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Dom Henry went to see the Guy Barker Jazz Orchestra perform at the Bonington Theatre in Arnold |
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Mozart? Jazz? Steady now. The possibilities for cringe worthy sounds are endless. Not so here though, this is no classical crossover from strings to sax but something else, something fiery and new. Guy Barker, a bit of a trumpet legend on the UK scene, has kept his Mozart connected jazz enterprise firmly contemporary, dealing in what he does best, brass rich big band jazz. So, in this project he takes his inspiration from the characters and plots from Mozart stories, rather than bastardising the maestro’s melodies themselves. It was a pretty exciting line-up, not least because of Guy’s 14 piece orchestra, a band of this size being a rare pleasure at the best of times. More so yet because the 14 in question were made up of the kind of A list players you’d want to go and see in their own right, this man has good friends. Unsurprisingly the concert was a sell out from the off, even press tickets were in short supply and it was a genuinely excited crowd who hustled down early to the Bonington to bag prime seats.
The show was split into two parts, conveniently mirroring the two CDs of Guy’s album The Amadeus Project. The first half being The Amadeus Suite, a commission of Barker’s for a Mozart Festival over in San Diego. The suite consists of a series of character portraits inspired by figures from the world of Mozart, opening with wolfie, a rousing taste of the evening to come, richly upbeat, brassy and vigorous, timed with precision and poise yet relaxed and unflustered. How sweet the breeze followed with a feverishly intense solo from Rosario Giuliani on Alto Sax, who working his horn like a man possessed. This was followed by Le Trois Dames, a stupendously sassy number, the kind of saucy trumpet and trombone affair that propels stunning 1940s blondes through the dreams of cinematographers, over the punchily gruff bass line each "waa waah" of the brass crafting another mesmerising sway of those ripe satin clad hips. Woah there momma. The second half brought us the contents of disc two, dZf, a take on Mozarts the Magic Flute which takes the frankly bonkers plot of Die Zauberflote (you see the dZf bit now) and recreates it in the mean rain soaked streets of a classic film noir. So Mozart meets Sin City then? damn right, this kind of orchestral music is real cinematic chocolate, and while we’ve not got the contrasty on screen action what we have got is a superb score to paint the scenes and, here’s the trick, some classy narration to set the story.
Gravelly voiced New Yorker Michael Brandon, pictured above, who you may remember as Dempsey from crime drama Dempsey & Makepeace, is the voice for a short story written by thriller novelist Robert Ryan. Ryan, who lives round the corner from Barker, specially wrote this Magic Flute inspired tale, with Barker laying down the music to tell it. His 14 piece deliver a lively mix of stylish and sassy swing, bluesy rhythm and 1940s style big band bounce, all laced with eye wateringly good solos from Barker, Giuliani and the rest of the band. This show may have been set in grimy streets somewhere down town but it oozed quality. On an interesting side note the Amadeus Project album was recently rated in GQ magazines top 100 ‘best things’ , in at number five! alongside super models and some plasma TVs the size of my house. Good eh? That means the signed copy I bagged in the interval is better than owning an Armani hat, or having Kate Moss as your personal bitch. We've had some great Jazz Step's line-ups this year, with shows making The Guardian’s weekly top jazz pick quite a few times this season, not surprising with inspired bookings like this at the Bonington. Good work guys. The Guy Barker Jazz Orchestra performed The Amadeus Project at the Bonington theatre Arnold on 2nd December 2007 as part of the Nottingham's Jazz Steps season. All photos courtesy of Bob Meyrick (c) Click here for a photo gallery from this event
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