Glorious Birds And Mammals...

... and the one slipstreaming reptile.

The Norwich Arts Centre just keeps on giving! For those with a penchant for any of those hugely talented jazz-based ensembles, currently doing the rounds, this was the place to be on Thursday night (11th September).

Two concerts for the price of one! Naturally I'd leapt at the chance to watch Gogo Penguin perform; Mammal Hands, publicising their debut 'album,' were entirely a revelatory bonus! But three hours standing? Recovery, still in progress, may yet take a while.

The night kicked-off on a hugely positive note, punctuality, and never once wavered, from the self-appointed task of delivering an evening's first class entertainment, on time! The double bill is always going to require an element of timing, and so it thankfully was! At the outset I'd determined to make it through to at least the start of the second bill. But three numbers in to the Mammal Hands set and I was well and truly hooked, determined to see it through to eleven. 

Thanks must go to Alan Grinberg

That's the thing with some jazz-ish performers, they have this ability to seriously drop the jaw. Reaction from the gathered crowd suggested that I was not alone, in my swift appraisal of this group. When one is enthralled by the antics of the drummer, something extra special is generally afoot. Jesse Barrett skipped through the genres with the deftness of the magician; calypso, something perhaps oriental, a touch of latinesque skittering and then suddenly we were thrust into an entirely darker, pulsing beat. Absolutely seamless! Undoubtedly, this bunch is swiftly going to increase their following.

But, had it not been for Gogo Penguin, I'd almost certainly have overlooked Mammal Hands; more fool me!

Gogo, replete with their second, replacement double bassist, Nick Blacka, were reason enough to have paid the infinitesimal £7 ticket charge. Cascading piano circuits, that instantly drew comparison to the greatly mourned Esbjorn Svensson, screwed-down tight, almost predatory, percussion, and a rogue double-bassist on a mission, instantly set the stage alight! The band played with a virtual telepathic assuredness- capable of turning upon a sixpence- that, at times, belied belief.

Also, thanks to  -JosephB-

The beating heart of this trio appeared to be the double bassist, with his tumbling cross-cutting riffs and interspersed ethereal bow-work. Chris Illingworth, weaving his sometimes-Glass-like keyboards cascades into the mix, and Rob Turner driving the syncopated tachometer like his very life depended upon it, adding the essential spice. The trio wove the most intricate of tapestries across the airspace, enough to cause the atmosphere to throb! Two albums in, floating effortlessly through the genres, this band have clearly set their sights somewhat celestially. 

And, upon a more reptilian note, you'll please excuse me while I just delete this tat from my iPad... no thanks, Bono! * I'll be giving this one a very wide berth. Apparently it sounds like deceit...

* It's rumoured that he wears those infernal dark glasses, just in case he turns up at one of his (far too) many over-orchestrated re-launches and the room is (appropriately) completely empty; ergo entirely to protect that over-massive ego!