MUPA, 17th SeptemberKomor Marcell u. 1
Pest South, IX Millenniumi Kulturális Központ (T2) 3 min
For the tail-end of summer, yesterday was particularly bitter. The fact that the temperature here has plummeted may well have put the willies up the organisers of the MOL Jazz Festival - over the next three days, the festival shifts to a 'jazz tent' on the banks of the Danube.
That's a stones throw away from the buildings that house the awful, shiny clubs Buddha Beach and Inside but thankfully, last night’s Opening Gala was at the Palace of Arts - a venue that is shiny, not awful and most importantly inside, rather than near it. Only two acts were on the bill, which indicated that lessons might have been learnt from the previous year. 2007’s Opening Gala was a long concert, which felt like a long concert - not helped by an unnecessarily drawn-out set from excitable German vocalist Michael Schiefel, who liked the sound of his own voice so much that he looped it for half an hour. By the time the excellent Richard Galliano appeared, the audience had started to drift away.
The bulk of last night’s show was given over to a screening of Dans La Nuit, with Louis Sclavis performing his score live. It's a work which treads a fine line between jazz, classical, and incidental music - but more on that later.
There was no doubt about how to classify the opening act; the Modern Art Orchestra, an eighteen piece big band made up of some prodigiously talented Hungarian musicians. This was a powerful group, at its best when sticking to a more traditional big band sound, instead of the jazz-tinged contemporary composition which started the proceedings. Mid tempo, heavy on atmosphere, with lots of moody swells and murky chords - I was left with the impression that they were either building slowly, or keeping something in the tank.
Their set picked up with the introduction of 19-year old tenor saxophonist Gábor Bolla. After a breathless start, in which Bolla seemed intent on playing as many notes as he could, as fast as possible, it became breathless in a good way. The opening to their final piece, driven by some thunderous drumming, was a standout moment. While the MAO's performance might not have caught fire for any sustained period, at the very least their inclusion gave the programme a welcome balance.On to Sclavis then, whose music for Dans La Nuit, a 1929 silent film, was composed at the request of Bertrand Tavernier. It was a smart move that drew attention to Charles Vanel's neglected classic (even though the majority of people who have heard the album won’t have seen the movie). Personally, I've never felt this was one of Sclavis’ best records - I couldn’t shake the idea that rating it highly would be akin to calling Godfather II a masterpiece, after only having seen it with the sound off.
Rare, but undeservedly so - Dans La Nuit really is a fantastic film, the heartbreaking story of a man who shortly after getting married, suffers a gruesome accident which leaves him wearing a mask. Horrified, his wife starts an affair. There’s a patchy history of modern scores for silent movies, but it quickly became apparent that, as well as being one of the most important contemporary jazz musicians around, Sclavis is also an exceptionally gifted composer.
Listening to the CD requires you to fill in a hell of a lot of blanks. Military drums - some kind of army procession. A distant clarinet note over relentless percussion - a train...? After ten minutes, it was abundantly clear that I had all the wrong answers. In fact, the military drums underscore a procession after a wedding ceremony. A trembling, tense marimba solo in 'Mauvais Reve' fills what should be a joyous celebration with a sense of foreboding. The more meandering passages found a point and the recurring main theme, which I've always thought was archaic, folksy and really rather nice, became infinitely darker and more complex.
At times there was just too much to take in. The ensemble sat with their backs to the audience, but even so, I found my eyes drifting away from the screen and towards the musicians. They cut loose a lot more than I'd expected, with some brilliant, dissonant improvisation from the violinist, Dominique Pifarely. A virtuosic bass clarinet drone at the film's climax had my eyes on Sclavis rather than the action, but to single moments out is almost ridiculous - the playing was uniformly magnificent.Disappointingly, only the ground floor was open yesterday. The first and second floors were nearly empty, apart from a handful of photographers... and what’s with people leaving early at MUPA? Perhaps they knew about the film's sub-GCSE ‘it was all a dream’ ending, tacked on at the request of the studio. Anyway, it was a shame. This was a performance which warranted a full house, and raucous, heartfelt applause.
Words by Andy T.
Pictures by Jacob P.
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