The Vortex Jazz Club, 11 Gillett Square, London N16 8JH | Bookings 020 7254 4097 | Enquiries 020 7993 3643 | Email Info at Vortex

February 2007
gig reviews

Alex Bonney Quartet
Soren Norbo with Django Bates
Ian Shaw
MA
John Donaldson Trio
Bheki Mseleku
Fraud
Gwilym Simcock
Basquiat Strings with Seb Rochford

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February 2007 gig reviews by Chris Parker

Fraud

Friday 23 February

There was a buzz in the club for the appearance of Fraud that recalled early gigs by Polar Bear, and if the rapturous reception the SRO crowd gave their two sets is anything to go by, the multi-national band (co-leaders saxophonist James Allsopp and drummer Tim Giles, plus Norwegian guitarist Stian Westerhus, German keyboardist Philip Hochstrate and another drummer, Ben Reynolds) are headed for fame and glory (or their closest jazz equivalent).

Their music has been described as a 'high-energy fusion of spontaneous contemporary jazz, electronica and Norwegian rock', and all these tags apply, but fail to convey the sheer visceral excitement generated by their slow-building, freeish spontaneous interaction, coalescing at well-chosen moments into thunderous, shouting riffs that had the audience whooping in delight.

Allsopp is an engagingly dry stage presence but his reeds playing (he moves between bass clarinet, tenor and baritone) is contrastingly passionate, and Giles (as he does with Dog Soup) stokes the band's fire perfectly, his restless, probing drumming skilfully complemented by Reynolds's, and with Westerhus and Hochstrate decorating the alternately roiling and brooding sound-mix with wild-card interventions ranging from electronic noise to crashing guitar chords to sonorous bass figures (the Norwegian plays a baritone guitar capable of switching between bass and lead duties as required), the whole is an utterly beguiling brew of exhilaratingly intense free jazz, thunderous rock and multi-textured electronica, as advertised. If I had to tip one band to attain celebrity in the coming year, it would be Fraud.

 

 

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