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CMU Reviews @ London Jazz Festival Festival Reviews
Live Review: Chris Potter at London Jazz Festival on 12 Nov
By CMU Editorial | Published on Saturday 13 November 2010
The band had flown in from New York just that morning and this Jazz Festival show at Ronnie Scotts was the first gig of a European tour, which goes some way to explaining the ramshackle start that saw Craig Taborn on the Fender Rhodes lose the thread of his solo repeatedly, and the saxophonist and band leader, Chris Potter himself, leave the stage in an apparent flurry of confused exasperation during a disastrous opening number.
The band seemed jaded for most of their set and too often relied on building peaks by repeating simple riffs, then just gradually increasing the volume and sense of urgency, rather than demonstrating more of Chris Potter’s much acclaimed musical abilities on both the tenor saxophone and bass clarinet, of which we saw only flashes tonight.
But things did improve later on, with the song ‘Boots’ by drummer Nate Smith and the Bob Dylan cover ‘It Ain’t Me, Babe’ performed well. Meanwhile their finish was surprisingly uplifting, which, I have to admit, holds much promise for their other two Jazz Festival shows at Ronnie Scotts this weekend and, once they’re over the jet lag, the rest of their upcoming tour. HH
