Cool Jazz…
October 23, 2008The Bobo Stenson Trio played the Queen’s hall last night.
They’re a Swedish trio, piano, double bass and drums/percussion and very good!
For me, the most interesting player was the drummer, who treated his kit like a giant percussion plaything, seemingly more interested in finding ways to coax odd noises and percussive beats out of it than actually keeping time and actually, well, drumming! Taps, tics, swishes, claps, flicks, scratches, all sorts of quietly percussive noises made with his sticks, brushes and hands on the drums and cymbals… The bassist and pianist generally played interesting stuff; complex, but, at heart, bass & piano – the drummer brought a playfulness to the sound throughout the gig as they all traded looks, signals and wide grins as they riffed off each other, especially on the long final piece (excluding the encore).
Not a huge attendance, but they were very well received. Despite my title, they were really quite hot! But still Scandanavian.
