It has been quite an eventful weekend all things considered. Saturday was the London and Southern Counties regional brass band final in which we went on stage, cocked it up, and got placed last. Shit happens. This was followed by, as you can imagine, much drinking. Sunday I went to a concert. There were three groups who performed, all were extremely different to anything I have ever heard before.
The first were a string trio known as Kosmos. Consisting of three extremely different musicians they performed a wide range of music mostly with an eastern european folk minimalist approach but with influences including Bach and Misirlou.
Harriot Mackenzie came accross as an extremely competent performer. Showing a range of skills from blistering double stopped semiquavers to some perfectly executed false harmonics she is obviously an extremely dedicated musician. Her stage presence though, I feel, could use some work. She came across as a very aggressive player, and while she is extremely good, she obviously knew it and very often acted as though she was a solist being accompanied by her fellows.
Meg Hamilton was an entirely different kettle of fish. While equally competent with her instrument, she felt less need to show it. An occasional enticing smile made the audience really feel part of the music and a greater tonal command of her instrument allowed her to blend into the background when required, whilst also taking charge of the ensemble during her frequent solo passages.
I often feel slightly sorry for cellists in this kind of ensemble. The two violinist are able to stand with their instruments and move around on stage, taking a step back or a step forward to completement the musical structure. The cellist is tied to her chair. Laura Anstee didn’t seem to be at all aflicted however. Her ability easily rivelled that of her collegues and she warm tone allowed her to create an almost a capella texture which was used to great effect by the ensemble.
They opened with exactly that sound – the two violinists stood at the back of the stage while Laura played a virtuoso melody unaccompanied by the other two. The others joined with a contrasting styles equally worthy of the title “maestro” – a dark sustained sound from Meg was countered by Harriot’s characteristic flurry of semiquavers. After such an electric opening it was difficult to imagine what could possibly follow. Kosmos very succesfully managed to build a wonderful sense of tension throughout their extremely well constructed and performed programme .
The second ensemble were possibly the most sureal thing I have ever seen on a stage in London. Calling themselves Schikker wi Lot they consist of Fabian Schnedler singing Yiddish accompanied by Franka Lampe on an accordian. Franka is considered to be one of the greatest accordian players in Europe, and although I’ve never seen an accordian player live before, her dexterity on this now rather rare instrument was obvious.
Fabian is an extremely good singer. He has a solid full tone and excellent flexibility and his rather geeky attire gave him an almost boyish charm. He started each number with a brief explanation of what each song was about and several times he reacted to audience participation by changing lyrics – a man in a hat was dancing in the middle of the floor and moments later found himself being sung about.
The set flowed beautifully – the music started quite simply and allowed the audience to get over their initial “Oh my God! Who the hell is this and what ARE they doing?” reaction and quickly developed into more complex melodies and rhythms with a delighted audience occasionally struggling to pick up the ever changing beat with their claps.
The final group were the delivered the climax which the previous acts had promised. An electrified audience keenly stared at a blank stage when the shrill screach of an Eb clarinet wielded by young virtuoso Suzi Evans came soaring from the back of the venue. The entire eight piece then processed through the crowd playing an amazingly powerful and driving klezmer freylekh.
By this time the audience, including myself, were quite merry and the strong rhythms provided by She’Koyokh were exactly what they wanted. Suzi herself in one of her addresses described the dancing as “really weird” as the band played through an increadibly intense set which lasted nearly an hour and left the crowd screaming for more.
On stage was Suzi, Meg returning with her violin and Robin Harris on trombone forming the melodic section. Oliver Baldwin donned a 5 string bass with Dimitri Chaidemenakis playing the darbukha and poik creating a strong rhythm section. As if that wasn’t enough Ben Samuals and Matt Bacon took a mandolin and guitar respectively joining Jim Marcovitch on the accordian to provide a harmonic basis to the music. Although this tight structure was more or less adheared to throughout the ensemble sections, there wasn’t a musician on stage who didn’t lead the group at some stage.
The evening was one of the most exciting performances I have ever listened to with some of the most talented performers marred only slightly by what felt like a premature end and with no encore from She’Koyokh – Meg had to sheepishly return to the stage to inform the audience of their next gig the following day.
Klezmer is not a genre I have particularly listened to before, but I am definitely sold. This is exactly what folk music is about and it is wonderful to see and hear such a tallented set of musicians perform it so well.