Thanks to Chris for yet another excellent live music review. We caught the end of the gig and it was brill. Ed
On Friday night Island jazz-jammers The Project played their residency at the Wight Rock bar- Ryde’s “micro-venue.”
The core group consisted of five incredibly talented musicians playing smooth basslines to accompany rhythmic drumming and twinkling keys.
On top of this Tim Parkin (the Bees) and Dave Pontin (Platform One) played the trumpet and saxophone.
Anyone who’s ever been to the Wight Rock bar will know that it is rightfully called a micro-venue due to its size, but this is far from a negative point. Watching a gig here provides an up-close and intimate performance from whoever graces the stage.
When mentioning to friends that I was going to be heading along to a jazz gig I got a few odd looks. If you’ve looked at my flickr photostream you will probably have noticed that it’s predominantly full of guitar type bands.
“Jazz?!” a friend remarked “How old are you?!” I invited some others to join me for the gig but they declined remarking that it would be full of “suits.”
Yes there was the stereotypical suit at the bar ordering a white wine spritzer but the rest of the crowd was made up of a pleasant mix of young and… more mature.
At one point a gentleman who saw me taking pictures asked who I was doing it for. After hearing my response he requested that I take a picture of his friends- he wanted to prove that one of the performers mother in law was there commenting “the music must be good if the mother in-law can handle it!”
The night started off particularly busy with all available seating being taken from front to back. The Project’s performance was much like the venue and was crammed full of passion and feeling.
The beauty of The Project’s performance is that they work so well together. A song will start and then with no visible communication one of the musicians will go off on a tangent into a perfect piece of improv.
The band each play a part with performers taking turns in the limelight to perform amazing solos from fast paced (almost manic at times) keys right the way down to low hypnotic basslines, and of course that squealing sax and trumpet made numerous appearances.
The rest of the group eventually bring the music back on track and this was enjoyed immensely by the crowd who gave heartfelt applause after each piece throughout the night.
The saxophonist managed to make the instrument apparently talk with its long wailing notes whilst the equally paced trumpeter was a perfect companion.
The band broke the gig into two halves giving themselves a much needed rest at the midpoint. Upon their return the crowd had reduced slightly but this seemed to give the musicians a greater opportunity to experiment with their music. On their final tracks the band were joined by a female vocalist and a male guitarist making that seven (yes seven) performers on stage now!
The newcomers to the stage provided squealing guitar riffs and beautiful vocals to end the night in style.
Image: Contrast TV
