey’s drums took us headlong into the opening “Echoe” which in turn segued into “Returns” and “Harm”, but in truth it all sounded like a single entity. Bussey’s Sonic Youth T shirt was perhaps a more accurate statement as to what the group are about. They play at rock volume and for all his dexterity Bussey is essentially a rock drummer, albeit one making exciting and experimental use of the form. Sharkey’s guitar is loud and undeniably rock influenced and de Bezenc’s electric hooked sax is sometimes processed through an effects unit. He also makes extensive use of the slap tonguing technique, something of a Trio VD trademark. It sounds as if it shouldn’t work but it does in an exciting, visceral way, the group constantly ducking and diving and never staying in one place for long. They have a surprisingly wide dynamic range, sometimes switching from crunching, bewilderingly fast unison riffs to delicate electronically generated atmospherics in the twinkling of an eye. In between the electronica and the sonic brawling the trio also make use of the human voice, all three using largely wordless vocal effects to give Trio VD a unique take on the rock/improv blueprint. Shades of Sonic Youth, John Zorn, Wayne Krantz and even King Crimson can be discerned in their music but they’re idiosyncratic enough to have established their own identity.

Left handed guitarist’s Sharkey’s loops/FX laden intro to “Sixes And Sevens”( teamed here with “Fill It Up With Ghosts”) drew a spontaneous applause from the late night Pillar Room crowd. Given the buzz about the trio’s live appearances I’d expected a slightly larger turnout. Nevertheless there was still a healthy attendance for the now traditional Friday night rock slot (it was Get The Blessing last year) and here the group responded with a dramatic performance that extended from ethereal atmospherics to a bludgeoning drum feature by way of a de Bezenac sax solo ranging from foghorn like blasts to bravura circular breathing. He even joined in with Bussey’s solo using the instrument’s pads and his own body as additional percussion.

“Brick” featured an excoriating battle between sax and guitar with Bussey even adding a little humour with some self consciously mocking conventional jazz swing drumming. Mostly though he’s a polyrhythmic ball of energy who has even evoked comparisons with the late, great Keith Moon. Having said that on the more atmospheric moments of the companion piece “Broke” he was even seen using brushes. This isn’t a band that stands still for long.

“Kesh” is one of the album’s stand out cuts, full of jarring staccato riffs and as the group attacked it with gusto Bussey kicked one of his toms over abandoning it for the duration of the tune- very Keith Moon. Not that “Kesh” is all sound and fury, there’s some shimmering atmospherics too before a furious sax popping climax.   

“Only Dead Fish Go with The Flow” is the trio’s show stopping finale. With each member in turn intoning a word of the phrase they built up a layer of looped voices to make a mantra of a phrase that could almost double as the group’s manifesto and must be a potential title for their soon to be recorded second album. The vocal effects are allied to crunching, hypnotic riffs to provide a compelling climax to the group’s dynamic, high energy stage show.

Summoned back for a deserved encore the trio played tribute to their heroes with a tune actually entitled “Sonic Youth”. Innately tuneful and for this trio surprisingly laid back the piece was positively anthemic. In an alternative universe one could imagine this as a lighter waving stadium filler. As it is Trio VD are probably a little too uncompromising for this to ever happen despite their rock energy and their young cult following.

It will be interesting to see if they can maintain their impetus in the long term. Certainly the impending second album will do well, the band already have enough material in the can to see to that but their soft/loud grunge jazz dynamic may start to wear thin in the long term. Equally if they can continue to mature in the same manner as their close musical relatives Led Bib their best may yet be to come.

Only one complaint-the bastards weren’t loud enough!

Ian’s star ratings

Eric Bibb 4 Stars
Trio VD 4 Stars

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