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Brilliant Corners 2016
What it has will surely last but is that jazz?
—Gil-Scott Heron
Various venues
Belfast, N. Ireland
March 5-12, 2016
Another Brilliant Corners, a few more brilliant corners. Belfast's fledgling international jazz festival may only be in its fourth year but already it feels like an established part of the city's vibrant cultural landscape, a date in the calendar to look forward to, rather than an event that takes people by surprise.
The original three-day festival has grown steadily year on year and the 2016 edition spanned a meaty eight days, reaching into new corners of Belfast, the storied city that built The Titanic. In addition to the festival's traditional venues, bean bags and a barge made for quirky new environments for the record numbers that turned out to enjoy jazz in all its colors.
Film Documentaries in The Bean Bag
This year Brilliant Corners paid homage to the late, great
Ornette Coleman
saxophone, alto1930 - 2015
Gil Scott-Heron
vocals1949 - 2011
Jaco Pastorius
bass, electric1951 - 1987
The pick of the films was arguably Black Wax, Robert Mugge's 1982 portrayal of Gil-Scott Heron -self-confessed bluesologist, jazz poet and soul singer. Concert footage interspersed with Heron's scripted monologue provided a potent reminder of Heron's captivating live performances and of a socio-political commentator—devoid of all posturing—whose sharp wit and facility with language has rarely been matched in urban protest song to this day. Albums such as Small Talk at 125th and Lennox (1970), Pieces of a Man (1971) and Free Will (1972)—all on Flying Dutchman Records—remain classics that have influenced successive waves of hip-hop, rap and neo-soul artists.
Paul Marchand's Jaco: Jaco Pastorius is a warts-and-all portrayal of the influential fretless bassist best known for his years in
Weather Report
band / ensemble / orchestra
Joni Mitchell
vocalsb.1943
Pat Metheny
guitarb.1954
Independent film-maker Shirley Clarke's Ornette: Made in America (1984) explores the music and philosophy of the ever-influential Ornette Coleman. Fragmentary, non-linear and more than a little dated at times, insightful interviews with the subject and snapshots of his musical trajectory in New York, Nigeria, Morocco, and with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, are intercut with low-budget fantasy sequences that add little if anything to the narrative. The definitive biopic of this giant of modern music remains to be delivered.
The inclusion of jazz-related films in Brilliant Corners 2016 was a welcome addition to the program and hopefully sets a precedent for future editions. With jazz still to a large degree beholden/shackled (delete to taste) to its past, a showing of Icons Among Us: Jazz In The Present Tense (2009) might be a timely reminder of the depth of living, breathing jazz talent that operates today; it would certainly be in keeping with Brilliant Corner's progressive outlook and commitment to youth development.
Tony Kofi/Byron Wallen/Ed Youngs/Alan Niblock: A Tribute to Ornette Coleman
More satisfying by way of a tribute to Coleman, however, was the opening concert of Brilliant Corners in the Black Box, which featured
Tony Kofi
saxophone, tenorb.1966
Byron Wallen
trumpetb.1969
Rod Youngs
drumsJazz Warriors
band / ensemble / orchestra
Jamaaladeen Tacuma
bassb.1956
An unapologetically nostalgic set paid homage to Coleman's ground-breaking early albums, but if the tunes were perhaps overly familiar to the cognoscenti in the Black Box audience there was no escaping the verve in the quartet's delivery or the brilliance of its virtuosity. Kofi and Wallen were mesmeric as they switched between seamless unison lines and extended individual solos on mostly up-tempo Coleman classics such as "Turnaround," "Jayne" and "Face of The Bass." "Beauty Is a Rare Thing" signalled a change in tempo and intensity, this rumbling, edgy blues casting an undeniable spell.
The quartet fire of "Humpty Dumpty" and "Blues Connotation" and "Congeniality was balanced with the soulful, New Orleans-tinged "Una Muy Bonita." The gentler side of Coleman was explored in a lyrical Niblock and Kofi duet that evoked Coleman's chemistry with the late
Charlie Haden
bass, acoustic1937 - 2014
Anyone in the audience coming to this music for the first time would likely have been impressed by the vitality of the compositions and the strong melodic and harmonic structures. At the distance of sixty years from the release of Something Else!!!! (Contemporary, 1958) it's difficult to understand the threat Coleman's music posed, in its day, to a generation of bebop acolytes, and the sometimes mocking or even abusive response he suffered. Coleman, however, chartered a very personal musical course that has arguably stood the test of time better than the highly codified language of bebop.
Growing the Next Generation of Jazz Musicians
The launch of Brilliant Corners 2016 took place back in January, when
David Lyttle
drumsb.1984
Though Lyttle was merely fulfilling one of his roles as Musician-Residence, his commitment to nurturing young jazz talent on these shores runs deep. "I'm always looking for new talent," said Lyttle, "to try and bring the new generation forward. It's great for the jazz scene in Belfast to have a group of young people who are actually really interested in the music," Lyttle expanded. "I've been working as a jazz musician for about ten years and whenever I was starting out there was really nobody who had the same kind of drive and all these guys are really passionate about the music, which is a pretty cool thing"
Aged between eighteen and nineteen, bassist Jack Kelly, pianist Caolan Hutchinson, flutist Lewis Hanlon, guitarist Joseph Leighton and drummers Jake Holmes and Ben Flavelle-Cobain gave an impressive thirty-minute performance that pleasingly featured original compositions in Leighton's "Planet Nine" and Hutchinson's "Days," in addition to a couple of jazz standards. Even Juan Tizol's "Caravan," however, was given a refreshing makeover with a delightfully loping reggae vibe.
Lyttle's guiding hand was felt in a breezy rendition of "Pure Imagination," on his self-penned composition "Perpetual Scenario"—which Kelly and Flavelle-Cobain swung mightily—and in the New Orleans Second Line arrangement accorded
Charlie Parker
saxophone, alto1920 - 1955
Afterwards, the musicians spoke of the experience playing at Brilliant Corners. "It's a great honor to play in front of an audience that are all jazz fans," said Leighton. "It's brilliant." Working with Lyttle has also clearly been inspiring. "It's been amazing working with Dave," acknowledged Kelly, "because he has so much knowledge about the genre." Hanlon concurred: "We've got a brilliant insight into this tradition that we're all very interested in."
This initiative from Moving On Music to promote up-and-coming jazz talent in Northern Ireland is to be applauded and will no doubt play an important role in growing the new generation of jazz musicians. The talent is there, but making it, as Lyttle noted, will come down to the personal levels of drive and motivation that propel these promising young musicians.
VEIN Trio
Swiss trio VEIN Trio has been around for a decade and has released nine CDs in that time, most notably Jazz Talks (Unit Records, 2014) featuring
Dave Liebman
saxophoneb.1946
Duke Ellington
piano1899 - 1974
Paul Bley
piano1932 - 2016
Thelonious Monk
piano1917 - 1982
That Liebman and
Greg Osby
saxophoneb.1960
Esbjorn Svensson
piano1964 - 2008
Cacao
The Belfast Barge, moored on the River Lagon and just minutes from Belfast's commercial centre, became the latest venue to host a concert at Brilliant Corners. A maritime museum by day, it serves as a reminder—along with the iconic Harland and Wolf Cranes nearby—that in the not too distant past Belfast was the world's largest shipbuilding city. A few tables and chairs soon converted the 600-ton barge into a funky live venue for the debut of Cacao, a Belfast-based group specializing in Brazilian music.
Vocalist/guitarist Gnanam Samuel steered the quartet through a selection of classics from the vast Brazilian songbook, with Phil Smyth on electric bass adding vocal harmonies and trumpeter
Linley Hamilton
trumpetb.1965
Samuel's arrangements lent lustre and vitality to rather familiar fare such as "So Danca Samba," "Corcovado," "Aguas de Marzo," "The Girl from Ipanema" and "Mas Que Nada," with McClosky in particular given ample space to strut his stuff. Less familiar, though equally satisfying given the crowd's response, were Samuel and Smyth's original compositions and arrangements of tunes by
Airto Moreira
percussionb.1941
Lionel Loueke
guitarb.1973
Gretchen Parlato
vocalsOKO with Tim Berne
A year is a long time in the life-span of any truly progressive music outfit. Dublin quartet OKO's debut recording I Love You Computer Mountain (Diatribe Records, 2014) announced the arrival of a boldly experimental instrumental group seeking to synthesize multiple influences, from free-jazz to electronica with numerous trippy touchstones in between. A supporting slot for
The Bad Plus
band / ensemble / orchestrab.2000
Tim Berne
saxophone, altob.1954
One year on and OKO's performance on at Brilliant Corners revealed a band that has forged a determined path after much explorative searching. All the signature ingredients were there but the overall sound seemed more cohesive and more potent than before, with Berne raising a storm at the head. The saxophonist's unaccompanied intro suggested a gradual build-up was in the offing;
Shane O'Donovan
drums
Shane Latimer
guitarThe roar was punctuated by Latimer's grungy riffing, but if a jam seemed imminent the prospect was soon dispelled by an extended abstract passage, with Berne sustaining a high-pitched squeal—a sort of tortured drone. OKO then jumped from first gear to fifth, unleashing a heady barrage of free-improvisation/noise which would have made a great soundtrack to a modern gothic horror film. It was not for the faint-hearted.
In waves the music charged in and receded almost gracefully, with high-decibel passages giving way to O'Donovan's tinkling bells and chimes, Latimer's dreamy guitar soundscapes and keyboard drone. Berne's snaking lyricism rubbed shoulders with noodling sci-fi effects—like R2D2 on speed—and just when it seemed silence would intervene the music took off again, with dark funk grooves, searing saxophone and sampled voices giving the Black Box's sound-proofing a proper test.
The second set followed a broadly similar course. The low-key initial stirrings of sampled voice and fractured rhythms quickly ceded ground to powerful sonic waves, with keyboards and drums aligning provocatively. A loose passage more rooted in effects than obvious narrative direction preceded Berne's braying monologue—with the faintest electronic rustlings for company—and the ensuing meditative, sci-fi ruminations gradually morphed into another all-enveloping ensemble roar. Similar patterns ensued, with an unaccompanied spot from Berne the palette cleanser to collective rhythms of industrial design.
OKO's combination of hammering intensity and carefully sculpted sounds provided an unforgettable sonic experience—a unique band that is slowly but surely making its mark.
Tommy Smith/Brian Kellock
The final day of Brilliant Corners 2016 kicked off with an afternoon gig. David Lyttle's young, local musicians served up the same set as they had a few nights before, playing with notable confidence. The rousing ovation that greeted their half-hour set from a packed Black Box was fully deserved. The main event, however, was the duo of
Tommy Smith
saxophone, tenorb.1967
Brian Kellock
pianob.1962
Though both musicians have led colorful and diverse careers, their paths have repeatedly crossed over the years, resulting in several duet recording on the Spartacus Records labels: Bezique (2002); Symbiosis (2004), and most recently, Whispering of the Stars (2014); an absorbing set drew largely from these collaborations.
The duo cast a mesmerizing spell from the first softly voiced notes of Michel Legrand's "You Must Believe in Spring" and whilst ballads dominated the set a smattering of blues and bebop stirred things up, with Kellock in particular drawing from a well of ragtime, stride and boogie-woogie on the more animated numbers. On a tender version of Duke Ellington's "Sophisticated Lady" Smith played into the lid of the piano, the notes reverberating round the room.
Flowing improvisations on Don Raye/Gene De Paul's "Star Eyes" gave way to the aching lyricism of Hoagy Carmichael's "Stardust," with Smith's haunting tenor evoking the spirit of
Lester Young
saxophone1909 - 1959
Dinosaur
Formerly known as the Laura Jurd Quartet, the four members of Dinosaur have been playing together since 2010. Jurd's stock has risen steadily on the UK jazz scene since her acclaimed debut Landing Ground (Chaos Collective, 2012) and Human Spirit (Chaos Collective, 2015) provided further confirmation of a star in the making. Jurd has played Dublin gigs with art-rock combo Blue Eyed Hawk at Down With Jazz 2014 and at 12 Points the following year with her own quartet but this was Dinosaur's first performance in Belfast.
With a new album due out in the autumn, Jurd's first on the fast-growing Edition Records label, the Black Box crowd was treated to a preview of the forthcoming music. Jurd has long attracted plaudits for her playing but she is also an accomplished composer who apparently doesn't like to repeat herself. The slow-burning "Awakening" with its subtle drone thread gave an early sample of Jurd's thrilling virtuosity, but melody, groove and mood were the common denominators during the set.
The jaunty "Robin," built around a peculiarly English-sounding horn melody, juxtaposed spacious interludes with fine soloing from electric bassist Connor Chaplin and Jurd. Keyboardist
Elliot Galvin
piano"Steadily Sinking," a piece Jurd was commissioned to write for Hampshire County Youth Orchestra fused dark, church organ textures, Chaplin and drummer
Corrie Dick
drumsb.1990
Alarmist
The final act of Brilliant Corners 2016 was another Dublin instrumental act, Alarmist. The last time all About Jazz caught Alarmist was at Down with Jazz 2014 where the two-drummer, two-guitarist/keys quartet won over the Meeting House square crowd with its unnameable brand of math-meets-prog-meets—indie pop. The quartet became a trio when drummer Neil Crowley absconded to Australia, but the loss, shifting the bulk of the rhythmic duties onto the limbs of Osgar Dukes, has if anything resulted in a more organic sound—one arguably closer to jazz. Nomenclature cast well and truly aside, Alarmist's barnstorming set closed the eight-day festival on a high note.
Gently overlapping guitar melodies over a fast metronomic pulse created a subtly hypnotic opening; a three-way Morse exchange gathered force, with Elis Czerniak and Barry O'Halpin switching repeatedly between guitar and keyboards with speed and precision. The breeze became a gale as drums and sinewy guitar lines kicked in. Gradually, the music's force dissolved and the simple Morse returned, ushering in the perfect, groove-driven electronic art-pop of "Petrichor." Much of the music played out with a through-composed precision, the pretty, sharply defined melodies and artful orchestration leaving seemingly little room for improvisation. There was, however, no denying the music's power.
On the penultimate number shifting rhythmic patterns—from punchy, staccato urgency to fat backbeat—underpinned airy, anthemic melodies in striking juxtaposition. The infectious "Cordillera" harnessed contemporary beats and synth-pop lyricism and drew a line under a potent, uplifting set. Alarmist has adapted well to its enforced transformation to a trio and is still every bit as unique a musical proposition as before.
Wrap-up
Brilliant Corners is going from strength to strength. Working to a limited budget, the festival's imaginative programing showcases the best of Irish and UK talent with a platform for emerging local musicians. Marquee names may be few and far between as yet, but Tim Berne's presence alongside OKO is a sure sign that the festival refuses to play it safe. And besides, this is festival that's still in its infancy, that's still building an audience and that's gradually expanding its horizons and the expectations of its public. Moving On Music, the festival organizer, has laid solid foundations for the years to come. Onwards and upwards.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Moving On Music
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brilliant corners
Tim Berne
Live Reviews
Ian Patterson
United Kingdom
Belfast
Ornette Coleman
Gil-Scott Heron
Jaco Pastorius
Weather Report
Joni Mitchell
pat metheny
Tony Kofi
Byron Wallen
Rod Youngs
Jazz Warriors
Jamaaladeen Tacuma
Charlie Haden
david lyttle
Charlie Parker
Dave Liebman
duke ellington
Paul Bley
Thelonious Monk
Greg Osby
Esbjorn Svensson
linley hamilton
Airto Moreira
Lionel Loueke
Gretchen Parlato
The Bad Plus
Shane O'Donovan
Shane Latimer
Tommy Smith
Brian Kellock
Lester Young
laura jurd
Elliot Galvin
Corrie Dick
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