Branford Marsalis/Leigh barker

[dodgy]

Anyone catch Branford's Quartet at Hamer Hall, with Leigh Barker's quartet up first?

Plenty of energy and swing in Leigh's group, with Tom Vincent on piano, Hugh Harvey on drums and Eamon McNelis on trumpet. Lively and cohesive. But Leigh seemed too keen to get off the stage to make way for the big guns, yet I'd bet the audience liked what they heard from the local band.

Branford's version of Henry Purcell's O Solitude was a highlight, and 18-year-old Justin Faulkner on drums showed class, pace and sensitivity that matched the talents of Eric Revis on bass and Joey Calderazzo on piano.

What a contrast to the Wayne Shorter concert. I can't help but feel it helps for musicians to engage with the audience, without going overboard of course.

Hamer Hall seemed to work well acoustically, though there was a mic problem at one point.

any thoughts from anyone who went?

[alimcg]

I wonder if you and I have actually been going to the same concerts?! I will reply in full later, but I thought Branford's band sucked - and I've seen them before and really enjoyed it.

I do agree with your comments on Leigh's group - they sounded great. And they dealt with the acoustics a lot better than Branford. A whole lot better.

[giannim]

Hey Roger,
I really enjoyed Branford and the band. 'Hope' was a highlight for me.
Not sure about the sucking....

[boxey]

Controversy! ;D

Spill the beans, Vice Captain and Captain.

I'm sure TVT+1 killed it.

[alimcg]

I basically thought that it was a load of old bollocks - or more specifically, it was a one-dimensional performance that didn't really go anywhere.

Justin Faulkner didn't really stop playing all night, except for O Solitude (which he shouldn't have bothered playing in when he did). I felt that I'd heard everything he had to say in the first 2 minutes of the concert. As for his solo - what a big load of drum wank. Lick pasted to lick pasted to lick. Gee. Wow. He can play fast. Whoop-de-frickin'-do. I know he's young - maybe he'll grow out of it - but I paid good money to see one of the best known groups in jazz, so age is no excuse. To counter Roger here, he certainly did not play with "pace" or "sensitivity".

As for the "post-bop" tunes (for lack of a better catch-all), I never really felt that the rhythm section sat well. The bass sound was pretty poor where we were sitting (near the front), but that's not really an excuse. I don't mind the tempo problems, but there was clearly disagreement about where the groove was sitting at times.

New Tune #2 (or whatever it Branford called it), was absolute shite. What a load of wank. That to me represents the worst in modern jazz. Pure bullshit.

Now to something more positive.

I know that the set Leigh put on would not be to everyone's liking, but I dug it. Perhaps the endings were a little sloppy, but I can wear that.

In that band I heard interaction, thoughtfulness and above all some good groove. They swung.

Tom looked like he took a tune or two to settle, but when he did, he played great. I was constantly finding myself nodding in appreciation as he surprised with melodic and harmonic quirks and changes.

Eamon sounded great in that space, and played some beautiful lines. Hugh sounded a little reserved at times, but I guess that's probably a by-product of playing in that space.

It seemed to me that these guys dealt with the room a lot better than Branford's band. Leigh's group showed subtlety and nuance that was rarely displayed by our visitors. Maybe it wasn't loud-and-clear to folks up the back, but give me that over the alternative any day.

As I said before, I've seen Branford's band before and enjoyed it, but perhaps tellingly, they were performances with Tain. To my mind, Tain was the centre of that band, and its best composer. Nice to see that they still play some of his tunes.

Ok, that's enough strong words for today! I know though, that I wasn't alone in being disappointed.

[NotTain]

Wish I'd seen it.

I agree AliMcG - what's BMQ without Tain?? Why book an 18yr old for something like that? Questions of maturity etc.

[bobbob]

Why not?
Two words : Tony Williams.
It's happened before.
What I mean is, not booking someone young per se, is no real argument because there are players with real maturity at that age. The history of the music is littered with such players. Maybe just not in this case.

[alimcg]

Well put bobbob. I have no problem with young musicians being booked for these kind of gigs - and I love the freshness that those guys can so often bring. And on the other side, there are plenty of older players who play with very little maturity!

I think Mr Faulkner can play the heck out of the drums, but I felt like he really was a "drummer" before he was a "musician", if you know what I mean. And by no means do I mean that as a sleight against drummers - there are players who are "pianists" or "saxophonists" before "musicians", or even more to the point, before being "artists".

By the way, I think Tony Williams almost went the other way! So much great art in the first 20 years or so, but by the 80s he sounded a bit tired and...well...shit. Hard business, keeping oneself fresh and expressive.

[ImNotTainEither]

yeah, but how many Tony Williamses have we had?
he was a freak and we all know it.
generally speaking, younger musicians are always 'of their instrument' before they are a musician.

anyway, TVT's hip witty shit floats my boat - and I'm always happy to hear standards played with such formidable artistry. goes to show that the 'great american song book' has legs yet, and that's it's not about what but about how.

BMQ is great for sure

[ImNotTainEitherAGAIN]

...oops....

BMQ is great for sure, but I'm so so glad that a group like Leigh's can get up there and not only cut but spread and munch heartily on the mustard.

[bodgey]

Yep, bobbob, nothing wrong with young players.

AliMcg : "I know that the set Leigh put on would not be to everyone's liking, but I dug it. Perhaps the endings were a little sloppy, but I can wear that.

In that band I heard interaction, thoughtfulness and above all some good groove. They swung."

Yep. I'm sure!

...and @ NotTain etc... (assuming they're the same person) - leave some room for the next Tony Williams.

[captain]

Thanks for the kind words everyone. Rest aussured that the band was indeed the Tom Vincent Trio, (featuring my very good friend Eamon at my request, just for Melbourne show) and I should take absolutely no credit for the very excellent music.

Unfortunately for all you guys, having seen all 4 shows I have to say the Melbourne gig was by far the least focused and kickarse from the BMQ. I even lost interest about half way through and went and had a nap. Possibly because of only sleeping 2 hours the night before.

The other 3 gigs were fucking unreal, and totally riveting. Justin F is only young but the band sounds totally different with him, which I think is the best thing you could hope for. I heard him a year ago and he sounds a bit like Watts. He's on a different path now I would say.

Having said that it's only Al here who couldn't get into it, so I'm glad people still had a good night out.

[captain]

Sounded, not sounds. And I thought 'new tune no. 2' was a highlight. Although maybe I'm thinking of another night.

[aj]

well, FWIW, I found BMQ's concert pretty disappointing : a high standard of musicianship, of course, but I found very little that was genuinely surprising, exciting or moving, or more than just clever/assured/sophisticated. Maybe it was just an off night ; like ali, I've heard Branford before (usually, with Tain in the band) and really enjoyed it.

[alimcg]

No doubt that following Tain into this band would be one of the hardest gigs going. I think Justin will be much better when he leaves the rest of those Tain-ish ideas behind and becomes his own drummer.

One thing that always struck me with Tain's playing was his dedication to the tune - he had a way of making each piece sound different. Obviously, there were common elements across all this, but he really knows how to colour a tune. I suppose his experience as a writer is pretty important in that respect.