Saturday 19 March  Kings Place   Review & photos: Roger Thomas

Well, on Saturday at Kings Place, it was all about Dune Music. Two of its proteges were being featured, namely Peter Edwards and his Trio followed by Binker Golding with his Quartet. 

Kings Place billed the event as "Nu Beginnings," and although these two both missed the gestating Teen Warriors phase they have clearly benefited from the Tomorrow's Warriors nurturing and their ethos of 'from the cradle to the stage'.

It's Peter Edwards - piano that first takes the stage featuring Max Luthert - bass and Saleem Raman - drums. They hit us with an Edwards composition Byron's Blues. No formal introduction, but I guess that was to affirm that they understand and acknowledge traditional things.

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Our good friend and regular contributor Howard Denner took these shots of the Peter Edwards Trio and Binker Golding Quartet at soundcheck and during performance at Kings Place on March 19th. If you were there you'll already know you enjoyed a great show. If you weren't, make sure you catch these exciting and rapidly developing bands as soon as you can.

Denys and Peter relaxing after Rhythmica's show at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on Friday 18 February. The photographer is Christine Lee.

 

Front Room, Queen Elizabeth Hall, February 18th 2011.

Review and photo by Roger Thomas

 

In this time of squeeze and cutbacks there are few opportunities for one to feel grateful, so thank heavens for the free Front Room sessions know as the Friday Tonic at the QEH.

 

At the height of Friday commuter time those who were wise enough to take the detour to the QEH were washed from the grime of a week of toil by a young and exhilarant Rhythmica. The neat and confident demeanour of Mark Crown –trumpet, Andy Chapman –drums, Peter Edwards –piano, Peter Randall –bass, with guest appearance from Denys Baptiste –saxophone. This was tonic to revive the weariest of commuters.

 

Their first set kicked off with Mark Crown having to delve deep into his creative and improvisational bag as they were minus their regular saxophonist– Zem Audu, who I believe was away in the Caribbean, or possibly New York –all right for some, eh. It was even more impressive that the first composition – Time Machine – was penned by the missing Zem. Anyway, Mark held his own and looking around at the packed Front Room the audience were displaying rhythmic nods of approval, not to mention hearty applause.

 

The set continued on the same creative high as it had begun with each member featuring at various moments adding some extra drama, and ending on a Peter Edwards composition, Triple Threat. During the second set guest saxophonist Denys Baptiste was brought on. With a shift of gear over Delfeayo's Dilemma , a tune by Wynton Marsalis, we were treated to some energised interaction between Andy Chapman and Peter Randall and some great sparring between the sax and trumpet.

 

The most poignant moment for me was as I was watching from the side, the evening is now drawing in, audience fully attentive and piano and sax are being featured on the John Coltrane composition Naima. Peter Edwards was feeding Denys Baptiste with some amazing chordal structures whilst remaining cucumber cool and clearly deep in introspection.

 

Now fully entranced by the beauty of this delivery, a thought came to me– wow this is great and comparable to anything from across the Atlantic. Out of my trance I was filled with a great sense of hope that this new generation of musicians are capable of keeping the music fresh and alive in the UK and do hope they continue to be nurtured and given all the support possible. Rhythmica have truly left fledgling Tomorrow's Warriors nest, and are showing a growing maturity.

 

http://londonjazz.blogspot.com/2011/02/review-rhythmica.html

Peter and Ben after the Peter Edwards Trio performed at Ben's Evolution - Revolution exhibition at the RichMix arts venue. The exhibition runs until February 24 and is free - details and more about Ben Jones here.

Our good friend and seasoned pro photographer Howard Denner took these shots of A Dune Jazz Christmas at rehearsals and the event itself. Those who made it through the snow to Kings Place had a great evening, and if you came along we hope you all got home without too much difficulty. Thanks again Howard for documenting such a special night.

To help raise funds for Corine Dhonee's fabulous documentary, The Queen's Suite, Peter Edwards attempted to play 17 pianos located around the City of London. Peter and Corine's journey began on Moorgate Road at 10.15 am. 

Did Peter succeed? Check out the video!

If you would like to back The Queen's Suite visit Kickstarter to pledge. 

Corine Dhondee, the director and producer of the documentary film The Queen's Suite is raising funding to complete the project on the Kickstarter funding platform. You can invest a little or a lot, and there are some terrific incentives on offer.

Here's what Corine has to say:

The Queen’s Suite is a documentary which tells the story of Peter Edwards, one of Britain's most promising jazz musicians, as he tries to achieve his dream of playing Duke Ellington’s Queen’s Suite (written for the Queen in 1959) to the Queen of England at the centre of London's cultural quarter, The South Bank. The documentary follows Peter as he scores Ellington's work, puts together his orchestra, rehearses them and negotiates with Buckingham Palace. Does the Queen attend the performance? The film provides a unique and intimate insight into the background and career of an exceptional musician. The documentary has an original soundtrack performed by The Tomorrow's Warriors Jazz Orchestra.

In 2008 I saw an orchestra play in London. As I listened to the incredible music, played with dynamism by the young orchestra, who were guided by world famous Jazz musicians of the calibre of Gary Crosby OBE, and passionately directed by a young man, I was moved to make a documentary.

There was something else that moved me to make the documentary. The musical director was a young Black British man and so too were many members of the orchestra. This ought not to sound odd, but it struck me because at the time the media was saturated with images of young Black men in Britain as gun or knife toting criminals.

Having worked with young Black men as the entertainments manager for the St.Paul's Carnival and as a journalist for Operation Black Vote's citizenship booklet, I know this isn't the full story. But what is true, is the lack of media coverage on young Black British men’swork and achievements.

So I decided to make a documentary about the young musical director and his dream of performing Duke Ellington's the Queen's Suite (written for the Queen of England in 1959) to the Queen.

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