Review by Northings
National Youth Jazz Orchestra Of Scotland
July 2008
National Youth Jazz Orchestra of Scotland
THIS year’s NYJoS summer tour presented not only a high proportion of seasoned young players, but also two BBC Radio Scotland Young Jazz Musicians of the Year – pianist Alan Benzie (2007) and Joe Wright on saxophone (2008) – plus guest soloist, Mark Lockheart, saxophonist, composer and one of the finest jazz musicians in Europe.
Directors Malcolm Edmonstone and Andrew Bain made the most of this wealth of talent by setting a challenging programme of two halves. Contemporary repertoire from the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra was followed by a selection of Mark Lockheart’s own compositions, which even he described as “quite hard”.
Alan Benzie, spectacular at the piano, was visibly having fun from the first note, though his fellow players seemed reticent until the third number. In ‘Sweet Love’, trombonist Kevin Garrity – in his first year with NYJoS – produced a solo of such fluidity, conviction and expression that Andrew Bain signalled “again”. From that point it was “hold on to your hats”, as the whole band got under the skin of the music and made real contact with each other and the audience.
Particularly exciting were Ed Marr and Brendan Musk on trumpet, John Lowrie (another first-year performer) and Jonathan Silk on drums, and Rachel Cohen on alto sax. Then there was Joe Wright. At rest, Joe looks about 15 years old, but he plays saxophone like an old pro. Superb from the start, he seemed to grow in stature during the course of the concert. In Mark Lockheart’s ‘Days Like These’, Joe joined the composer in a spellbinding tenor sax duet that was stunning in its maturity.
The final number, ‘Rag’, took off at a ferocious tempo. Opening the piece, Alan Benzie’s hands simply flew over the keys and for once his face was stiff with concentration. Then, as the tune opened up, he raised his head with a huge grin.
By now the whole orchestra was playing out of its skin. The rhythm section, impressive throughout, held firm and the piece was a resounding success. What a concert, what amazing performers.
Mark Lockheart told the audience: “It’s a privilege to work with these incredible musicians”. We could truthfully have answered: “It’s also a privilege to listen to them”.
© Terry Williams, 2008
