Music / British jazz
Review: Orphy Robinson MBE, Bristol Beacon Foyer
Well this was a bit of a puzzler. Right until the last minute I had assumed it would be a solo performance from the master vibraphone player, as no other names were mentioned in the publicity. Given Orphy Robinson’s dexterity and musical imagination that could certainly have been a great gig, but as it happened he appeared with bass guitarist Tiago Coimbra and violinist Benet McLean, the latter plugged into an impressively complex FX pedal board. So, a trio gig then …
Tiago Coimbra (bass), Orphy Robinson (vibes) and Benet McLean (violin). (photo: Tony Benjamin)
Starting with a pre-recorded political/cultural statement intriguingly suggested we were in for some kind of discourse, especially when it declaimed that audiences were ‘as guilty’ as jazz musicians. But we never got to find out what we were guilty of once the music started and Orphy’s digital vibraphone began exploring melodic and rhythmic phrases to an electronic backing track that largely obscured whatever the bass was playing. Violinist Benet, meanwhile, seemed initially preoccupied with his electronica.
Orphy Robinson (photo: Tony Benjamin)
It felt like a warm-up, but actually this was how things would continue through both sets: the supporting musicians seemingly diffident, continually looking towards Orphy for direction while the vibraphonist largely kept his eyes on his instrument. It lacked any sense of an overall sound – indeed, it felt as though that was what they were looking for throughout, and Orphy explained at one point that he was deploying various elements from other performance projects. Meanwhile it sort of was a solo gig as Orphy pursued his own course with all the flair and economy for which he’s rightly famed and the other two musicians gamely carried on either side of him.
is needed now More than ever
Tiago Coimbra, Orphy Robinson, Benet McLean (photo: Tony Benjamin)
When it finally ended there was a fair bit of head scratching among the audience members – what had we just seen? Despite the portentous opening it was unclear exactly what Orphy had intended bringing to us, and we still didn’t know what we were guilty of. Perhaps it was enough that it had made us think but the lost opportunity to hear one of the country’s top jazz musicians in full flight felt too high a cost for just that.
Our top newsletters emailed directly to you
