Konrad Wisniewski’s five-piece Quartet March 20, 2008
Posted by byased in British Musicians, Live reviews, Local Musicians.add a comment
Recital Rooms, Glasgow City Hall, 15th March 2008
How many people are there in a quartet? Well, based on the principle that the Benny Goodman Sextet and the Henry Threadgill Sextett both had seven members, it shouldn’t have been too much of a surprise to discover five people on stage for what was billed as a concert by a quartet. Konrad Wisniewski always referred to his band as the quintet, though, so presumably there was a change in line-up between the tickets being printed and the band starting their tour.
The instrumentation was the same as that on Wisniewski’s debut CD: piano (Paul Harrison), guitar (Mark McKnight), bass (Euan Burton) and drums (Doug Hough). McKnight, from Belfast, was a new name to me, but was very good, playing some interesting rhythm patterns as well as some fine jazzy solos. The set was made up of originals by Wisniewski, Burton and McKnight, with the latter’s tunes being a bit more traditionally boppy than those by the two Scots.
Once a few initial sound problems had been fixed this turned into a very fine concert indeed. All the musicians were excellent, but it was Konrad Wisniewski himself who stood out. He’s become one of those musicians whose every note grabs your attention, without there being any feeling that he was showing off. Each generation of Scottish jazz seems to produce one great tenor player – Bobby Wellins, Tommy Smith – and I suspect that before long we’ll be talking about Konrad Wisniewski in the same terms.
Dumfries Jazz Clamjamphrie March 8, 2008
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March 14th to 16th, various venues, Dumfries
The first Dumfries Jazz Clamjamphrie* takes place on the weekend of the 14th to 16th of March. It’s being organised by Doonhamer sax player Ben Bryden as part of his course at Birmingham Conservatory.
Although it’s a small event, with only four gigs, it looks very interesting. The top attraction must be the appearance of Bobby Wellins (one of the few truly great British sax players) at the Rifft Valley Cafe in Castle Street on the Saturday night. He’s accompanied by the David Patrick Trio, who seem to be his regular band when playing in Scotland, and supported by the Mike Fletcher Septet from Birmingham.
Mind you, the Sunday night performance by the very fine Philadelpha drummer Ari Hoenig’s trio should be well worth hearing as well. He’s playing with American guitarist Gilad Hekselman , who I know nothing about, and Scottish bass player Euan Burton.
Ben Bryden’s own band plays on Friday night, as part of a double bill with the Laura Macdonald Quartet.
All of these concerts are in the Rifft Valley Cafe. The fourth concert, on the Sunday afternoon, takes place in the Cairnsdale Hotel and features local youngsters Section Perfection.
Details of ticket prices and starting times at http://www.dumfriesjazz.com
*Clamjamphrie: a Scots word meaning a varied assortment of things or people.
