Review: Matthew Halsall & Gondwana Orchestra

St George’s, Thursday October 15

It’s surely no coincidence that Matthew Halsall’s discovery of the spiritual jazz of harpist Alice Coltrane happened at the same time as the rise of ‘mindfulness’. There’s something in the zeitgeist that seeks tranquility and composure in troubled times and the trumpeter’s Gondwana Orchestra project offers just that, which might account for the instant acclaim the band received. 

Last year’s debut When The World Was One set the pace with even-tempered modal jazz tunes, mostly in 6-time, soothed by oriental flute, Japanese koto and harp, and (as with last year’s St George’s gig) this evening began with the first half of that album. This introduced newbie Jordan Smart on soprano sax, the cutting edge of his sound well heard on Far Away Place and Patterns, the latter boosted by Taz Modi’s forceful piano and simmering eruptions from Luke Flowers on drums. Halsall himself made a more restrained contribution, reining things back with a meditative style that weighed each note and polished it before letting it drop into place. Along with Rachel Gladwin’s equally measured and spacious harp, the contrast of tone suggested an interesting tension between the players as to how to perform this music live.

That tension was even more noticeable in new material from just-released album Into Forever that followed the interval. This was highly composed music, with a string quartet and vocalist involved in many tracks and Halsall himself offstage for much of the proceedings. Singer Josephine Oniyama had co-written Only A Woman, the soulful ballad that opens the album, and her poised and authoritative voice commanded the string-laden (and horn free)arrangement on that song and the Japanese-flavoured As I Walk. Running through the album there were a couple of string interludes, richly harmonic sound washes both, and more songs – the sparky Badder Weather has definite single potential, the title track a more wistful proposition – before Daan Park brought the trumpeter back to the fore, his tone in the lower register admirably velvety and unwavering.

Throughout the new material it had felt as though the piano and drums had especially been placed under manners but neither player was particularly ready for that kind of discipline and so each bubbled to the surface from time to time. The excellent Luke Flowers was particularly restless, and his occasional outbursts were clearly welcomed by the audience. It was only really in the encore – a cover of Cinematic Orchestra’s Big Sea – that the band finally let rip and all played together, sans strings and singer, and Halsall’s trumpet acquired a flamboyant energy hitherto lacking in a sparky interplay with Smart’s piercing soprano. When the drums exploded into a full-blown Luke Flowers solo the appreciation was fulsome and things ended on an undeniable high.

It’s difficult to sum up a performance like this. Into Forever is a meticulous studio project of well-written tunes, excellent for headphone listening, soundtracking a journey or shutting out urban bustle. But this is a fine band of creative players, not least Matthew Halsall himself, and having them stick so closely to the score is frustrating, like watching dancers perform sitting down. Alice Coltrane herself was a fearsome and free jazz harp player, both live and on record, so maybe (onstage, at least) the Gondwana bandleader could give himself and his musicians the same leeway from time to time?