Now I can’t say I know a huge amount about Jazz. Most of what I know I picked up from writing about Jack Kerouac and his jazz influences at university. Other than that my knowledge of jazz extends to a few of the big names, the likes of Count Basie, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker and Duke Ellington. So my visit to the Bird to catch the Mace Francis Orchestra for Fringe World was I suppose a little step outside of my musical comfort zone.
The evening was split into two halves, with the band playing two sets of roughly an hour long. Jazz, has a slight reputation as being quite highbrow and elitist, despite its humbler origins. But with the band freely drinking beer and dressed as casually as the audience, there was no sense of that elitism that night. Indeed it was quite a relaxed affair, with conductor and band leader Mace Francis joking with crowd and orchestra alike, telling embarrassing tour stories between tracks and embellishing each new song with it’s own backstory.
For the most part the focus was on material written by the band members themselves, with compositions from the likes of trombonist Tilman Robinson getting an airing in front of the appreciative crowd. There were plenty of opportunities throughout the night for solos and these were shared around amongst the whole group, and the audience were treated to some fantastic individual performances; one example being a fine trumpet solo from Callum G’Froerer.
The band happily mixed things up a bit, freely moving through the many varying styles of jazz; with the odd song even bordering on a bit of rock and roll, with a great edgy guitar performance. One of the joys of a jazz performance is that when you have the full force of a horn section at work, there’s nothing else quite like it, and throughout the night there were plenty of those moments.
All in all it was a great night, a welcome break from the guitar driven music that I’m used to. It was also a pleasure to see the work of local composers showcased, effectively highlighting the vibrancy and richness of the local jazz scene. All I can say is if you get the chance in the future, take a step out of your comfort zone, go and see something you normally wouldn’t, you won’t regret it.
Fringe Word runs until the 19th February
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