The Esbjorn Svensson Sextet!
The very next day, while still reeling from the after effects of Manchester, Gill & Sue are having a natter about things and suddenly there is an imperative to travel to Buxton! For me this means a hasty dinner while we look at the map, the clock, find out if there are tickets, decide that it is feasible, get changed and we're off. Neston to Buxton via the Cat and Fiddle in 110 minutes and all within the speed limit!
Buxton Opera House is a lovely slice of olde Englande and it provides a nice cosy setting for E.S.T. to strut their stuff, but apologies first to the Eivind Aarset Trio - time was so against us that we arrived about 5 bars from the end of their last number - or just in time to get to the loo before the interval rush! I will make a point of checking this band out on CD as soon as possible because they sounded so good in Manchester and they deserve more attention.
So we settled down at the back of the stalls just a few feet from the mixing desk and waited to see what would happen - I paid the 50p for a pair of plastic opera glasses, but the venue is small enough to not need them - the stage was set up as described yesterday, except that the 5 banners were closer together, necessitated by the size of the stage. That said, the E.S.T. instrumentation is clustered so close together that there was plenty of space around them if they felt the need to wander around.
"A Picture of Doris Traveling With Boris" opened the set, Esbjorn starting off with an almost classical style swirling piano introduction, with Dan's bass and effects setting the tone and Magnus' constant, consistent and often cymbal-led beat setting the pace.
We were surprised by how different the set was, why I don't know, this band have such a large repertoire to call on, never mind the standards,and they seem to have adjusted the set to fit the more intimate venue, the event having something closer to the feel of the familiar jazz trio, but without loosing the special E.S.T. magic. So we heard renditions of "Mingle in the mincing Machine","Viaticum","The Infamous Fable and the Unstable Table" and so many that went unannounced, Esbjorn's announcements seeming to indicate that he can never remember the names either, its the music that counts anyway.
"Evaluations of Love" featured some cunning doctoring of selected piano notes, and this piece demonstrated E.S.T.'s superb ability to take the music to the highest crescendo and then suddenly stop and revert to a simple rhythm played by one hand on the piano before the tune continues. I picked out "O.D.R.I.P" (for the encore?) and possibly "Tide of Trepidation", "In the Tail of Her Eye" (drum solo),"Letter from the Leviathon" and "In My Garage" too. "Seven Days of Falling" ended in a simple, slow subtle dreamlike drone of the bow being very gently rubbed on the bass strings in a circular motion.
Visually I will remember this gig as being mostly red and gold light reflecting off every surface possible, with the projections adding a little moving interest behind.
Afterwards we hung about and were last in the queue for signatures and were rewarded with the group photo - the Esbjorn Svensson Sextet for 2 minutes.....
So was it worth the dash half way across the country? Too right it was, we all left full of praise and eager for more - though I don't think Leicester will be troubled by us tonight, its just a bit too far - and I have to sleep sometime!
PS Our apologies to Joseph Topping, but he'll be round again before E.S.T.
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