Two reviews of Tom Arthurs and Richard Fairhurst's

Postcards From Pushkin (2012)

  

Financial Times

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/31a420e6-5126-11e1-8cdb-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1n7g57FHe

 

February 10, 2012 10:17 pm

By Mike Hobart

Spacious, serene and slightly surreal, the album reverberates with a sense of time unfolding

Each of these delicate trumpet and piano vignettes is a response to a fragment of Pushkin’s poetry – relevant excerpts are included on the sleeve. Spacious, serene and slightly surreal, the album reverberates with a sense of time unfolding – the church acoustics of the St. Giles’ Cripplegate recording perfectly capture the mood. Trumpeter Tom Arthur’s brassy tone and wide intervals echo over Richard Fairhurst’s sparse, resonant piano, one excerpt “The trumpet solo has no poetry” features poetic solo trumpet and “The Judge” stark unaccompanied piano.

Tom Arthurs and Richard Fairhurst

Postcards from Pushkin

(Babel)

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=41348

Published: February 2, 2012

 By Bruce Lindsay

Trumpeter Tom Arthurs wrote the music for Postcards From Pushkin in 2009, according to his liner notes, "in a moment of particular calm and reflection" when he was a BBC New Generation Artist. Inspired by the works of the Russian poet and author Alexandr Pushkin (1799-1837), Arthurs and his musical collaborator, pianist Richard Fairhurst (of The Hungry Ants and Triptych), recorded the album later that year. Arthur's warm, rich, flugelhorn sound and Fairhurst's delicate, understated, piano combine to create music that is both restrained and affecting. It reflects the romance of Pushkin's poems but also the underlying pathos and occasional darkness.

Arthurs and Fairhurst recorded Postcards From Pushkin in St Giles, Cripplegate, a medieval church within London's Barbican regularly used as a concert venue—its organ was featured on Rick Wakeman's The Six Wives Of Henry VIII (A&M, 1973). The building's acoustics are at the heart of the album's exceptionally clear and pure sound. Lydia Polzer's lovely photographs and cover design capture and reflect the quiet beauty of the music. Her artistry joins with Arthurs' and Fairhurst's musical creativity to ensure that Postcards From Pushkin is a visual, as well as an aural feast.(see website for full review).

 Listen / download from Bandcamp  http://babel-label.bandcamp.com/album/postcards-from-pushkin

The power of grass roots on jazz- a French example

In France there have been two campaigns afoot. One is to change to funding scheme and set up a Centre Nationale de la Musique. Mired in politics, it follows from a report commissioned by Sarkozy, who was pressed by the whining of the major labels. Maybe they were refusing to put out a new album by his missus?

That gives more money and power to the major labels. Both main political parties are committed to the change. It will entail money coming from ISPs to fund music, but is, based on the way so far described, going to used to prop up recordings and their dissemination primarily. Musics such as jazz, dependent on live performance for starters, are difficult to categorise.

Jazz was left out of this discussion and organisations like Afijma, the French jazz festival organisation and of which the Vortex is an associate member, are fighting a strong rearguard action to try and save some of their position and not be dismissed as niche or marginal. Good luck in the battle to get recognised by M. Sarkozy and his friends. I'm preparing a discussion about this for a seminar soon, and, in the same way, that I put up my slides from the Lost London Jazz Venue talk, I'll put this up when I have it.

On the other hand, the campaign launched by pianist Laurent Coq last year and described in Londonjazz seems to be bearing fruit. He, Pierre de Bethmann and journalist and broadcaster Alex Dutilh were commissioned by Minister of Culture, Frédéric Mitterand, to write a report on the state of jazz. I have received a copy and can let anyone have it if they wish. (Email me.) If it were in English, it would read almost exactly the same. They did this in TWO months with the full help of the jazz scene (musicians, labels, promoters etc.). The upshot is going to be a new training scheme for young jazz musicians and a new venue to be dedicated to jazz. An empty theatre in La Villette, which can be used by the Orchestre National de Jazz as a base and with 2 halls, one for 500 and one for 150. The trio of Coq, de Bethmann and Dutilh will now be pressing for all the political parties in the election to ensure that these ideas are properly recognised.

A similar debate is now taking place also in Germany, following on from an article by Michael Hornstein in Sueddeutsche Zeitung's weekend edition of 21 January claiming that jazz has no relevance in today's society. It's stimulating debate, such as a summary by the ever-lucid Michael Ruesenberg, or an article saying that "Jazz has it.... NOT!"
It would be good if the grassroots campaign started by Jazz Open Space and also described in Londonjazz could bear similar fruit. Does Jeremy Hunt have similar open ears for jazz? It would be good to think so. Or even the Arts Council?

The influence of UK jazz internationally

It used to be the case that UK jazz musicians were important - from the beginning of the 60s onwards especially - in setting the stage for a "Europeanisation" of jazz and especially the evolutions of fusion and free improv. So, on the one hand, musicians like Dave Holland and John McLaughlin were sucked over to NY by Miles Davis, and labels like ECM included the generation around Kenny Wheeler, John Surman and so on as mainstays.
Similarly in the mid 80s, it is without doubt that one can take bands such as Loose Tubes and Jazz Warriors as trailblazers for a new moving on of the jazz.
Over time, British musicians have continued to be in demand to bring their knowledge internationally.
Now however, there is a new trend afoot, which is akin to "technology transfer". More and more young musicians are realising their potential through taking advantage of UK educators, both in UK (but also abroad).
Abroad, the new main influences are John Taylor, for many years in Cologne, and now Django Bates, for the past few years in Copenhagen and now teaching in Bern(e) for part of each month. Django's Stormchaser band shows his influence, and it's even the case for bands now performing at 12 Points in Porto, such as Berlin's Schneeweiss and Rosenrot, where I know that Johanna Borchert and Peter Eldh are Copenhagen graduates.
The other important development is the number of European musicians who have taken advantage of the education and performance scene over here. Some of them are now in the forefront of their respective scenes. For example, Stian Westerhus, the whizz kid of Norway, is a graduate of Middlesex University, Robin Fincker (now back in France) was at the Royal Academy of Music, Ingrid Laubrock, now the toast of the improv scene,  was at Guildhall ( I think) and of course lived here for over a decade, Froy Aagre studied at Birmingham. Hans Koller is still here, of course, but does his main work for the big bands in Germany (especially NDR). Emilia Martensson - still with us in London - is Swedish and studied at Guildhall. Jasper Hoiby is Danish and still here too. I haven't done a thorough trawl but I think that gives the gist?
It was most recently brought home to me by my recent conversations with Rory Simmons about Eye of a Blue Dog, which involves Elizabeth Nygaard (Norwegian but still here) and Terje Evensen, who is Norwegian but studied at Trinity.
While it is getting harder to have gigs abroad for UK musicians who, because of the dire international funding system, are often treated as second class and unheard, our musical influence is permeating through in another way!
However, as Jack Davies has pointed out in his blog the cost of study is getting higher and higher. So that may put off these foreigners coming here. So another window on the world for British jazz will be shut.

Christine Tobin  - A Thousand Kisses Deep

Christine Tobin is back at the Vortex Jazz Club tomorrow Saturday 11^th February with Phil Robson (guitar) and Dave Whitford (double bass) for A Thousand Kisses Deep which is an interpretation of songs by the great American song writer Leonard Cohen.

Tobin has been described as one of the worlds most gifted and original singer song writers in jazz drawing on a range of influences including West African and Brazilian.  She has recorded 7 albums with Babel Label.  They are available on bandcamp http://babel-label.bandcamp.com/

Secret Life of a Girl (2008)

Romance and Revolution (2004)

You Draw the Line (2003)

Deep Song (2000)

House of Women (1998)

Yell of the Gazelle (1996)

Aililiu (1995)

After the release of Secret Life Of A Girl, Tobin was named Best Vocalist at the BBC Jazz Awards 2008. She has collaborated with other Babel Label artist such as Phil Robson, Liam Noble, Steve Arguelles, Paul Clarvis, Huw Warren and Steve Buckley.

Support for the venues

From my lost London jazz venue work, I realise that the funding system in the UK has never properly supported the core day-to-day venues properly. Informal, volunteer promoters? Yes. Concert halls?Yes. Festivals, such as the London Festival? Yes.
Is it that the history of clubs way predates the Arts Council? Or perhaps that they are frightened about the morals of jazz clubs? For example, I have found quotes going back to the 30s complaining about jazz in Ireland and Holland.

Jazz certainly seems to "get on with it". But that needs the better funded support to continue, such as from tours, broadcasts, foreign touring and so on. The venues themselves either need to be quite commercial (e.g. Ronnies where unfortunately the main programme seems to be backtracking - a bit at least - on the improved creativity of a year or so back; or the Pizza Express where the pizzas act as benefactors; or the 606 where Steve Rubie cleverly is able to get the support of high quality food). Or, as in the case of the Vortex, we have to be considered by musicians as the "additional band member". We take risks too, we try and deliver what we can. However, we do have the situations where the musicians feel that we owe them their existence rather than are our partners.


This is a theme that I want to develop further.