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Review

Manu Katche Band/Iro Haarla Group

Live: Queen Elizabeth Hall, London 17/11/2008

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by Ian Mann

November 20, 2008

/ LIVE

Katche makes accessible, melodic music without compromising his artistic credibility

This fascinating double bill of artists associated with the German ECM label featured a truly international cast of musicians. The Manu Katche Band were making their only appearance on the UK mainland (there had been an earlier date in Belfast) as part of an extensive European tour. The Haarla Group are hardly frequent visitors to this country so this evening’s concert represented a considerable coup for the organisers of the London Jazz Festival.

The Finnish pianist, harpist and composer Iro Haarla is the widow of the great drummer and composer Edward Vesala (1954-99). Vesala, also Finnish, was a larger than life figure and something of a musical maverick. Hirsute and decidedly outlandish in appearance he was a study of demonic energy behind the drums. Not for nothing was his band named “Sound And Fury”. I remember witnessing a Sound And Fury concert at St. Donats Arts Centre in the early 1990’s and frankly I don’t mind admitting that I was slightly alarmed by the intensity of it all. The uncompromising Vesala may seem an unlikely choice for an ECM artist but he cut a series of albums for the label including the forbidding “Ode To The Death of Jazz”.

Haarla appeared on all these records and was heavily involved with the arrangements. Her own ECM début came in 2004 with the release of the album “Northbound” recorded with a very similar line up to that heard tonight. Jon Christensen drums on the album, his place here being taken by Finnish drummer Markku Ounaskari. The all Norwegian front-line of Trygve Seim (saxophones) and Mathias Eick (trumpet) remain from the album as does Finnish bassist Ulf Krokfors, another former Vesala alumnus (he appears on “Ode”). Haarla herself completes the line up, alternating between harp and piano.

Haarla’s music is less extreme than Vesala’s. Much of “Northbound” has an air of melancholy to it with Haarla making use of folk styled melodies as loose frameworks for the group to improvise upon.

These qualities were much in evidence this evening. There was however a hint of Vesala style dissonance in the freewheeling, fanfaring horns of Seim and Eick. Krokfors’ rich, grainy, resonant bass parts underpinned everything punctuated by Ounasarki’s colourful percussion. Wisely the drummer chose not to try to emulate Vesala but instead played in the more considered style of Christensen. Haarla began the set on harp later moving to piano and continuing to alternate throughout the course of the set. Unfortunately these instruments were a little too low in the mix and were sometimes drowned out by the horns.

The material was largely drawn from the “Northbound” album and included “On A Crest Of A Wave”, the beautiful “Time For Recollection”, “With Thanksgiving” and the wistful “Light In The Sadness” which closed the set. This last piece featured a lengthy solo piano passage from Haarla, full of delicate beauty. She was later joined by the wonderfully rounded tones of the excellent Krokfors and the warm, breathy tenor of Seim.

Elsewhere we had been treated to unison horn passages, full blooded Garbarek styled tenor from Seim and further solo passages from Krokfors. Some of the best moments came in solo or duo statements, the duet between Haarla on harp and Seim on curved soprano for instance.

The audience listened attentively and applauded politely but for all the snatches of melody there were few tunes you could really hang your hat on. I’m sure that for many the set didn’t quite take off as a whole despite several beautiful moments. However it must be said that Haarla’s approach is much more geared towards improvisation than Katche’s and also that despite the fact that most of tonight’s line up appeared on the album they probably haven’t played this music live very often. There was a slightly tentative air about much of the playing although the musicians appeared more relaxed as the evening progressed. Interesting stuff then and a qualified success.

Born in France of Ivorian roots, drummer Manu Katche has been associated with ECM for a number of years as part of Jan Garbarek’s various ensembles. He is also an in demand drummer in the pop world having recorded and toured with many big names, notably Peter Gabriel and Sting.

But there is more to Katche than session drummer extraordinaire. His first album for ECM as a leader “Neighbourhood” (2005) showed him to be a gifted writer with a real flare for melody. Recorded with an all star band featuring Garbarek on tenor and Tomasz Stanko on trumpet “Neighbourhood” was both critically acclaimed and a commercial success. One of the most accessible and unselfconscious records in the ECM catalogue it deservedly put Katche on the map as a solo artist. I thoroughly enjoyed “Neighbourhood”  and also saw Katche play a brilliant set with the Garbarek group at Warwick University Arts Centre last year so this chance to see him as a leader was a must. 

The follow up “Playground” (2007) featured another winning set of tunes and was equally successful with both critics and public alike. Keeping the “Neighbourhood” band together was impossible so Katche drafted in Norwegians Trygve Seim (saxes) and Mathias Eick (trumpet) to replace Garbarek and Stanko. Stanko’s fellow Poles Marcin Wasilewski (piano) and Slawomir Kurkiewicz (bass) remained in place from the first album.

The line up at the QEH date, part of an extensive European tour, was different again. Katche and Eick were both present and I was also expecting to see Seim play his second set of the evening. However the saxophonist’s role was filled by another Norwegian Tore Brunborg on both tenor and curved soprano. Another Frenchman Jerome Regard was on bass with the UK’s own Jason Rebello at the piano.

They began as a trio with “November 99” the opening track from “Neighbourhood”. As soon as Regard introduced the melodic bass hook that drives the song there were whoops and applause from the audience, evidence perhaps that Katche’s joyous music has broken out to a wider following.

Although billed as the “Playground Tour” the music was divided pretty much equally between the two albums. Katche didn’t waste time with announcements, the group just on with it driven by the leader’s brilliant drumming. Seated behind a monster kit (by jazz standards anyway) Katche is a phenomenal technician but there is more to his playing than mere technique. He swings effortlessly and lays down an unmistakable loping groove that brings the best out of the musicians he works with. Katche always serves the tune, unlike other similarly gifted technicians (Weckl or Wackerman say) who routinely blind the audience with science or bludgeon them into submission. Certainly there are moments when he too dazzles, the coda to “Clubbing” for instance or his bravura solo which comprehensively demonstrated his undoubted skills, but briefly and in context-something others could learn from.

Also Katche is prepared to put down the sticks and pick up the brushes demonstrating a subtle touch on ballads such as the encore “Rose”, one of several such punctuating the set. But it is as a composer that he really impresses, his two ECM records are just full of winning tunes. He’s not afraid to borrow judiciously- “Clubbing” hints at the old standard “Cherokee” before mutating into something much more modern.

Of his colleagues I was hugely impressed by Regard, a powerful and dexterous player who bears a marked physical resemblance to e.s.t.‘s Dan Berglund . Regard was clearly enjoying himself and was not afraid to play to the crowd, throwing shapes in an understated but nonetheless slightly theatrical manner.

The interplay between Katche, Regard and Rebello was excellent. It was good to see one of Britain’s finest more than holding his own in such illustrious company. There were several sparkling solos from Rebello over the course of the evening and his overall contribution was brilliant.

Almost inevitably the two horns seemed a little isolated out in the front. Brunborg and Eick are both superb musicians and acquitted themselves well, but replacing such individual talents as Garbarek and Stanko is nigh on impossible. However as the set unfolded I found myself warming to them more and more , particularly Eick who was clearly more relaxed here than he had been in the Haarla group. His bright, open horned trumpeting took on an extra warmth as the evening progressed and he was to be seen swaying at the side of the stage as Rebello or Brunborg soloed, clearly getting into it. This encouraged Brunborg to relax too and his playing also gathered momentum as the evening wore on.

The Katche group were warmly received by a large QEH crowd who gave them a standing ovation. This was clearly what they had come to see. Katche has pulled off the difficult task of making accessible, melodic music whilst at the same time maintaining his artistic credibility. Crossing the Blue Note and ECM sounds and adding a modern twist is a pretty neat trick and effectively this is what he has done, no wonder so many people love it.

There may be the odd purist who will gripe at the lack of improvisational content and the rock style light show but this unpretentious, melodic music is thoroughly deserving of it’s success and will be around for a while yet.

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