TERRI LYNE CARRINGTON’S MOSAIC PROJECT LOVE AND SOUL
Birmingham Town Hall, Sunday 21st May 2017
Birmingham Town Hall, Sunday 21st May 2017
The evening began with a support slot by local drummer Romarna Campbell and her quintet which featured bass, piano and double- saxophone lead. They played a tight, well-balanced set with some interesting compositions.
After the interval, Carrington began the first of two quite distinct sets. The set began with pieces from the current CD and, regarding a sterling performance of Geri Allens’s ‘Unconditional Love’, Carrington said “It is important to claim new standards”. To underline this, they then launched in Kenny Baron’s ‘A voyage’ that Tineke Postma had arranged. Throughout the set, Carrington played as if each piece was a drum solo, working the kit to produce complex polyrhythms but never over-shadowing her band members. Carrington’s upright posture and relaxed swinging of the sticks across the kit has something of the grace of Art Blakey, while her rhythmic sensibilities are more up to date and her own. In each piece, she switches rhythm and musical style almost on a bar by bar basis, while developing the whole into a completely coherent and clear statement of the tune. In response, Postma’s playing on tenor and soprano sax moved around the melody, improvising with panache and control. Helen Song’s piano was a little low in the mix but when it did come through, the cascades of notes that she showered the tune produced a fine, crystalline sheen over each piece.
Following the interval, Carrington promised a special guest before launching into Jimi Hendrick’s ‘Burning of the midnight lamp’ on which she sang and drummed. The special guest was none other than China Moses who sashayed onto stage, beaming at the band and immediately steeling the limelight even before she began to sing. Her singing has the soulful quality of Motown divas with a modern twist. She delivered Al Green’s ‘If I gave you my love’ as if it was her own, and her own ‘Disconnected’ as if it was soul classic.
The set closed with a version of The Beatles ‘Michelle’ that was reworked rhythmically and melodically to such an extent that it was a few minutes before the audience recognised it. This is, I think, a good way to ‘claim new standards’, not by simply repeating the originals but by unpicking them and stitching them into something new. In this respect, Carrington is a tailor of consummate skill, ably supported by her band mates.
Review by Chris Baber
After the interval, Carrington began the first of two quite distinct sets. The set began with pieces from the current CD and, regarding a sterling performance of Geri Allens’s ‘Unconditional Love’, Carrington said “It is important to claim new standards”. To underline this, they then launched in Kenny Baron’s ‘A voyage’ that Tineke Postma had arranged. Throughout the set, Carrington played as if each piece was a drum solo, working the kit to produce complex polyrhythms but never over-shadowing her band members. Carrington’s upright posture and relaxed swinging of the sticks across the kit has something of the grace of Art Blakey, while her rhythmic sensibilities are more up to date and her own. In each piece, she switches rhythm and musical style almost on a bar by bar basis, while developing the whole into a completely coherent and clear statement of the tune. In response, Postma’s playing on tenor and soprano sax moved around the melody, improvising with panache and control. Helen Song’s piano was a little low in the mix but when it did come through, the cascades of notes that she showered the tune produced a fine, crystalline sheen over each piece.
Following the interval, Carrington promised a special guest before launching into Jimi Hendrick’s ‘Burning of the midnight lamp’ on which she sang and drummed. The special guest was none other than China Moses who sashayed onto stage, beaming at the band and immediately steeling the limelight even before she began to sing. Her singing has the soulful quality of Motown divas with a modern twist. She delivered Al Green’s ‘If I gave you my love’ as if it was her own, and her own ‘Disconnected’ as if it was soul classic.
The set closed with a version of The Beatles ‘Michelle’ that was reworked rhythmically and melodically to such an extent that it was a few minutes before the audience recognised it. This is, I think, a good way to ‘claim new standards’, not by simply repeating the originals but by unpicking them and stitching them into something new. In this respect, Carrington is a tailor of consummate skill, ably supported by her band mates.
Review by Chris Baber
