23 October 2007

And ends (Moruya 5)

Moruya 4

Another faculty band ended the festival on a high note. Jamirocol is James Greening (trombone), Miroslav Bukovsky (trumpet), Eric Ajaye (bass) and Col Hoorweg (drums). It’s the same band I reported on at the Gods a few months ago, and playing the same repertoire: this night it was Dedication to Thomas Mafune, Don Cherry’s Roland Alfonso, Ornette Coleman (Blues walk, When will the blues leave, Latin genetics) and a Greening original (Second wind). Col and Eric set up strong, fluid rhythms, and Miro and James perform lovely, melodies and melodic solos over them. As a bassist I have to praise Eric’s clear bass lines, with rich improvisations, brash slides and growls that never abandon the underlying beat. The others are all masters, too, of course, but I’ve written that before today! They only played 5 tunes, after a loss of power had delayed performance, but these were lovely, intense, joyous pieces.

So how was Moruya 2007? Lots of fun, lots of good music, lots of pleasurable company and friendly musical chatting. A last fling for students before the end of year exams and recitals. Mostly a last fling for the larger ensembles. A chance for the stayers like me to get their time on stage. A pleasant town, and a great little festival. Thanks to the organisers. Much appreciated; keep it up.

BTW, This post is broken into multiple pieces because Blogger only allows 200 characters for labels. To include all these names, I broke it up.

Coming up ... Moruya 6

No comments: