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Live Reviews
Vision Festival X - Day Four, June 17, 2005
John Sharpe
John first fell under the spell of free jazz in the 1970s when he wistfully regarded the loft jazz scene from across the AtlanticThe piece concluded with Dixon alone blowing subterranean growls with the trumpet bell placed over the mic, followed by a litany of farts, blurts and slurs, all with echo, left to disappear into silence. The conclusion was greeted with a standing ovation from the attentive and enthusiastic audience and a delighted Dixon shook hands with all his band before they left the stage.
Eloping with the Sun
The final act of the evening, Eloping With The Sun, featured Joe Morris on guitar and banjo, William Parker on doussn'gouni and sintir and Hamid Drake on frame drum. Already late, they were scheduled to play against a video projected through an arrangement of transparent draperies. However hanging the draperies proved so problematic and time consuming that the three musicians had settled into a small conclave centre stage and started laying down their groove long before the MC, Zero Boy, was given the go-ahead to introduce them.
Parker laid down a bass pattern on sintir (an African three stringed bass lute), embroidered by Drake's hypnotic syncopation, with Morris overlaying accelerating patterns on banjo. Drake intoned an Arabic chant and Morris jacked out a riff as they drifted into a mesmeric trance music, with one or other musician initiating changes in the shifting patterns, but not affecting the timeless groove. At the conclusion of the first piece Morris said this was the first time they had played this music in public, since having recorded their CD.
For the second piece, Morris switched to guitar and Parker picked up his doussn'gouni (an African hunter's guitar). There was less of a flow to this piece until Drake settled into a groove (or rather series of grooves). The music evoked images of a dusty road through an African village, in spite of Morris' sporadic diversions into more overtly jazzy phrasing. At the finale, Drake rubbed his fingers over his drum skin extracting a sweeping brush sound, signalling the close, as they brought the long evening's music to a gradual halt.
Another great night!
