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June 2008
gig reviews

Round Trip
Jason Yarde - Trio WAH!
In Cahoots Sextet
Finn Peters Finntet
Barcode Trio /
Leo Altarelli
Bobby Wellins/Kate Williams

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June 2008 gig reviews by Chris Parker

Finn Peters Finntet

Friday 13 June

'Critically acclaimed' ­ as saxophonist/flautist Finn Peters's work has undoubtedly been so far in his career ­ can frequently be decoded as 'inaccessible', 'esoteric' or even 'abstruse', but in his case it disguises nothing; he's as (justifiably) popular with audiences as he is with the jazz press.

On this occasion, launching his excellent new album Butterflies (see CD Reviews), he immediately set about drawing a full house into his relatively complex, subtle and multi-hued music with relaxed onstage humour, the distribution of plastic bird-whistles and even the odd bout of audience participation, but such showmanship being entirely unforced and natural, it in no way compromises his artistic integrity, which is considerable.

The sextet began ­ surprisingly, since Butterflies is relatively gentle in its approach ­ with a burst of squalling free-ish improvisation, Peters's alto rasping over his bandmates' restless stirring, but then settled to exploring his cleverly shifting themes, Peters's alto pleasantly declamatory, guitarist Dave Okumu spikily effective, Nick Ramm alternating skilfully between piano and keyboard, carefully selecting just the right texture to set off each piece.

Peters's flute playing, particularly when combined (on record) with his overdubbed alto, or (in performance) with Ramm's synthesiser, is simultaneously graceful and robust, and with his absorbing themes discreetly propelled by drummer Tom Skinner and bassist Tom Herbert and tellingly embellished by the electronics of Matthew Yee-King, this was an intriguing performance of material not only from the new album, but also from its slightly more heterogeneous predecessor, Su-Ling.

 

 

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