Archive for October, 2007

An evening with Gilles Peterson at Birmingham Town Hall

Birmingham’s Town Hall has finally reared up from the dust with great resonance, after lying dormant for over a decade. When the Town Hall last closed its doors in 1997, it created a gargantuan void in the city centre, something you just ‘passed by’ without a second thought. However, after a long overdue refurbishment, the Town Hall once again opens it doors to both young and old of the city and what better way to celebrate than with an evening hosted by internationally renowned jazzmeaister ‘Gilles Peterson’.

We arrived early and were welcomed by a group of smiling staff, shuffling from door to door ensuring punters knew exactly where they should and shouldn’t be. The building has been revamped from floor to ceiling with impeccable taste, there are no rough edges here, the stunningly ornate architecture has been emphasised with subtle but effective lighting. The acoustics in the main hall are truly grand and significant thought has gone into this prestigious project.

Warm Up With Leftfoot

First up was DJ Adam Regan, a stalwart of the Birmingham dance scene, with sound experience in hosting dance music events. His night ‘Leftfoot’, has brought many great names to Birmingham and he has represented the city on an international stage. Adam’s current ventures encompass the trendy ‘Bull’s Head’ in Moseley and the gritty ‘Hare & Hounds’ in Kings Heath.

Adam’s warm up started off to an empty hall (when I booked my tickets the gig appeared to be far from sold out which was slightly worrying.) Gilles Peterson quickly shuffled on stage to speak with Adam, looking out over a vacant dance floor, with disco lights zooming back and forth, they shared a joke and Gilles disappeared again. The thought did cross my mind whether Gilles would actually play if it was only to a few dozen people?

Birmingham is a funny place, the old heart of the city centre was ripped out during the architectural experiments of the 50’s and 60’s. This removed many small buildings in the city centre. Where other cities have benefited from the retention of these intimate streets with cosy restaurants, bars and clubs, Birmingham’s “village” feel just isn’t there, hence Brummies often  stay local during week nights. The busy times tend to be at weekends and a Wednesday night in Brum could be hard work for the most experienced of promoters.

Summary and Bruce Q

Gilles introduced the first band and people started to mill around the front stage. Summary are a 9 piece modern jazz group from Brum, they started nervously but who could blame them. Gilles Peterson was watching from the side, a man accustomed to watching some of the finest jazz musicians in the world. It’s an immense stage with huge cavernous walls and ceiling from which all manner of audio and lighting equipment dangle, perhaps creating a feeling of loneliness for anyone on stage.

 The group soon warmed up, with the MC complimenting the unique singing talents of Naomi Blake. Taharka MC was fast and concise, with his rhymes dropping in and out. The band played an eclectic set, and finished to a rapturous applause from a crowd now filling up the large dance floor. I spoke to Naomi afterwards and she may be collaborating with U.S. turntablist ‘Madlib’ in the near future, which would be a massive stepping stone for the talented Brummie songstress. Watch out for ‘Summary’, a band hotly tipped for success by Gilles Peterson.

Bruce Q (of Liquid Fusion), took control of the decks for the next slot. The hall was really filling up by now and it was nice to see a wide variety of people in attendance. We spoke to two guys who had some incredible moves, a combination of street and jazz dance. I was astounded to discover that the one guy was 50 years old.

Sugarbeats sweeten things up

Next up came Birmingham-based septet ‘Sugarbeats’, a Gilles Peterson favourite and it’s no surprise considering they are veterans of the Birmingham Conservatoire (as well as the Medicine Bar). Sugarbeats owned the stage with an easy and sometimes intense presence. Tight, fast and competent musicians, tenor ‘Ed Johnston’ kept the songs accessible with his uplifting, swinging vocals. The powerhouse of the band was ‘Rob Norman’ on keys, his lightning fast strikes of his organ left many people watching simply stunned. The band have played along side Gilles before and also renowned DJ ‘Norman Jay’.

The band finished and left the stage, Gilles offered the crowd an encore and Sugarbeats returned for a finale which literally raised the roof of this magnificent music hall - another one in the bag for the Sugarbeats.

Gilles Peterson Vs Break Dancers

The last slot was covered by Gilles P who took to the record decks with dexterity. Gilles (an Arsenal football fan), has a passion for his music which radiates, his confidence and knowledge of soul, jazz and funk is possibly unrivalled in the world. Gilles has unearthed some absolutely classic breaks over the years, some call him the founder of Acid Jazz and he is renowned for digging deep in the record vaults of every label. As you can imagine, his DJ sets tend to go down a storm and this is no exception.

The lights go way down and everyone is moving as Gilles works the crowd, suddenly a space is filled by a spinning shape, several guys start an impromptu break dance performance and a crowd form a half circle in front of the stage, right under Gilles’s nose. He looks a little surprised, these guys are awesome. ‘Back flips’, ‘head spins’ and ‘windmills’ result in the spotlight falling on the dancers rather than Gilles for a short time, which is a little strange and he applauds them for their efforts.

Gilles Peterson Vs Sound Problems

At one point, the grooves mysteriously die suddenly, Gilles is stood there and jokes “they spend all this money and they can’t even get the sound right.” People look a little bemused and the breakers take a breather. The crowd reforms, a few people try and heckle Gilles but it’s all in a days work and the sound returns with great relief to all. This discontinuity actually allows Gilles to reclaim his thunder and the party continues to roll, someone jumps up and darts back stage followed by security but Gilles isn’t phased.

The party finally ends at 11:30pm, which is probably about right on this occasion, as spirits were a little high with some of the crowd, all credit to Gilles and Adam Regan for pulling this unusual gig off. Everyone we spoke to admitted the end result was a £15 very well spent. Final thoughts, in future it might be worth alcohol being restricted to the bar. I couldn’t help but wince at a glass of red wine which had been spilt over the brand new beige carpet.  Also, the marketing of such events by the Town Hall need to be dynamic, to ensure the future hard work of promoters is rewarded by a high attendance. Thanks to Natalie Walcott for photos and Gilles for the mug shot at the end and for shaking so many sweaty appreciative hands.