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Steve Williamson & Guildhall Jazz Orchestra: Celebrating Coltrane at Milton Court

Milton Court Concert Hall
Celebrating Coltrane
London
July 10, 2019
The word "legendary" is bandied around so indiscriminately these days that it has all but lost its meaning. London saxophonist

Steve Williamson
saxophoneb.1964

Denys Baptiste
saxophoneb.1969
Jazz Warriors
band / ensemble / orchestra
Binker and Moses
band / ensemble / orchestra
Sons of Kemet
band / ensemble / orchestra
Nubya Garcia
saxophone
Cassie Kinoshi
saxophoneb.1993

Camilla George
saxophone
Theon Cross
tuba
Sarah Tandy
harpAnother word which applies to Williamson is "reclusive." Too little has been heard from him, live or on record, since the mid 1990s. After releasing three game-changing albums on Verve between 1990 and 1994, he was dropped by the label; a fourth album had been completed but still lies unreleased. Label executives felt that Williamson's blend of Caribbean music, the legacy of

John Coltrane
saxophone1926 - 1967

Steve Coleman
saxophone, altob.1956
Williamson's performances since 2014 have, however, been infrequent. Among the standouts was an appearance with Denys Baptiste's band at A Concert for Alice and John at London's Barbican in late 2017. That night Baptiste performed his masterpiece, The Late Trane (Edition, 2017), on which Williamson had guested.
John Coltrane was a huge influence when in 1984, aged 20, Williamson began studying at London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama and shifted his primary focus from reggae to jazz. So powerful was Coltrane's influence that a few years later Williamson stopped listening to his records for over a decade for fear of becoming a Coltrane clone. His singularity remains intact. Unlike

Azar Lawrence
saxophoneb.1952
Celebrating Coltrane featured Williamson accompanied by the Guildhall's Jazz Orchestra under the direction of professor of jazz


Rufus Reid
bass, acousticb.1944

Cedar Walton
piano1934 - 2013
The main event of the programme was the second half, when Williamson and the orchestra played the "Africa/Brass Suite"three tunes, arranged by Stroman after

Eric Dolphy
woodwinds1928 - 1964

Cal Massey
trumpet1928 - 1972
Guildhall Jazz Orchestra, composed of 16 current students and two alumni, acquitted itself well. Its ensemble work was confident, well-drilled and high impact, and tenor saxophonist Kaidi Akinnibi and pianist " data-original-title="" title="">Toby Comeau were striking soloists. Williamson, of course, took virtually all of the solos. He was terrifyingly goodhis multiphonics, high harmonics, long-form sweeps and swoops, and idiosyncratic combination of the cerebral and the visceral was as compelling as ever. Guildhall concerts such as these are meant to grow the students by placing them alongside star headliners. The orchestra members probably grew ten years during their 100 minutes on stage.
Williamson is back and no mistake. Hopefully, he will be back more often. In conversation during the interval he said that playing jazz again made him happier than he had ever been and that he wanted to start recording again. It was a memorable night. It could well have been titled Celebrating Steve Williamson.
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