Motorpsycho 2002-07-19
42nd International Jazz Festival, Idretten Hus, Molde, Norway
Set 1
bubbles
go to california
the other fool
song for a bro
theme de yo-yo
ebony queen
tunji
upstairs downstairs
landslide
neverland
walking with j
tristano
space is the place
go to california
the other fool
song for a bro
theme de yo-yo
ebony queen
tunji
upstairs downstairs
landslide
neverland
walking with j
tristano
space is the place
Set 2
Set 3
Comment
Comments: Quite a special gig where they once again bring in 4 people from Jaga Jazzist on horns. Some worked excellent, and some didn't work at all.
This was Motorpsycho's first performance at this jazzfestival; the festival itself was in its 42nd year.
Highlights: Everything from Song For A Bro' through Landslide.
Review: The sports hall is packed to the rim with a mostly younger audience than I usually see at MP concerts, around 2000 people all together. Most people have to stand, but I cued up 2 hours before the doors opened and secured a seat right behind the soundboard. The wide stage is on the other long wall, and there are a few rows of seats along the two short walls as well.
Firts off a 2 minute montage of video and sound by official festival artist Arne N?st is projected on different sized screens above the stage. This guy is also responsible for the layout of the whole venue, which very much succeeds in taking away the sports hall feeling.
Then infamous music journalist Arild R?nsen gives a nice introduction of the band(s).
They walk on stage. B?rd to the far left behind two keyboards, the melotron and a grand piano, then Bent with only one cabinet. The four Jazzists, tuba-sax-trumpet-flute, take center stage, but rather far back, and to their right stands a pair of congas (hm, wonder who they are meant for?). Snah is to the right with his usual setup plus the old Moog which I haven't seen since 1999 before B?rd joined. Geb is somewhat hidden behind Snah, and I fail to see him most of the evening even if I'm sitting in the supposedly best seat in the house.
While plugging in the bass and thanking the audience for being there, Bent remarks that last time they played in Molde (11 years ago) 18 people paid to see them...
?berwagner was loud and powerful, and worked fine with the horns.
Go To California has been played so much better before without the flute solo, and this renedition was very similar to the Oslo 2001 flute solo version. We got no guitar or piano solos here...
The Other Fool was good, but no highlight. The horns were more audible in the mix by now, but seemed to be a little lost and unsecure here and there.
Song For A Bro' starts the jamming section with a blistering guitar job from Snah, while the sax taking over doesn't sound too convincing. However they collectively manage to pick things up and end up with a stormer of a version with a great trumpet solo and lots of nice work from B?rd and Snah. Even Morten Fagervik, who is the guitar technician in the absence of Turbo (who is working with A-HA these days), joins in on the congas, and they are 9 people on stage!
Theme De Yoyo is nothing short of a masterpiece, and I hope they keep this one for a long time, even after the Jazzists have gone home. It's a very upbeat funky thing with lots of great jams and interplay between the band and the horns. It's incredibly jazzy with some cool vocals sung by Bent, completly out of his range, but nevertheless he goes for it. I start to realize that this evening is going to be somewhat special after all.
Ebony Queen has B?rd doing a repetitive weird theme on the grand piano, while the rest jazz like madmen. It's probably my favorite among the covers this night. The cool thing is that this stuff gives way for the Jazzists to shine, and not just acompany the rockers, but actually play a main role. And Snah, that guy, he just eats of their hands and creates some really great and amazing sounds. Just incredible, as is Gebs playing.
The beautiful John Coltrane piece Tunji is more downbeat, starting off with some gentle basswork from Bent, with Snah, Geb and B?rd carefully joining in before the sax takes over and brings us to the climax supported by a steady tuba groove. Excellent and beautiful beyond words.
Back to more known stuff: The loudest, but still most beautiful version ever of Upstairs/Downstairs is up next. Once again the tuba sets a magic mood, Snah sings more fragilely than ever and the horns really shine.
Landslide once again sees B?rd behind the grand piano, a sound that adds another dimension to this song. A tasteful trumpet solo is added after the last verse, and another highlight of the show is a fact.
The rearranged Neverland has only once before been aired (April 15/4-02 in Paris), and that was the best version ever, regardless of versions. But in Molde it was probably the worst performance I've heard. They struggled to keep the thing together, and the horns seemed not to follow the rest at all. Only plus: B?rd's cool organ sound.
Walkin' With J. suffered the same destiny as Neverland. No one took responsibility, the jam never happened, and the horns fell off the wagon. Thinking of the great 10 min versions which ended up in Miles Davis' So What during the 2000 tour, tonights fumbling performance ended up being the weakest I've seen.
One would be tempted to believe that the longest Tristano in history would be as close as one could come to heaven without passing away for good. Unfortunately it really didn't go anywhere tonight, and although several smaller climaxes came along, the big bang never happened. The attempts to integrate the horns ruined the buildup several times, and not even Snah with his scary Moog or the trumpeter with his double bass could save the song from a cold landing when Bent called it quits after 18 minutes, confusing Geb who actually wanted to take it further once more.
The Sun Ra encore Space Is The Place was a nice end to a funny night. I never understood the magic of this one, irritating as it is. But we got a few cool sounds and solos (The Moog sounds from Snah saved it for me), and a lot of smilig faces, handclaps and sing-a-longs.
The most positive thing: B?rd is again given something to do when the Jazzists are there. Last year he ended up doing virtually nothing while they took all his parts. In Molde he did a tremendous job, and contributed vastly to the success of the night.
Another positive thing is Snah. He is so alive, and he plays very good.
This was Motorpsycho's first performance at this jazzfestival; the festival itself was in its 42nd year.
Highlights: Everything from Song For A Bro' through Landslide.
Review: The sports hall is packed to the rim with a mostly younger audience than I usually see at MP concerts, around 2000 people all together. Most people have to stand, but I cued up 2 hours before the doors opened and secured a seat right behind the soundboard. The wide stage is on the other long wall, and there are a few rows of seats along the two short walls as well.
Firts off a 2 minute montage of video and sound by official festival artist Arne N?st is projected on different sized screens above the stage. This guy is also responsible for the layout of the whole venue, which very much succeeds in taking away the sports hall feeling.
Then infamous music journalist Arild R?nsen gives a nice introduction of the band(s).
They walk on stage. B?rd to the far left behind two keyboards, the melotron and a grand piano, then Bent with only one cabinet. The four Jazzists, tuba-sax-trumpet-flute, take center stage, but rather far back, and to their right stands a pair of congas (hm, wonder who they are meant for?). Snah is to the right with his usual setup plus the old Moog which I haven't seen since 1999 before B?rd joined. Geb is somewhat hidden behind Snah, and I fail to see him most of the evening even if I'm sitting in the supposedly best seat in the house.
While plugging in the bass and thanking the audience for being there, Bent remarks that last time they played in Molde (11 years ago) 18 people paid to see them...
?berwagner was loud and powerful, and worked fine with the horns.
Go To California has been played so much better before without the flute solo, and this renedition was very similar to the Oslo 2001 flute solo version. We got no guitar or piano solos here...
The Other Fool was good, but no highlight. The horns were more audible in the mix by now, but seemed to be a little lost and unsecure here and there.
Song For A Bro' starts the jamming section with a blistering guitar job from Snah, while the sax taking over doesn't sound too convincing. However they collectively manage to pick things up and end up with a stormer of a version with a great trumpet solo and lots of nice work from B?rd and Snah. Even Morten Fagervik, who is the guitar technician in the absence of Turbo (who is working with A-HA these days), joins in on the congas, and they are 9 people on stage!
Theme De Yoyo is nothing short of a masterpiece, and I hope they keep this one for a long time, even after the Jazzists have gone home. It's a very upbeat funky thing with lots of great jams and interplay between the band and the horns. It's incredibly jazzy with some cool vocals sung by Bent, completly out of his range, but nevertheless he goes for it. I start to realize that this evening is going to be somewhat special after all.
Ebony Queen has B?rd doing a repetitive weird theme on the grand piano, while the rest jazz like madmen. It's probably my favorite among the covers this night. The cool thing is that this stuff gives way for the Jazzists to shine, and not just acompany the rockers, but actually play a main role. And Snah, that guy, he just eats of their hands and creates some really great and amazing sounds. Just incredible, as is Gebs playing.
The beautiful John Coltrane piece Tunji is more downbeat, starting off with some gentle basswork from Bent, with Snah, Geb and B?rd carefully joining in before the sax takes over and brings us to the climax supported by a steady tuba groove. Excellent and beautiful beyond words.
Back to more known stuff: The loudest, but still most beautiful version ever of Upstairs/Downstairs is up next. Once again the tuba sets a magic mood, Snah sings more fragilely than ever and the horns really shine.
Landslide once again sees B?rd behind the grand piano, a sound that adds another dimension to this song. A tasteful trumpet solo is added after the last verse, and another highlight of the show is a fact.
The rearranged Neverland has only once before been aired (April 15/4-02 in Paris), and that was the best version ever, regardless of versions. But in Molde it was probably the worst performance I've heard. They struggled to keep the thing together, and the horns seemed not to follow the rest at all. Only plus: B?rd's cool organ sound.
Walkin' With J. suffered the same destiny as Neverland. No one took responsibility, the jam never happened, and the horns fell off the wagon. Thinking of the great 10 min versions which ended up in Miles Davis' So What during the 2000 tour, tonights fumbling performance ended up being the weakest I've seen.
One would be tempted to believe that the longest Tristano in history would be as close as one could come to heaven without passing away for good. Unfortunately it really didn't go anywhere tonight, and although several smaller climaxes came along, the big bang never happened. The attempts to integrate the horns ruined the buildup several times, and not even Snah with his scary Moog or the trumpeter with his double bass could save the song from a cold landing when Bent called it quits after 18 minutes, confusing Geb who actually wanted to take it further once more.
The Sun Ra encore Space Is The Place was a nice end to a funny night. I never understood the magic of this one, irritating as it is. But we got a few cool sounds and solos (The Moog sounds from Snah saved it for me), and a lot of smilig faces, handclaps and sing-a-longs.
The most positive thing: B?rd is again given something to do when the Jazzists are there. Last year he ended up doing virtually nothing while they took all his parts. In Molde he did a tremendous job, and contributed vastly to the success of the night.
Another positive thing is Snah. He is so alive, and he plays very good.
Sources
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Created At
Sun Oct 23 2005 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
Updated At
Sat Oct 19 2002 07:09:14 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
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