January 12, 2009
The Burton Taylor seemed the perfect intimate venue for tonight’s concert, which saw contemporary jazz presented to varying extremes by two outfits: George Haslam’s OXJAMS trio and guest London quartet D.A.T.A.
The OXJAMS trio are made up of avant garde veteran George Haslam on baritone sax and tarragato, Steve Kershaw on double bass and Richard Leigh Harris on keyboard. Steve Kershaw opens proceedings with a double bass solo that sets the tone for the evening, offering an interesting mix of disjointed electric fragments, thoughtful small melodic ideas as well as washes of sound through his pedals. As the three musicians join forces, the technical ability of each member is obvious, and the overall sound takes on an intensity that is hard to verbalize. In terms of its effect on the audience, it could go either way, such is the extent to which the musical boundaries and harmonies are being pushed. The set is dynamically varied, electronic and rhythmical, with the subtle, delicate entries on the keyboard and sax often juxtaposed by expressive, harsh outbursts on the double bass (Kershaw interestingly exploring the percussive possibilities of his instrument). One small gripe about the set would be that the keyboard often peaks through the amp, which is distracting. However, this is a niggle on my part which perhaps others did not mind so much.
Made up of violin, keyboard, drums and guitar, DATA are even more intense than the opening act – in fact, drummer Dave Hayley at times looks like he could actually destroy people, wailing out occasionally as he lets rip on the drum kit. It is captivating though. The sound is also extremely tight, impressively so considering violinist Andy Mcfarlane is seated with his back to the drummer and guitarist. The intricate, rhythmical accenting between these three towards the close of the set makes their aural awareness of each other all the more apparent. The visual aspect of DATA is worth mentioning too, with drummer and violinist becoming all the more expressive with their arms and faces, whilst keyboardist Tris Harris and guitarist Alan Eason remain relatively still and expressionless throughout. It seems to work well, I feel – too much gesturing and movement may have been enough to make us fall off our chairs from all the intensity!
Tonight’s concert is certainly not for the faint-hearted and, whilst the majority of the audience appeared to enjoy both sets greatly, there were some vacated seats by the time both bands rejoined the stage after the second interval for a final jam. However, by the time the evening had come to an end, it was quite apparent that tonight’s performances had gone down very well indeed.
The OXJAMS trio are made up of avant garde veteran George Haslam on baritone sax and tarragato, Steve Kershaw on double bass and Richard Leigh Harris on keyboard. Steve Kershaw opens proceedings with a double bass solo that sets the tone for the evening, offering an interesting mix of disjointed electric fragments, thoughtful small melodic ideas as well as washes of sound through his pedals. As the three musicians join forces, the technical ability of each member is obvious, and the overall sound takes on an intensity that is hard to verbalize. In terms of its effect on the audience, it could go either way, such is the extent to which the musical boundaries and harmonies are being pushed. The set is dynamically varied, electronic and rhythmical, with the subtle, delicate entries on the keyboard and sax often juxtaposed by expressive, harsh outbursts on the double bass (Kershaw interestingly exploring the percussive possibilities of his instrument). One small gripe about the set would be that the keyboard often peaks through the amp, which is distracting. However, this is a niggle on my part which perhaps others did not mind so much.
Made up of violin, keyboard, drums and guitar, DATA are even more intense than the opening act – in fact, drummer Dave Hayley at times looks like he could actually destroy people, wailing out occasionally as he lets rip on the drum kit. It is captivating though. The sound is also extremely tight, impressively so considering violinist Andy Mcfarlane is seated with his back to the drummer and guitarist. The intricate, rhythmical accenting between these three towards the close of the set makes their aural awareness of each other all the more apparent. The visual aspect of DATA is worth mentioning too, with drummer and violinist becoming all the more expressive with their arms and faces, whilst keyboardist Tris Harris and guitarist Alan Eason remain relatively still and expressionless throughout. It seems to work well, I feel – too much gesturing and movement may have been enough to make us fall off our chairs from all the intensity!
Tonight’s concert is certainly not for the faint-hearted and, whilst the majority of the audience appeared to enjoy both sets greatly, there were some vacated seats by the time both bands rejoined the stage after the second interval for a final jam. However, by the time the evening had come to an end, it was quite apparent that tonight’s performances had gone down very well indeed.