Review: Phronesis

Tuesday 15 November, St George’s

The gods of jazz have been kind to us this month, or at least their friends in jazz promotion, so barely a week after a sizzling set from US piano trio The Bad Plus at The Lantern we found ourselves awaiting Phronesis at St George’s. Any temptation to compare and contrast was largely swept away by music which proved to be equally enthralling though, having said that, there is definite European character to Phronesis that echoes both 20th century classical music and the more measured rhythms of Scandinavian jazz. This largely comes from the precision of bass player Jasper Høiby’s timing and the often dense chords pianist Ivo Neame throws around the sketched themes of their pieces, while the loose clouds of light-touch drumming from Anton Eger empowers without impeding.

The gig celebrated Parallax, the latest album famously recorded in a single day this year, and it would have been interesting to have spent more time listening to it beforehand in order to see how much of such a spontaneous creation was retained in this equally spontaneous performance. While there were themes and structures to pieces like Just 4 Now or 67,000 mph you could hardly speak of melody as such, more a kind of harmonic idea and atmosphere sustained by the trio’s exact understanding of how it should be. OK Chorale was a case in point – after Neame’s stately neo-classical introduction it rocked into a brisk trot, Eger flailing enormous soft brushes over his kit in silent tumult, Høiby’s bass jumping and punctuating the stops and starts that eventually freed a drum solo. At all times there was a sense of purpose and some very tight timing between the players, yet it flowed with an effortlessness  encapsulated by the wry smiles between the players.

Playing acoustically, with just a little bass amplification, put a responsibility on all three musicians but especially the drummer – some quite venerable percussionists have come adrift in St George’s. Credit must go then to Anton Eger who contributed a perfectly balanced sound throughout while using a range of unconventional sticks that, at one point, seemed to include a pair of 9-inch nails. The Hall has rarely sounded better, in fact, and the acoustic supported the band’s considerable dynamic shifts from dense ten-finger chord assaults to slight, empty moments of reflection. As ever there were few moments of individual grandstanding and thus few opportunities for the audience to applaud a solo. Rather, we were treated to a continuous stream of beautifully integrated music crafted in the moment. After ten years as a playing unit it seems Phronesis have complete confidence in themselves and their music and the vigorous St George’s audience felt it was entirely justified.