Byron Wallen Octet blow up a storm at Rich Mix

This is an evening in which object, sound and history entwine. Trumpeter-composer Byron Wallen’s ‘Hurricane Bells’ takes the five bells that artist Peter Shenai cast in 2018 as an evocation of Hurricane Katrina, and places them at the centre of a suite that serves as a timely reminder of the storm that laid waste to New Orleans and also laid bare centuries old racism and class inequality. The event may have slipped off the news agenda but it could not be any more relevant, given the climate change crisis. 

Hanging from a vertical frame, the bronze bells are part of the percussion set played by George Barton and provide a real backbone for Wallen’s music. The fact that they are held in the air rather than rooted on the ground also brings a dramatic audio-visual and ceremonial character to the performance, as if the orbs are presented as an act of remembrance and defiance.

Then again for the best part of three decades Wallen’s writing has had a deeply evocative, ancestral quality that stems from his absorption of anything from Afro-Asian to Moroccan gnawa traditions as well as his command of the myriad vocabularies of jazz. Here he presents an octet featuring up and coming players such as drummer Zoe Pascal, guitarist Mike De Souza and trumpeter Lucy Humphris, and the ensemble is an appropriate outlet for themes that shift seamlessly between light, airy planes and dark, dense undertows. The highlight of the evening is the reprise of ‘Harmony Of The Spheres’, one of signature tunes of the much loved 2000’s group Indigo, and this time round Chris Maddock supplies the bulky rhythmic baritone sax lines that drive the whole piece forward with hearty, steadfast purpose.  

The explicit political commentary of ‘Cataclysm Capitalism’ also underscores the overarching message of the music, as does Wallen’s own address to the audience. In today’s social media Katrina may seem like an event buried in the dim and distant past. But it is not. Wallen’s artful sonic construction is a reminder that the destruction wrought on the world around us is not something that will be silenced for much longer. Anybody with ears should be listening to all the bells ringing louder and louder.