RevieW

were you at Neil Gonsalves' remarkable concert Rites, Rights and Riots? Here are my words:

by Gisele Turner

It struck me, as I listened to ground shaking and breaking jazz filling the Centre for Jazz and Popular Music, that academic artists can have the best of both worlds if they play it right. A regular job, paid leave, an opportunity to make a huge difference in the lives of other musicians and the chance to develop and express themselves through their own creativity on a guaranteed platform, should they so desire. Pianist and composer – and raconteur, as it happens – Neil Gonsalves, offered a concert of scope and beauty to the patrons, leaving everyone in various states of joy and fulfilment. And while the benefits of being part of an academic intuition are clear, so, right now, are the challenges. Gonsalves called his superb and satisfying concert Rites, Rights and Riots, parts of it reflecting the current wave of uncertainty and violence rife in the field. He uses his music to process life, and life to process music; the classic combination that ensures that he is true to his art in a timeless and ongoing way.

As a maturing artist Gonsalves has a massive range of skills at his disposal, both as a player and as a composer. His collaboration with a bunch of happening jazz youngsters, who bring fresh energy and clout to his work and keep it up to date, is a stroke of genius. There is such a thing as generational jazz. New work can often be ‘more of the same’ a formulaic continuation of a groove deeply dug by habit and, possibly, complacency. New jazz needs new thinkers; the current generation of musicians come from such a range of influences and, combined with well honed technical skills, add out-of-the- box ideas which, under skilled guidance, takes the whole creative event to another level.

Gonsalves presented what he referred to as ‘two open ended song cycles’. One, titled F(r)ee Fall, comprised a collection of pieces written over the past decade, reflecting ‘the order, disorder and reorder’ of things in academic spaces. Never without a sense of humour, as well as a subtle grasp on the dramatic, Gonsalves and his crew launched into these exciting and stimulating compositions. Showing more of the emotional (or sentimental) side of his nature, the other cycle was a series of compositions inspired by a succession of family weddings and celebrations, each one accompanied by a frank and open hearted explanation of the concept that drove him to the point of creation. Here again, Gonsalves’ humour is integral to his work, he makes musical jokes and the compositions are punctuated by wry comment softened by respect and love.

Gonsalves worked with three drummers: the accomplished Bruce Baker, the inspired Riley Giandhari and the whacky Jude Kenrick. He also had lead guitarist Ethan Naidoo adding melting sounds and effects. The brass trio, comprising Siyanda Zulu on trumpet, Phumlani Mtiti on saxophone and Mokgethsi Nkotsi on trombone killed it; such showmanship married to such awesome sound! Two local songstresses added their musicality to this amazing concert: Natalie Rungan wrote lyrics for the beautiful and moving My Heart is Your Home and Xolisa Dlamini brought her magnificent voice to a song about a woman leaving home to live with her husband.

Rites, Rights and Riots was an important milestone in the life of Gonsalves, marking old territory covered, taking in the immediate landscape and looking with interest at the horizon. It moved everyone in the room, transporting us on a wave of decent, mature, well constructed, beautifully realised and whimsically achieved music.

Make a note that that the annual Jazz Jol is still coming up at the Centre for Jazz and Popular Music,

will be on 30 November. Contact Thuli on zama1@ukzn.ac.za or 031 2603385 for info.