YAZZ AHMED @ SOUNDHUB SHOWCASE
Jerwood Hall, LS0 St Luke’s, Old Street, London EC1 – 19th June 2016
Jerwood Hall, LS0 St Luke’s, Old Street, London EC1 – 19th June 2016
Yazz Ahmed (quarter-tone flugelhorn); Tom Norris (violin); Duncan Gould (bass clarinet); Neil Percy (marimba/vibraphone); Corrina Silvester (krakeb, riqq and drumkit)
Based at LSO St Luke’s, Soundhub provides a marvellous environment for composers to explore, collaborate and experiment. It welcomes composers from a rich variety of backgrounds such as contemporary classical, jazz, electronica, multi-media etc. Genres are blurred, boundaries pushed. Ambitious projects are developed in collaboration with LSO musicians and music industry experts.
This midsummer evening’s concert was a living testament to the success of the project which is still in its infancy. Phase 1 showcased the supreme talents of four composers: Yazz Ahmed, Ben Gaunt, Oliver Leith and Lee Westwood. However, since Jazz Views is essentially concerned with all things jazz as opposed to all things music, I decided to discuss Ahmed’s very important contribution to the event rather than to review the entire concert.
In the last few years the young British/Bahraini trumpeter Yazz Ahmed has emerged as a vital force on the UK jazz scene, both as a distinctive soloist and composer. Her work is all about pushing the musical envelope, breaking down barriers and fusing seemingly disparate musical elements. Her philosophy is that there is more that unites us than divides us, a lesson that should be heeded by all those politicians who would argue otherwise in these very troubled and uncertain times.
Her programme notes to her work “St Luke” are extremely informative and offer us a fascinating insight into her musical mind and ethos, and I make no apologies for quoting them in full:
“This piece is inspired by the field recordings I made on a visit to St Luke’s in December 2015. I manipulated the recordings to create loops and soundscapes, composing in response to those captured sounds and the memories and thoughts that immersion in this soundworld provoked. The work is an exploration of the space echoing my experience of the day. I was feeling my way around, following the sounds that interested me. I had begun this process with expectations that I would find calm, peace and serenity but I was constantly surprised by unexpected noise and commotion. St Luke’s was a peaceful sanctuary, left derelict for many years, now dancing with vibrancy and life.
The piece follows a loose form with contrasting atmospheric episodes linked by moments of improvisation from all the musicians, underpinned by my prepared recordings. I have also been exploring the use of the microtonality and rhythmic complexity from the Arabic music of my heritage. I have been successfully fusing these elements into my jazz projects over the last few years and I have used my Soundhub composition to see how these would translate to the classical world.”
With such a clear and focused mind and her ability to explain her vision so succinctly and eloquently, it almost makes any commentary from others seem somewhat superfluous. Nevertheless, I would like to add a few words of my own.
“St Luke’s” is proof in spades that Ahmed has a wonderful sense of form, structure and balance in her compositions. She recognises the importance of tension and release, her ideas develop in a highly organic manner, and she knows how to engender rhythmic excitement through sudden shifts of accent within an infectious groove or riff. But there are moments of calm and reflection too. The integration of sounds in real time with pre-recorded loops and atmospheric soundscapes combined to create a rich and varied musical tapestry. There was a lovely balance between the written music and improvisation, the classical musicians of the ensemble demonstrating that you don’t have to be a jazz musician to be a good improviser. Many ingredients have been poured into the melting pot and what has emerged is a piece where the whole is far greater than the sum of its parts.
The future is very rosy for Ahmed. She has multiple projects in the pipeline and we wish her well on her continuing musical journey. For more information on Yazz Ahmed visit www.yazzahmed.com
Reviewed by Geoff Eales
Based at LSO St Luke’s, Soundhub provides a marvellous environment for composers to explore, collaborate and experiment. It welcomes composers from a rich variety of backgrounds such as contemporary classical, jazz, electronica, multi-media etc. Genres are blurred, boundaries pushed. Ambitious projects are developed in collaboration with LSO musicians and music industry experts.
This midsummer evening’s concert was a living testament to the success of the project which is still in its infancy. Phase 1 showcased the supreme talents of four composers: Yazz Ahmed, Ben Gaunt, Oliver Leith and Lee Westwood. However, since Jazz Views is essentially concerned with all things jazz as opposed to all things music, I decided to discuss Ahmed’s very important contribution to the event rather than to review the entire concert.
In the last few years the young British/Bahraini trumpeter Yazz Ahmed has emerged as a vital force on the UK jazz scene, both as a distinctive soloist and composer. Her work is all about pushing the musical envelope, breaking down barriers and fusing seemingly disparate musical elements. Her philosophy is that there is more that unites us than divides us, a lesson that should be heeded by all those politicians who would argue otherwise in these very troubled and uncertain times.
Her programme notes to her work “St Luke” are extremely informative and offer us a fascinating insight into her musical mind and ethos, and I make no apologies for quoting them in full:
“This piece is inspired by the field recordings I made on a visit to St Luke’s in December 2015. I manipulated the recordings to create loops and soundscapes, composing in response to those captured sounds and the memories and thoughts that immersion in this soundworld provoked. The work is an exploration of the space echoing my experience of the day. I was feeling my way around, following the sounds that interested me. I had begun this process with expectations that I would find calm, peace and serenity but I was constantly surprised by unexpected noise and commotion. St Luke’s was a peaceful sanctuary, left derelict for many years, now dancing with vibrancy and life.
The piece follows a loose form with contrasting atmospheric episodes linked by moments of improvisation from all the musicians, underpinned by my prepared recordings. I have also been exploring the use of the microtonality and rhythmic complexity from the Arabic music of my heritage. I have been successfully fusing these elements into my jazz projects over the last few years and I have used my Soundhub composition to see how these would translate to the classical world.”
With such a clear and focused mind and her ability to explain her vision so succinctly and eloquently, it almost makes any commentary from others seem somewhat superfluous. Nevertheless, I would like to add a few words of my own.
“St Luke’s” is proof in spades that Ahmed has a wonderful sense of form, structure and balance in her compositions. She recognises the importance of tension and release, her ideas develop in a highly organic manner, and she knows how to engender rhythmic excitement through sudden shifts of accent within an infectious groove or riff. But there are moments of calm and reflection too. The integration of sounds in real time with pre-recorded loops and atmospheric soundscapes combined to create a rich and varied musical tapestry. There was a lovely balance between the written music and improvisation, the classical musicians of the ensemble demonstrating that you don’t have to be a jazz musician to be a good improviser. Many ingredients have been poured into the melting pot and what has emerged is a piece where the whole is far greater than the sum of its parts.
The future is very rosy for Ahmed. She has multiple projects in the pipeline and we wish her well on her continuing musical journey. For more information on Yazz Ahmed visit www.yazzahmed.com
Reviewed by Geoff Eales
