Julian Siegel Quartet, Dempsey’s, Cardiff, 12/06/2011

“Urban Theme Park”, Julian Siegel’s latest release as a group leader rates as one of the best albums of 2011 and is reviewed elsewhere on this site. Multi reeds player and composer Siegel is probably best known for being co-leader (with guitarist Phil Robson) of jazz rock titans Partisans but he is an incredibly busy musician who turns up in all kinds of contexts from section work with big bands to accompanying singers. He has fronted an international trio featuring New York musicians Greg Cohen ( double bass) and Joey Baron (drums) with the emphasis very much on collective improvisation and also runs the quartet that recorded “Urban Theme Park”. Siegel is currently touring the album and the chance of seeing the complex, intelligent but ultimately thrilling music of “Urban Theme Park” performed live was too good to miss.

The quartet Siegel brought to Cardiff featured album personnel Liam Noble (piano and keyboards)  and Siegel’s Partisans colleague Gene Calderazzo at the drums. The bass role was filled by the supremely adaptable Dave Whitford who filled in for the unavailable Oli Hayhurst with considerable aplomb. Indeed it was Whitford and Calderazzo who gently ushered in “Incantation # 1”, a piece that originally appeared on the Siegel/Cohen/Baron album “Live at The Vortex”. It was perhaps not the best choice of an opener with its fluid structures and meters offering little for the audience to get a handle on. Siegel moved effectively between clarinet and tenor sax but at this stage Noble’s piano was buried rather too deeply in the mix although this was quickly sorted out and didn’t represent a problem for the rest of the set. In any event his solo still served to introduce his chunky, percussive, highly individualistic piano style with the left hand often proving more dominant than the right.

Things really took off with the first of the “Urban Theme Park” selections “Six Four”, a complex but exuberant item introduced by Whitford’s bass and with the kind of cerebrally funky groove suggested by the title. With Siegel’s fluent tenor sax and Noble’s flowing piano riding the tricky but infectious grooves this was exhilarating stuff and set the standard for the rest of the night.

“Heart Song” slowed the pace again with Siegel and Noble introducing the tune with an elegant clarinet and piano duet with more conventional solos coming from Siegel, Noble and the resourceful Whitford at the bass.

“One For J.T.” is a dedication to the great British pianist John Taylor. Complex but infectious with a thrilling 12/8 groove the piece featured some powerful tenor sax soloing from Siegel fuelled by the dynamic drumming of Calderazzo. Full of mercurial twists and turns the piece also included a solo piano interlude during which the fiercely independent Noble contrived to sound nothing at all like John Taylor.

Noble moved to his Novation electric keyboard and associated laptop for “Lifeline”, a highly atmospheric piece featuring spacey, looped keyboard textures, grainy arco bass from Whitford plus Calderazzo’s mallet rumbles and cymbal washes. Siegel’s woody bass clarinet navigated a course through this curious landscape with a typically memorable Siegel melody eventually emerging before being expounded upon by the group. Eventually the piece segued into a joyous rendition of Cedar Walton’s “Fantasy in D”, the only “outside” tune on the “Urban Theme Park” album. With the effervescent Calderazzo driving the group on they stormed through the tune with Siegel’s garrulous tenor solo eventually giving way to Noble’s torrential piano. With Calderazzo rounding things off with a final flourish at the drums this was a breathtaking way to close an excellent first set. Another pleasingly large Dempsey’s crowd, again swelled by the presence of students from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama gave the group a great reception.

The second set was, if anything, even better commencing with the West African flavoured “Keys To The City” with its broken piano and drum grooves plus joyous solos from Siegel on tenor and Noble at the piano. As on the album the tune featured a substantial bass feature with Whitford stepping seamlessly into Hayhurst’s shoes. Afterwards Siegel spoke admiringly of the bass player’s adaptability and versatility.

“Shining Light” from Siegel’s first quartet album, 2002’s “Close Up”, was a surprise inclusion, a beautiful ballad featuring Siegel on reflective, tender tenor, Calderazzo on brushes and Noble moving between acoustic and electric keyboards. Solos came from Siegel and the expressive Whitford at the bass with Noble’s layered keyboards contributing to an anthemic closing section.

The three part composition “Game Of Cards” forms the focal point of the “Urban Theme Park” album and borrows its theme and structure from Stravinsky’s ballet “Jeu des Cartes”. Here the first part or “deal”, “Dead End”, represented a tour de force for Siegel on soprano saxophone, lashed on by Calderazzo’s volcanic drumming. The equally frenetic second part “Get Lucky” with its contrapuntal rhythms included features for Whitford, Siegel, still on soprano, and Calderazzo at the drums. Whitford’s bass then provided the link into the final part, “Fast Game” centred around a feverish piano solo from the excellent Noble.

A sparkling second set ended with the inappropriately titled “Interlude”, a feature for Siegel’s brilliant bass clarinet playing and a piece that even offered some conventional jazz swing, a contrast to the exotic and complex rhythms we’d been treated to during the rest of the evening.

With a large and appreciative audience in attendance (long may it continue) an encore was inevitable with Siegel and the quartet returning to romp through “Sandpit”, a tune that originally appeared on “Close Up” and subsequently re-emerged as part of the Cohen/Baron trio repertoire. It’s a complex but appropriately playful tune and one that Siegel clearly has great fun playing. This version was different from any I’ve heard previously with Noble coaxing a suitably dirty tone from his keyboards before embarking on a wild synthesiser solo that would have given even Django Bates a run for his money. With Siegel wigging out on tenor and Calderazzo careering around his drum kit this was a high octane send off to an excellent evening’s music.

This was another of the great Dempsey’s nights and I was amazed to hear from both Siegel and Noble that this was the first time they’d actually played there. Let’s hope that now they’ve discovered this down to earth but welcoming and most importantly LISTENING venue that it won’t be the last. 

The “Urban Theme Park” tour continues. Try to catch this outrageously talented quartet if you can. The remaining tour dates are;

October 16th WAVENDON
The Stables,
Stockwell Lane
MK17 8LU
11.30am -1.30 £8
http://www.stables.org
01908 280280

October 20th GATESHEAD
Old Town Hall, West St. Gateshead, NE8 1HE
8pm £10-8
http://www.jazznortheast.com
0191 433 6965

October 28th BRIGHTON
Studio Bar, Komedia, 44-47 Gardner Street, BN1 1UN
8-10.30pm £15-13
http://www.brightonjazzclub.co.uk
01273 647100

November 3rd LONDON
Vortex Jazz Bar, 11 Gillett Square, Dalston, N16 8AZ
8.30 pm £10
http://www.vortexjazz.co.uk
020 7254 4097

November 11th WAKEFIELD
Sports Club, Eastmoor Road, WF1 3RR
8.30pm £12-11
http://www.wakefieldjazz.org
01977 680542

November 12th LONDON JAZZ FESTIVAL
BBC Jazz Line Up (in Triple Bill) Royal Festival Hall, Clore Ballroom, Southbank Centre, SE1 8XX
4pm-6 free
http://www.londonjazzfestival.org.uk

Nov 18th LONDON JAZZ FESTIVAL
Julian Siegel + Liam Noble
St James’s Piccadilly
197 Piccadilly, W1J 9LL
1.10 - 2pm Free
http://www.bashomusic.co.uk/piccadilly.htm

December 16th SHEFFIELD
Millennium Hall Polish Centre, 520 Eccleshall Road, S11 8PY
8pm   £13-10
http://www.sheffieldjazz.org.uk

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