Music / contemporary jazz
Review: Graham Costello’s STRATA, Dareshack
So – having previously brought us the spellbinding combination of the Fergus McCreadie Trio in The Mount Without, promoters Worm Gigs had come up with another splendid combination of music and setting. With the band set up on the central stage of Dareshack’s Studio, the venue’s D&B Sound 360-degree system meant that the audience could circulate freely to appreciate the STRATA sound from all angles. In the gloom of the room it was almost voyeuristic, as if the walls of a rehearsal room had become transparent, yet we were unseen by the musicians.
Graham Costello’s STRATA (pic: Tony Benjamin)
The effect was compounded by the music itself, a seventy-five minute stream of unbroken sound with none of the usual audience contact – it was only at the very end that Graham Costello finally used his vocal mic to introduce the band. And the nature of the music meant that while there was plenty of admirable musical virtuosity on display there was nothing in the way of an individual solo that would have garnered its own burst of applause. Instead there were five musicians each intent on playing their part in Costello’s intricately written compositions with the concentration of a classical orchestra, albeit delivering slamming grooves and even the occasional upsurge of prog-style riferry.
Graham Costello’s STRATA (pic: Tony Benjamin)
Being a drummer, it was hardly surprising that rhythm was crucial to Costello’s writing but while the music often looped in minimalist repetitions the patterns of timing were far from straightforward. At times it seemed as though pianist Fergus McCreadie’s hands were each on their own time signature, neither of them the same as the drummer’s. While you could definitely nod your head or tap your toes it might, nevertheless, have been tricky stuff to dance to but that hardly mattered because the rewards for attentive listening were great enough, especially if you took advantage of the surround-sound possibilities.
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Graham Costello’s STRATA (pic: Tony Benjamin)
The music may have been continuous but it was far from monotonous, with long-evolving weaving passages interspersed by interludes of quiet duets – the warm tones of Harry Weir’s bass clarinet balanced by fluent piano, or maybe a metronomic wood block from the drummer and Gus Stirrat’s sub-bass guitar echoing the emptiness of Massive’s Teardrop. These reflective breathers were often a set-up for a crashing return to the full-on big band sound, guitarist Kevin Cahill storming back with a wall of sound while intricate drums rose to a thunder.
Graham Costello’s STRATA (pic: Tony Benjamin)
It was intense, yes, but exhilaratingly so and when the time finally came a pent-up audience really showed its appreciation. It had been serious fun to ride on Graham Costello’s musical journey and it had clearly left us all in a very good place.
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