Baptiste Trotignon Quintet featuring Mark Turner

Another great night at Charlie Wright's International Bar in Hoxton saw French pianist Baptiste Trotignon with all-star support direct from NYC - Mark Turner (tenor), Jeremy Pelt (trumpet), Eric Harland (drums) and Matt Penman (bass). I had never heard of Baptiste before, so was surprised that he was playing with such big names.

The band played original compositions but the focus was on the star improvisers. Matt Penman's solo on the initial number was muscular and intense. He's a very physical player and seems to play with heavy strings, giving a sense that he is really digging in.

Mark Turner came on for the second number, starting it solo. He has a very clear, woody tone and there is a vertical/arpeggio-based approach to his soloing, often moving into the upper register. He literally bobs up and down with the notes. There is a "pure" or cool/meditative quality to his playing. There are no obvious blues inflexions and he doesn't excite the rhythm section. That said, it is very musical and satisfying.

Jeremy Pelt is a fiery trumpeter with a beautiful tone on flugelhorn. Dressed in suit, tie and shades he would have been perfectly at home on an Art Blakey date in the late Fifties. A marked contrast to Mark Turner, his exciting solos touch the rhythm section up a notch in terms of energy. Eric Harland on drums was outstanding, his style restless, thoughtful and tasteful.

I'd like to here Baptiste on CD. There was plenty to listen to but his sound was compromised by a poor PA. Talking to him afterwards he admitted that it was "a really cool band" and he clearly enjoyed just being in such brilliant musical company.

There were various partners involved in putting on the gig, including the u-turn project that supports women who have suffered cruelty and abuse and encourages them to make sustainable changes in their lives.

Other reviews:

FT

Daily Telegraph

YouTube clip

Kurt Rosenwinkel Trio - Charlie Wright's International Bar, London, 27 March 2009

This was a great gig for me. Kurt is now resident in Berlin, and this is a rare sighting in the UK. I saw him in Paris a few years ago with tenor player Mark Turner and in London with another tenor player, Chris Cheek. Both those gigs focused on Kurt's compositions in the context of a bigger band. This just focused on Kurt the guitarist playing standards with a young rhythm section from Berlin (Gary Hoopengardener - bass, Sebastien Merk - drums).

Kurt started with a standard mid-tempo blues progression. I haven't heard him play a straight blues before, but this was just perfect. His playing was focused and understated and he used plenty of interesting chord voicings to support his melodic playing. It was like a lesson in how to apply George Van Eps Harmonic Mechanisms for Guitar in a modern setting. The guitar was an interesting custom build guitar -I think it was this one from Moffaguitars. The sound on the first number was unadorned, although over the course of the gig there was greater use of the digital delay with expression pedal.

Standards covered included:

- Invitation

- Milestones (old)

- Darn That Dream

- Stablemates

- Parker's Cheryl (I think)

- Prelude to a Kiss

- 'Round About Midnight

- Turn Out the Stars

Kurt looked relaxed throughout. Even at the fastest tempos there was never any sense of hurry. You know that Kurt has put in his 10,000 hours practice and he lives and breathes music. Personally, I don't think there is a more rounded and accomplished guitarists on the planet today. This gig displayed taste, swing, feeling, single note and chordal playing.

The audience was very attentive and is made me think that this would have been similar to seeing him at Small's in NYC about ten years ago. The crowd were predominantly male, and I would imagine many were guitarists (British bass player Jeff Clyne was also in the audience). Certainly, many knew his repertoire.

Charlie Wright's has a great sound - everything was very clear. The bar itself has a Thai restaurant in the back (though sound from it wasn't a problem). Organiser Patsy Craig has plenty of other interesting gigs on there - including Kurt back in a month with saxophonist Will Vinson. Certainly worth the trip up to Brighton, and a place I will be going back to.