Soweto Kinch

[Mikec]

Played at Marlow on Tuesday. He is generally known to play with a Hip-Hop band as backing, but here he played standards with the Frank Toms Trio as backing (Frank on piano, Matt Ridley on bass, and Elliot Toms on drums) who were excellent as usual. He is yet another genius of the saxophone. His sound is quite "vintage", and his alto looks like a vintage model. His playing is very modern in most respects he played very much in the Coltrane style with lots of chords, other times he palyed long, lyrical lines. I think his own style is to play 4-to 8- bar phrases and then fully develop each one in a long solo. He is unusual in one respect; he "works" every note. There's at the very least a bend one way or the other, and he uses vibrato a lot, sometimes subtly, sometimes quite aggressively, along with trills, growls and sort of roars.
He bounced on to the stage and then played an interesting selection of standards with great energy and passion (Someone to Watch Over Me, Tune Up, Star Eyes, Gentle Rain, Sophisticated Lady amongst others). His personality is big, warm and commanding. To start with he played a 12-bar in F minor, and clearly no-one's told him that the blues is a dead format! The highlight for me was a long solo in "Star Eyes" that brought the image to my mind of very fine goldwork; it was so beautifully crafted. (It's very difficult to describe music, isn't it? I can't think of any other way to put it.). As a big change for Marlow, he did a rap, based on suggested words from the audience. It took just a few minutes, and was very well received. While it's perhaps not strictly jazz (thought that's not a problem for me) it demonstrated that improvisation is about association of ideas, inventiveness, intelligence and quick-wittedness, whatever the instrument you're using. A fabulous evening, one of the best at Marlow that I've attended, and I can't wait to see him again. I'd love to see him with Peter King or Simon Spillett.

 

[Saxade]

To start with he played a 12-bar in F minor, and clearly no-one's told him that the blues is a dead format!

 

[Kinda]

Hi Mikec

I have also heard Soweto at the Turner Simms in Southampton. It was a teach in for the Southampton jazz youth orchestra and I found out about it from someone on this forum (sorry name escapes me).

Anyway they asked us to bring our instruments along and they had an open gig at the end. I didn't feel good enough to go and play but was grassed up by a nice Spanish lady I met before I went in.

Anyway I think his sax then was a Selmer vintage but the amazing thing for me was that he demonstrated different sounds ala Coltrane, Parker etc without changing any hardware other than his embouchure which for me was a real treat. In other words spend less on the hardware to get "the sound" and more on practicing.

At the time I was also a little bored with the sax but he told me to stick with it and you punch through to a new level and then a whole world opens up. A year later I think this is beginning to happen for me.

What I love about people connected with music is the way they are so willing to help others and be sympathetic to people who are learning.

Oh by the way Mike that is a great post.

Kinda

 

[Mikec]

Hi Mikec



Anyway I think his sax then was a Selmer vintage but the amazing thing for me was that he demonstrated different sounds ala Coltrane, Parker etc without changing any hardware other than his embouchure which for me was a real treat. In other words spend less on the hardware to get "the sound" and more on practicing.

Yes, he played in several styles in addition to his own, with one mouthpiece and one reed. His embouchure looked a little unusual in that it was slightly "side of the mouth" and the crook on his sax was slightly off-centre.

What I love about people connected with music is the way they are so willing to help others and be sympathetic to people who are learning.


Kinda

I've had nothing but positives from the pros I've met, and the negative experiences mentioned here are very few.