At this time of year many radio networks settle in to a cosy pre-Christmas routine of back-to-back festive-music schmaltz. But this is Jazz On 3. So we’ll prepare for the holidays in the company of one of the world’s finest improvising ensembles – The Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra, who invite us to their annual festival.
But we start the programme with our latest pick from the unsigned / under-the-radar musicians who have uploaded their music to the BBC Introducing site - another Scottish artist, Joe Wright. Then it's time for the Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra (GIO) themselves. I didn't think things could get much more bonkers than having my head used as a bongo by Hermeto Pascoal during the interview for last week's programme. I may have to reconsider on the evidence of the first piece we hear from GIO!
Something our guest critic Brian Morton picks out as a distinctive part of the GIO ethos is the value of individuals knowing when to get involved and when to sit out. And once we're into the meat of their set this is really apparent - there are some wonderful moments when the 18-piece band pares down spontaneously to just 3 or 4 instruments before rising again.
Japanese pianist Satoko Fujii also performed on the opening night of the festival, and she speaks in glowing terms of the influence of GIO on her playing before she performs a beguiling solo set – the second piece in particular, built around prepared-piano chimes, is a real gem.
Finally, veteran improviser Bill Wells and festival organiser Raymond MacDonald put together a quartet that shows another very different side to the event. They draw on pop and folk in a performance that, even in tunes entitled 'The Splattered Lift', has a sense of space that seems to pervade tonight's music as a whole.
Actually, that's not quite it – just time to speed you on your way towards the Christmas break with a festive nugget from one of the greatest improvisers of them all, John Zorn.
But we start the programme with our latest pick from the unsigned / under-the-radar musicians who have uploaded their music to the BBC Introducing site - another Scottish artist, Joe Wright. Then it's time for the Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra (GIO) themselves. I didn't think things could get much more bonkers than having my head used as a bongo by Hermeto Pascoal during the interview for last week's programme. I may have to reconsider on the evidence of the first piece we hear from GIO!
Something our guest critic Brian Morton picks out as a distinctive part of the GIO ethos is the value of individuals knowing when to get involved and when to sit out. And once we're into the meat of their set this is really apparent - there are some wonderful moments when the 18-piece band pares down spontaneously to just 3 or 4 instruments before rising again.
Japanese pianist Satoko Fujii also performed on the opening night of the festival, and she speaks in glowing terms of the influence of GIO on her playing before she performs a beguiling solo set – the second piece in particular, built around prepared-piano chimes, is a real gem.
Finally, veteran improviser Bill Wells and festival organiser Raymond MacDonald put together a quartet that shows another very different side to the event. They draw on pop and folk in a performance that, even in tunes entitled 'The Splattered Lift', has a sense of space that seems to pervade tonight's music as a whole.
Actually, that's not quite it – just time to speed you on your way towards the Christmas break with a festive nugget from one of the greatest improvisers of them all, John Zorn.
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