Ornette Coleman, Billy Cobham and Philip Glass at outstanding Adelaide Festival

Thanks to Andrew Robertson:

“Adelaide has been the place to be in March 2008 with the Adelaide Festival of Arts, Adelaide Fringe and Womadelaide all on at the same time!

“By way of brief background, the Festival is biennial and probably likely to stay that way for the foreseeable future whereas both the Fringe and Womad converted to annual events a couple of years ago and despite some fears of overkill, have continued to grow in size and popularity.

“This year’s Festival has been outstanding, with the strongest music program I can recall – we’ve seen not one, but two rolled gold jazz legends, the Australian premiere of the opera Ainadamar (Fountain of Tears) and The Book of Longing, a wonderful collaboration between Leonard Cohen and Philip Glass.

“The Fringe program included Ron Sexsmith who I unfortunately had to miss due to work commitments and fascinating presentation of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, which comprised two versions of the same work – one by a classical pianist who played it as written, followed by “improvisations on the same work” by an Australian jazz pianist and composer called Paul Grabowski (who I understand has an international reputation so some readers may know of him).

“On the jazz front, we had Ornette Coleman with his extraordinary band, then Billy Cobham and Colin Towns presenting a Celebration of the Mahavishnu Orchestra, two very special concerts indeed.

“Ornette Coleman’s band comprised a drummer (his son), double bass, two electric basses and him. Hardly a traditional combination but then, what about Ornette Coleman was traditional?

“The double bass was played more like a cello, mostly with a bow, and was more like a “lead” than “rhythm” instrument. Ornette played primarily saxophone, but also some trumpet and violin in what could only be described as a virtuoso performance. Watching him shuffle onto the stage looking like an old man (except for the psychedelic suit!) my expectations weren’t high – I wasn’t sure he’d even have the strength to blow a note. But with instrument in hand he transformed and became the music. The standing ovation he received confirmed that the audience knew it had seen something the likes of which we wouldn’t see again.

“Billy Cobham was also amazing. The band was not called the Mahavishnu Orchestra but the program was called a Celebration of which I thought was appropriately respectful. All pieces but one were John McLaughlin compositions, including Birds of Fire. The band included Guy Barker who I saw playing with Georgie Fame at Ronnie Scott’s a few years ago, and I think he has also played with Van the Man.

“This concert was with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and the integration of the orchestra and the jazz ensemble was faultless. Indeed, last year I saw Herbie Hancock with the ASO doing a setlist that was centred around the Gershwin’s World album however although it was a great concert, I left thinking the orchestra hadn’t been really necessary because the orchestra and the band had seemed to play separately.

“Not so with Billy Cobham and Colin Towns who as the conductor seemed to pull it all together. The band included a trombonist called Marshall Gilkes who was a revelation – I grew respect for the trombone which I had previously thought of as secondary to the trumpet and sax.

“The star of the show, of course, was Billy Cobham – his endless energy and awesome power, his infectious smile and of course, his drumming. And anyone who’s played with Miles has to be worth seeing!

“Hard to choose, but perhaps The Book of Longing was the highlight, if I had to pick one. An eight piece ensemble including Philip Glass on piano, plus four vocalists (tenor, soprano, baritone, mezzo soprano) really made the poetry come to life. There were some recorded pieces of Leonard Cohen reading, but mostly the poetry had been set to music and sung. The arrangements were simple but beautiful, so they didn’t overpower the poetry. Visually the performance was supported by projections of Leonard Cohen’s art. Magical.

“So Adelaide may well be down under, but from time to time we feel like we are the centre of the universe!

“Best wishes from Andrew in Adelaide.”