The Jazz Animals logo sourced from the EFG London Jazz Festival website http://www.efglondonjazzfestival.org.uk

EFG London Jazz Festival 2019

Day Four, Monday November 18th 2019

DAVID HELBOCK plays JOHN WILLIAMS, PIZZA EXPRESS JAZZ CLUB, SOHO

Today represented the first of the Dean Street jazz club’s series of free lunchtime performances scheduled on the week days of the Festival. I was to see four of these, eating my way through the Pizza Express menu while enjoying some terrific jazz performances by musicians from the UK and mainland Europe.

Today’s visitor was the Austrian pianist David Helbock who was visiting London as part of a massive European tour promoting his latest album for the German record label ACT.

Helbock’s latest project sees him interpreting the music of the celebrated film composer John Williams in a solo piano context. “Playing John Williams” represents Helbock’s fourth solo piano album and finds him undertaking radical de-constructions of the composer’s well known works, themes well known to generations of cinema goers.

I first became aware of Helbock’s music in 2016 when he first signed to ACT following several years with the Berlin based Traumton label. It was in October of that year that Helbock made a highly enjoyable appearance at Dempsey’s in Cardiff, leading the trio that appeared on his then current album “Into The Mystic”. Although the album focussed on Helbock’s original writing there were also covers of compositions by Beethoven and by John Williams. It was here that Helbock’s love of Williams’ music was first nurtured and the Cardiff performance included a rendition of the “Star Wars” theme among the numerous originals.

Helbock’s output is consistently eclectic. “Into The Mystic” features the unusual sound of Raphael Preuschl’s bass ukulele alongside Helbock’s piano and Reinhold Schmolzer’s drums and percussion. It’s an excellent album and I thoroughly enjoyed the trio’s Cardiff appearance.

If anything Helbock’s other trio, Random Control, featuring brass and reed multi-instrumentalists Andreas Broger and Johannes Bar is even more bizarre. 2018’s “Tour d’ Horizon”, subtitled “From Brubeck to Zawinul” offered a potted history of contemporary jazz piano, albeit via some extremely eclectic arrangements. Personally I found it all a little too whimsical and self consciously eccentric and found myself missing Helbock’s own compositions.

For all its technical excellence the same criticisms apply to “Plays John Williams” and after the success of the widely praised “Into The Mystic”  I’d still like to see Helbock concentrating more on his own material.

However that’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy today’s event which saw the combination of Helbock’s imaginative arrangements and his instrumental virtuosity holding the attention of a rapt lunchtime audience, with the subsequent CD sales reflecting the success of the performance.

As ever the gangling figure of Helbock, wearing his trademark beanie hat with its ‘piano key’ design, presented a suitably striking visual image. There’s something of the ‘mad professor’ about Helbock’s appearance and demeanour.

It’s easy to forget how just how may memorable movie themes John Williams has written, among them the “Harry Potter” theme, which Helbock presented in several variations over the course of two lengthy sets. The first ‘dampened’ version saw Helbock deploying prepared piano techniques, including the insertion of a cloth into the innards of the piano to muffle the sound of the strings.

His version of the theme from “E.T.” saw him adopting a more conventional piano sound, but the playing itself was dense and virtuosic.

The classically trained Helbock is blessed with a formidable orthodox piano technique,  a gift that he then supplements and enhances by his imaginative work ‘inside the lid’, treating the piano as an entire instrument. I don’t think I’ve seen a pianist demonstrate such mastery of the instrument’s innards since Johann Bourquenez of the Swiss trio Plaistow.  Helbock’s ballad rendition of the theme from “Saving Private Ryan” again made effective use of prepared piano and dampening techniques while his plucking of the strings was both haunting and highly moving.

In Helbock’s performances the work of his left hand is as important as that of his right and his arrangement of the “Superman March” with its rumbling left hand rhythmic patterns was highly effective.

A second take on “Hedwig’s Theme” from the Potter franchise featured rich interior harmonics with Helbock again demonstrating his command of extended techniques and the interior architecture of the piano.

“Seven Years In Tibet” was delivered in a simpler and more conventional manner and was both atmospheric and genuinely moving.

“Jaws” then featured more vigorous work ‘inside the lid’ with Helbock attacking the strings with mallets at one juncture. Percussive, and rhythmically complex, his playing here exuded a genuine air of menace.

The first set concluded with a flamboyant interpretation of “Escapades” from the Leonardo di Caprio movie “Catch Me If You Can” and featured more sounds sourced from the piano’s innards.

Set two commenced with a “high” version of the Potter theme segued with a rendition of “Jurassic Park” with Helbock’s use of the piano as an entire instrument giving the music an almost orchestral quality.

The pianist described the music for “Schindler’s List” as Williams’ most beautiful theme, his interior work this time again giving the performance a haunting quality.

Helbock returned to his earlier fascination with Star Wars with a rendition of the “Imperial March” before making a final visit to the Potter theme.

Introducing the final number of a shorter second set Helbock revealed that Williams had been a jazz pianist himself before becoming a film composer. A delightful version of “Moonlight” was then followed by the main “Star Wars” theme.

Such was the quality of Helbock’s performance that he was accorded an encore, something of a rare occurrence at these lunchtime events. It’s the only item that wasn’t announced and at this late juncture I’m not able to remember exactly what it was.

Although my reservations about Helbock’s current direction remain this was an enjoyable and highly impressive performance. Helbock’s mastery of both orthodox and extended piano techniques is remarkable and although his arrangements of Williams’ themes were pretty radical, and unfailingly interesting, the highly melodic qualities of the original compositions still shone through, maintaining a degree of accessibility for most listeners and acting as a counter-balance to Helbock’s more avant garde inclinations.

Overall this wasn’t quite as satisfying as his trio performance of original music in Cardiff, but it was still a pretty good way to spend a Monday lunchtime.

ARTHUR O’HARA TRIO, RAY’S JAZZ AT FOYLE’S

It was good to see the six o’clock series return in the performance space at Ray’s Jazz at Foyle’s following a blank year in 2018. I’ve seen may excellent performances in this space in previous years and bands such as Ezra Collective and Nerija have since gone on to bigger things.

The first show of the 2019 season at Ray’s saw a performance from a new trio led by bassist and composer Arthur O’Hara. An electric bass specialist O’ Hara performed at this venue in 2017 with saxophonist Phil Meadows’  high powered ‘punk jazz’ trio Skint. He is also the current bassist with the band WorldService Project, led by keyboard player and composer Dave Morecroft.

O’Hara’s rhythm partner in both Skint and WSP is the young drummer Harry Pope and he was present and correct in tonight’s line up alongside tenor saxophonist Chelsea Carmichael. All three musicians are alumni of the jazz course at Trinity Laban. They cite their influences with regard to this trio as including Thundercat, Sons of Kemet and Kneebody.

The trio played ‘in the round’, as is customary at these sessions, and delivered a set of powerful electric jazz. In many respects the music is similar to that of Skint, but without the electronic embellishments that Meadows brought to that group by his occasional doubling on keyboards. Opener “Losing Your Way” set the new trio’s stall out with Carmichael soling forcefully on tenor.

“Misconception” then saw O’Hara establishing a fat funk groove and also demonstrating his considerable abilities as an electric bass soloist. O’Hara acknowledged the influence on his style of “chordal bass players”, but didn’t actually name names, other than Thundercat.

“Oasis” acted as a feature for the powerful soloing of Carmichael on tenor and the hard hitting of the ebullient Pope behind the kit.

O’Hara’s melodic, liquid bass introduced a tune simply known as “Ballad”, a piece which initially demonstrated a gentler, more subtle side to the band. Carmichael’s tenor sound was softer here but gradually the momentum began to build with the music taking on an anthemic ferocity and climaxing with a dynamic drum feature from Pope.

I had to leave at this point and departed to the sounds of the swampy funk grooves of “Back and Forth”.

I enjoyed what I had heard of the Arthur O’Hara trio and liked the band’s attitude, energy and already highly developed degree of musical skill. An EP featuring the tracks “Finding Your Way”, “Misconception” and “Oasis” can be found on Soundcloud and hopefully the trio can record a full length album at some point in the future. The band also played at Lancaster Jazz festival this year and are an outfit well worth keeping an eye on.

THE JAZZ ANIMALS “IT MUST SCHWING!”, CADOGAN HALL

An important strand of the 2019 EFG LJF was the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the iconic American record label Blue Note, founded in New York City in 1939 by German-Jewish emigres Albert Lion and Frank Wolff, both of whom had nurtured a love for jazz in the clubs and cabarets of 1930s Berlin before fleeing the horrors of the Nazi regime. The American musician and activist Max Margulis was also a co-founder but had little part in the day to day running of the label.

With the anniversary in mind Blue Note had opened a ‘pop up store’ for the duration of the Festival in the new Coal Drops Yard shopping development at King’s Cross and this proved to be a highly popular attraction for discerning Festival goers. I’d visited the store on Saturday afternoon and was thus suitably attired in my new Blue Note T-shirt for tonight’s celebration of the label and its music.

Taking its title from a phrase habitually used by Alfred Lion “It Must Schwing!” was a show co-ordinated by Siggi Loch, founder of the ACT record label, who had assembled a stellar international band for the project, led by the French saxophonist and ACT artist Emile Parisien. The core band also included pianist Yaron Herman, Israeli born but now domiciled in France, and a contingent of leading American musicians in the shapes of trumpeter Theo Croker, trombonist Glenn Ferris, bassist Joe Martin and drummer Gerald Cleaver. The evening also included guest slots from German pianist Axel Zwingenberger and a true Blue Note legend, the veteran American saxophonist and composer Benny Golson. The event also included an interview with Kenneth Wolff, nephew of the late label founder, and celebrated photographer, Frank Wolf.

Given that the label was founded by a Lion and a Wolff the name Jazz Animals was a most appropriate name for this all star aggregation.

Of course it would be impossible to tell the whole history of Blue Note in the course of a single evening and many great musicians whose music became synonymous with the label remained unmentioned, including Lee Morgan, Hank Mobley, Jackie McLean and many others.

Nevertheless the roots of the label were not forgotten. The first musicians that Lion and Wolff recorded were the boogie woogie pianists Albert Ammons, Meade Lux Lewis and Pete Johnson. The German stride and boogie woogie specialist Axel Zwingenberger, who was sporting bright yellow shoes, opened the show playing solo piano in the style of these musicians and in between tunes explaining something about the nature of the music. Zwingenberger’s thunderous left hand rhythms and dancing right runs were genuinely impressive and I found myself enjoying this section of the programme far more than I had anticipated.

Blue Note’s first ever release was Ammons’ “Bass Goin’ Crazy” which was issued in 6th January 1939.  However the label’s first big hit was a recording by Sidney Bechet of George Gershwin’s “Summertime”. Parisien joined Zwingenberger to perform a duo version of the tune with the Frenchmen taking the role of Bechet on soprano sax with solos coming from both musicians before Parisien impressed with a closing unaccompanied saxophone cadenza.

This marked the end of Zwingenberger’s involvement and the affable pianist adjourned to tumultuous applause. Parisien was now joined on stage by the other members of the sextet for a version of “Blue Train”, the title track of John Coltrane’s 1958 album for Blue Note, one of the label’s most enduringly popular recordings. Parisien moved to tenor sax and took the first solo, followed by Coker on trumpet and Ferris on trombone.

Next came a medley of Thelonious Monk tunes, which allowed Herman to come into his own as he shared the solos with Croker on trumpet, Ferris on trombone and Parisien on soprano sax.

Ninety year old Benny Golson joined the band for the final item of the necessarily fragmentary first half, playing tenor sax on his own composition “Along Came Betty”, his tone still warm and astonishingly fluent. Parisien, on soprano sax, and his colleagues looked delighted to be sharing the stage with such a venerable figure of the music,  with Martin rounding off the solos on double bass.

The first set had been enjoyable, but the emphasis on historical accuracy meant that it unavoidably lacked cohesion. The second half, which focussed on Blue Note’s classic 50s and 60s heyday saw the core sextet really lightening up and coming into their own, and even more so when Golson joined them again in the later stages.

During the interval items of Kenneth Wolff’s Blue Note memorabilia were on display in the foyer, notably copies of the books of his uncle’s superb, and justly famous black and white photographs of the label’s musicians at work in the studio.

Before the start of the second set Kenneth was interviewed about his memories of Alfred and Frank and of how they had experienced racism in Berlin before emigrating to the US, Frank leaving on the last peace time boat from Hamburg to join Alfred, who was already in New York. He spoke of their mission to document the “black musical legacy” and spoke warmly of Blue Note’s celebrated recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder and about his uncle’s iconic photographs. His reminiscences were warmly applauded by the highly supportive audience.

The music kicked off with a stunning arrangement of Dizzy Gillespie’s “A Night In Tunisia”, introduced by Parisien on soprano, that brought a genuine North African feel to the music. The piece included brilliant solos all round, from Croker’s trumpet slurs and vocalisations, to Herman’s percussive pianistics, to the leader’s impish soprano.

Two pieces composed by Blue Note artists that have become modern day standards were segued together, Horace Silver’s “Peace” and Wayne Shorter’s “Footprints”. Martin’s bass introduced Silver’s ballad, this followed by a horn chorale and then a warmly lyrical trombone solo from Ferris with Cleaver playing with brushes. A passage of unaccompanied piano from Herman formed the bridge into “Footprints”, which included fluent solos from Parisien on soprano and Croker on trumpet.

Golson returned to the stage for a delightful arrangement of his ballad “I Remember Clifford”, written for the memory of the brilliant young trumpeter Clifford Brown who was killed in an automobile accident in 1956, aged just twenty six. This version featured a sumptuous trumpet solo from Croker, channelling the spirit of the late Clifford, and a soft and breathy tenor solo from Golson, with the pair later exchanging phrases prior to a concluding solo tenor sax cadenza. Cleaver provided sensitive brushed drum accompaniment throughout.

Inevitably the evening concluded with Golson’s “Blues March”, his best known composition, made famous by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. Here Cleaver really came into his own, his military rhythms fuelling the tune and keeping the beat as Golson delivered the first solo on tenor. Further features came from Ferris on rousing, bluesy trombone, Croker on trumpet and Martin on double bass, plus a final Blakey-esque salvo from Cleaver at the drums. Golson lapped it up, saluting the soloists, craning his head into the interior of the piano, the better to hear Herman’s solo, and pacing the stage in suitably martial fashion to the obvious delight of the crowd – ninety years young, a great jazz survivor and an absolute star!

Kenneth Wolff joined the musicians as they took their final bows – no encore was going to top this mighty version of “Blues March”!

With such a stellar line up I’d had high hopes of this evening, but was also wary that all star aggregations don’t always deliver. It’s to the credit of Parisien and the other musicians that this tribute to Blue Note worked extremely well. This might have been a show packed with some extremely familiar (some would say over-familiar) material but the innovative and interesting arrangements, presumably by Parisien, cast them in a new light and ensured that every item remained fresh and interesting.

Zwingenberger’s contribution was a vital reminder of the label’s roots and also worked very well, while the presence of Kenneth Wolff provided a living link to the past and this venerable gentlemen seemed to greatly enjoy the warmth and affection directed towards him by the supportive Cadogan Hall crowd.

As an event the evening really took off in the second half with the members of the core sextet, plus the irrepressible Golson, all performing brilliantly, the playing was absolutely terrific. All in all this was a superb tribute to Alfred Lion and Frank Wolff and the Blue Note legacy from the brilliantly named Jazz Animals. (Love the logo,too!).

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