Oliver Holland – bass and leader
Manjit Singh – tabla drums
Stephen Thomas – drums
Rose Stevenson – violin
Djamel Laroussi – guitar (from Algeria)
Dallas – piano
The concert opened with a scat call and response between Manjit and Djamel…communicating with guitar and tabla. Elements of jazz and ethnic music coming together…a fluid singing quality driven by the strong rhythm section. Oliver popping and bopping on bass like Jaco Pastorius. Fluid scatting leading…to call and response between drums and tabla, like a caravan travelling from North Africa to India through the arid wastelands.
Unusual voicing on guitar ala Gabor Szabo, embracing all cultures of the Middle East then to a free improvisation…touching on Eastern European folk music.
Dallas and Rose were brought on stage. Rose was very expressive, drawing from East European and Russian folk music. Dallas soloed with the power of a water fall, drawing from percussive free jazz to blues. Rose drawing something out of Russian spring time .
A bass solo, drawing from Stanley Clark and Jaco Pastorius. Djamel drawing from Pat Metheny…while Rose walked the line between classical music and Gypsy soul.
Djamel sang a traditional song from Algeria, painting pictures of markets in narrow streets, Mosques towering above the crowded city…singing a love song, longing for a dream to come true…a city baking under the North African sun. A village dance from Africa to India featuring bass and tabla.
The band had an interesting take on the Sonny Rollins number ‘St Thomas,’ exploring the influence of Indian music on the music of the Caribbean. Think of North African and Indian musicians on a Caribbean holiday. Bass popping and bopping …. drums soloing Into something else ….humorous scat call and response .
Next to feature was Singhs own composition, M6/4. Algeria and India embracing over the Middle East ….worlds apart coming together ….Singh’s vocals and Indian soul. Djamel rocking out of Algiers souks. They have got it going, rocking the Casbah. Bass solo …who would have thought Weather Report….drum solo a cloud of silver glittering in the air. A musical culture exchange so intense this reviewer just got on board and rode along.
The band then did their take of the standard ‘Night in Tunisia.’ The guitarist painted the starlight…vocals soaring like a night bird. Oliver, expressive over fingerboard; tablas making night more erotic and exotic; a guitar solo like a storm from the North, crashing to Afro earth. Rose played Gypsy music out of the heart of Russia …. leading to a rhythm dance to India …guitar painting a picture of an Islamic city. Dallas on piano, Mike Nock like…blues embracing the Middle East, feeling that Gypsy soul. Djamel took the band out like a caravan on acid, bass supportive underneath.
Geoffrey Totton
