GARGANTUAN steps

Monday, November 24, 2008

the five peace band

The horrendous London weather was not sufficient to quell the highlight of my weekend, watching Chick Corea perform with John McLaughlin and the Five Peace Band at the Royal Festival Hall near Waterloo. This was the final day of the London Jazz Festival (which I always happen to find out too late) and I had already missed catching Herbie Hancock in concert the week before and also decided not to watch Take 6 too. Thankfully, I manage to get seats for this performance and though I didn't manage to get the seats in front of the stage, I was able to get fantastic seats behind the stage, in the choir stalls. I was right in the middle and right in the front row, and it was spectacular. 


My "backstage" seat

The show began with a duet between long-time buddies, John McLaughlin (guitarist) and Chick Corea (keyboardist). Both have played under Miles Davis before and this concert was apparently their celebration of forty years of friendship! They have been touring Europe for the past month or so and this concert was their twenty-second and final performance. I suppose it was good for the audience, since they would give it their all and end with a bang. The next piece brought in the rest of the band - Kenny Garrett (saxaphonist), Christian McBride (bassist) and Vinnie Colaiuta (percussionist) and it was really a spectacular showcase. The percussionist was the most eye-catching of the lot throughout the performance, but at times he just seemed to unleash everything he had on the drums and being so close to the stage, my ear-drums were almost going to burst with the intense pressure. The guitarist was my favourite of the lot, with nicely shaped melodic lines stringing out a story. The saxaphonist, who also played under Miles before, was really intense in the second half and one of his solos reminded me of John Coltrane and how he just when overboard with improvisation. The bassist was technically perfect and he would be the next best performer of the lot. Chick Corea perfectly filled-in the space, though he didn't seem to generate much intensity in his improvisation. 


The Five Peace Band


Vinnie Colaiuta, Kenny Garrett, Christian McBride, Chick Corea, John McLauglin

I shall end off my blog with a piece of the music that I captured, though I just missed out the last note, much to my annoyance. I really enjoyed this concert and I look forward to the next one, whatever it may be. Meanwhile, its back to studying for my essay test tomorrow on Infection.

 

One night in London

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posted by Gabriel Yan at 11:06 PM

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