Manchester Evening News

The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester

Steve Millward
Monday 20 January 2003

Muted Thunder – Such Sweet Thunder

This was the Hallé’s first foray into jazz and can be counted a qualified success. A new orchestration of Duke Ellington’s Such Sweet Thunder was the centre-piece, performed by a big band drawn from the orchestra and augmented by singer Claire Martin’s trio.

The suite is based on Shakespearean characters and makes heavy demands of both ensemble and individuals to bring the composer’s portraits to life.

The band responded well to these challenges with crisp and lively section playing and soloists who made a sterling attempt to reproduce the distinctive styles of key Ellingtonians.

There was, however, a lack of propulsion in the rhythm department and the performance as a whole lacked momentum – not helped perhaps by an audience who in their enthusiasm broke classical protocol and applauded after each section.

Martin is a fine jazz singer, but it is questionable whether the resources of the full orchestra added value to her programme of Porter and Gershwin songs.

The wit of Porter is better conveyed in less elaborate settings and, while the jazzier Gershwin is a more suitable vehicle for improvisation, Martin’s capacity to cut loose was restricted by the weight of the accompaniment.

Predictably it was the concert pieces of Bernstein and Kernis which showed the orchestra at its best, but this should not deter the Hallé from continuing with its bold experiment of playing real jazz.