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February 2009
gig reviews
LJO Vortex Sessions
Alex Hutton Trio
Frank Griffith Nonet
Martin Speake's Change of Heart featuring
Bobo Stenson
Liam Noble
Dog Soup / Ivo Neame Quartet
Satoko Fujii's Ma-Do Quartet
Chris Allard Band
Evan Parker
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February 2009 gig reviews by Chris Parker
Alex Hutton Trio
Tuesday 3 February 2009
Pianist
Alex Hutton cites everything from 'the melodic punk of the Stranglers and
the music of Vaughan Williams to the more obvious influences of Keith Jarrett
and McCoy Tyner' as sources of inspiration, and all were indeed discernible
in this trio performance, the first set of which was comprised of the suite
that makes up his latest recording, Songs from the Seven Hills (see
CD Reviews).
With the album's drummer, Enzo Zirilli, and Dave Whitford (instead of Mike Janisch) on bass, Hutton eased into the suite via the tender solo-piano awe of 'Hymn', then, joined by Whitford and Zirilli, danced lightly through 'Fox House' and more firmly through the harder-hitting 'Autumn Fires'.
The suite is informed by childhood memories of Sheffield and environs, and is consequently imbued with a quintessentially English pastoral feel (cf. Vaughan Williams) tinged with a jazz-based lyricism that calls Jarrett to mind; in some of his more assertively percussive moments (skilfully emphasised by the excellent Zirilli) Hutton also emulates Tyner's pleasingly cluttered power.
Overall, though, his acknowledged influences are not as important as his own sensibility, and the suite as a whole, with its subtly introduced recurring motifs, its intelligently controlled dynamic variation between dreamy musing and rattling vibrancy, and its sheer grace, is clearly intensely personal, and this elegant but vigorous performance tastefully emphasised its considerable artistry.
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