Review: Will Gregory Moog Ensemble, St George’s

1968 into 1969 was quite a time. Man walking on the moon, the first test flights of Concorde, The Beatles stopping being The Beatles and Charles Manson knifing the utopianism of the hippie dream. Against all this white heat an unusual sounding disc landed in unsuspecting record shops. Wendy Carlos’ Switched on Bach demonstrated the uses of Robert Moog’s new wonder instrument the modular synthesizer. It must have sounded like the future in a time of mind altering changes.

At St George’s, as part of their Bristol Keyboard Festival, the ten musicians of Will Gregory’s Moog Ensemble stood behind a bewildering array of such instruments. Wires and circuits everywhere. The musicians fiddling, prodding and constantly checking connections on these now, often misbehaving, vintage bits of kit. Boffins ready to conduct an intriguing experiment. What had once been part of the future now presented as a nostalgic display of the cutting edge technology of the not so distant past.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yj3NS1iS69M

Tonight’s performance opened with a couple of variations on JS Bach, initially echoing Carlos’ classic recording. The interweaving melody lines of Brandenburg No 3 somehow separated and clearer when played on these instruments. It was when Adrian Utley introduced his intriguing variation to the second, slow movement that we moved beyond mere homage to synth classics of the past and the newer music that this unique combo are cooking up moved centre stage. The instruments may be retro but the intent and delivery of this performance was anything but.

The majority of this evening’s programme was new music written by either Gregory, Utley or Graham Fitkin. Gregory’s Brass Blocks utilised the astounding bass potential of these vintage synths. I’m sure that St George’s lovely new extension must be built on sound foundations but this must have given them a right rattle. Fitkin’s piece entitled Swell was gently discordant and gradually grew into a delightfully disorientating, majestic conclusion.

Some of this stuff is pretty far out, with washes of white noise sitting alongside complex rhythms, but is presented with no hint of pretension and an easy going smile that dragged the audience happily along with the musicians. Gregory’s film music makes up much of the second half of the programme. One piece reminiscent of a variation on the chugging trains of the opening section of Bowie’s Station to Station. The interlocking rhythms that these machines are capable of providing a fresh take on the legacy of Kraftwerk, with an appreciative nod to Georgio Moroder.

The evening drew to a close with a further lift of the cap to the classic synth repertoire with a run through of John Carpenter’s music from Escape from New York. A fitting homage skilfully played but it was the self-penned newer music we heard tonight that enthused this engaged audience. They applauded warmly, entertained by this extraordinary and fun evening with this unique group of musicians.