Music / Jazz
Review: You Are Here, Lantern
In the four years since Keith Tippett passed away it has become apparent how important is his legacy. Acknowledged internationally as an inspirational pioneer of improvised music and deeply respected as one of the UK’s finest jazz pianists he was also a great supporter and mentor for young musicians, especially here in his native Bristol and the South West. Saxophonist Kevin Figes’ musical career was shaped in the 90s by his time in Tippett’s Seedbed Orchestra, and he remained a friend to Keith and his wife and musical soulmate Julie Tippetts. Kevin’s sextet You Are Here, named from a Tippett album title, is a project that showcases Keith’s compositions as well as pieces composed by the Apartheid-exiled South African players and others with whom he loved to collaborate.
Kevin Figes’ You Are Here (pic: Tony Benjamin)
From the opening blast of free group playing onwards it was clear that this was far from a backward-looking tribute band. Rather, the immediacy of the music and the ways in which the six players used Keith’s compositions to make their own way with it all felt entirely fresh and alive. The epic I Wish There Was A Nowhere opened with a swinging alto sax solo from Kevin that picked up a Township-influenced brass chorale from trumpeter Pete Judge and trombonist Raph Clarkson. Pete then rose into a probing solo while Jim Blomfield’s disruptive piano jousted with Tony Orrell’s insurgent drumming. All the while Riaan Vosloo kept an anchor on things with tirelessly solid double bass riffing. Jim’s subsequent solo somehow slipped towards a sleazy cabaret vibe, quickly picked up by New Orleans type brass harmonies, but that again transformed into a jumping calypso groove, wayward trumpet leading it to a gentle subsidence. Throughout all these changes the balance of sound and energy was a perfect blend of planned co-ordination and spontaneity.
You Are Here: Riaan Vosloo, Kevin Figes, Tony Orrell (pic: Tony Benjamin)
Keith’s brief stint in jazz-rockers King Crimson led to his only appearance on Top Of The Pops with their surprise 1970 hit Cat Food. You Are Here took that rather plodding rock number apart as Keith himself would have wanted, starting with an elaborate drum solo. While the vocal line came from brass unison Jim’s piano thrashed the number in a frenzy of unexpected directions until Tony’s drumming finally slammed it all down for the finish. It was witty and clever – and properly Tippetty, as was the more restrained Dedicated To Mingus. That number gave Riaan the chance to shine, with a fine opening solo starting with deeply resonant bowing and moving through fulsome bluesiness. When the band came in behind him Kevin’s arrangement gave it a real big band power, with lovely horn harmonies over languid ballad rhythms.
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It reflected Keith’s great versatility as a composer, as did their deep dive into the majestic orchestral chaos of Septober Energy which featured a great unbounded trombone solo from Raph, urged on by Jim’s quick response piano.
You Are Here: Jim Blomfield, Kevin Figes (pic: Tony Benjamin)
With other highlights including Jim’s inexhaustibly creative solo for Elton Dean’s Sweet FA, a riveting improvised duel between Raph and Kevin and Pete’s soaring trumpet work for Dudu Pukwana’s wonderfully joyful Mra, the whole evening was a brilliant evocation of Keith Tippett’s remarkable ability to use composition and freedom to make living music. Yes, it was created in tribute to the man, but, more importantly, you didn’t have to know that to have experienced a great evening of vibrant music that felt entirely contemporary.
That was down to Kevin’s arrangements and the skills of the six players as much as it is to the music itself. The band’s name comes from an early Keith Tippett album title – You Are Here, I Am There – and, given his absence, that could have been poignant had it not been for the project’s success in showing that, thanks to his musical legacy, Keith Tippett will always be here, too.
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