Jazz breaking news: Mark Lockheart and Stan Sulzmann shine at inaugural RWCMDJ jazz festival
Monday, May 13, 2013
The inaugural Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama Jazz Festival in Cardiff was an outstanding success with seven big name concerts and 13 free concerts by the students of the college.
The festival was launched on Friday by Nikki Iles’ Printmakers featuring Norma Winstone, who are on tour celebrating Nikki's 50th birthday, playing songs from the forthcoming Printmakers CD, with Ralph Towner, Joni Mitchell and Kenny Wheeler providing Iles and Winstone with really diverse material for saxophonist Mark Lockheart and guitarist Mike Walker to improvise around on an exhilarating opening set.
Saturday saw the Royal Welsh College big band take the stage in the large Dora Stoutzker Hall, under the direction of Teddy Smith, followed by the Kit Downes Quintet in the intimate Richard Burton theatre. Downes was playing material from his latest CD, New Light from Old Stars, joined by James Maddren (drums), Calum Gourlay (bass), James Allsopp (bass clarinet, clarinet and sax) and Lucy Railton (cello). The set opened with ‘Wander & Colossus’, a dark, brooding number perfect for Allsopp’s bass clarinet to growl over. The more lighthearted 'Two Ones' (a tune about his cats) and 'Jan Johansson' (for the pianist) led into the quirky 'Bleydays' a homage to Paul Bley and the children's TV show Play Away – obviously a favourite of the young Downes. Railton's cello is instrumental in holding this complex and at times chaotic music together, helping it move from dark to light and adding a new and very interesting sound into the mix. The evening concert was by the James Taylor Quartet, who proved extremely popular among the students from all parts of the college.
Sunday saw an opening double bill of the Neil Yates Five Countries Trio and Stan Sulzmann's Neon (again featuring Kit Downes, and proving once again just how versatile he is). Yates started off with his tone poem 'Rainy Harbour' a delightfully evocative piece complete with seagulls, waves and ropes tapping against masts. 'Frozen Forest' another very evocative piece conjuring images of ice, trees and stillness. Zsolt Bende (acoustic Guitar) and Cormac Byrne (percussion) are the perfect foil for Yates’ breathy and very fluid trumpet playing. Stan Sulzmann (pictured above) would be the first to admit that he has been around for a long time but would also add that there is nothing like playing with musicians half his age to keep him on his toes (Kit Downes on piano/Hammond, vibist Jim Hart, and drummer Tim Giles). With Neon Quartet he has the perfect mix of youthful exuberance and his own vast experience to create a highly enjoyable sound that is cultured but at the same time hip and edgy. ‘Mother Hen’, ‘Bye Ya’ and ‘New Balls’ (about tennis) all were excellent examples of this mixture working so well.
The last show in the series (excellently put together by Andrew Miller) featured Mark Lockheart and his Ellington in Anticipation project (pictured left) where the saxophonist has deconstructed some of the Duke's finest tunes and come up with his own highly original versions (this concert was recorded by Radio 3, Jazz on 3, for broadcast later this month). An excellent concert with no little humour, expertly played out by his very classy band. Let’s hope that the college can keep this an annual event and can build on this high quality of music for next year’s festival.
– story and photos Tim Dickeson