Performance passes

Music is a performance art. It's performed, it passes, it's lost. Sometimes it's recorded. I was disappointed that Tom Vincent's concert was lost. Tom is an agile pianist with ideas that appear in proliferation. He plays standards, but these are not everyday tunes and melodies. They are re-visions of great tunes and harmonies, dense with fluency and variation and invention. Fabulous in all senses of the word. Wondrous, animated, exhilarating. He often plays with local-now-Melbourne bassist, Leigh Barker, who's able to follow Tom's exquisite wonderings, perhaps taking a solo on a whim or changing tempo or interpretation on an instant. There's an understanding here and a great capability to use his ear. The first time I saw the two together Tom was leading through long medleys and Leigh was there with him with only the slightest of delays to pick the tune. This concert was more standard, no medleys, although the quotes proliferate. Their drummer was Alf Jackson on the most minimal of kits, just kick, snare, sock, cymbal. It's enough; there's plenty of rhythmic action available and plenty of tone variation, too, using brushes and sticks and rimshots. It's a traditional approach, unamplified bass with gut, unamplified acoustic piano (here a Yamaha U1 upright sounding great) and the minimal kit. Just skills and ears and immense variety and playfulness. Great gig. Too bad it was lost to posterity, but you can't preserve everything.

Tom Vincent (piano) led a trio with Leigh Barker (bass) and Alf Jackson (drums) at Vivaldi.