Tom Lancaster & Krystle Frey on visiting Trading Roots rehearsal and interviewing principal percussionist Alasdair Malloy
3 days before the big day where Trading Roots hits the stage of Hackney Empire, and me and Krystle have the privilege of observing a rehearsal with the combined forces of the Grand Union Orchestra and the BBC Concert Orchestra Concertante Group. We arrived at about midday at the Mermaid Theatre to catch the Grand Union musicians practicing their parts. All in high spirits and surprisingly relaxed so soon before such a big concert.
During a brief break from the hard work, I managed to catch renowned Jazz saxophonist Tony Kofi – who was snacking on a well-earned sandwich – for a quick chat. Tony described his admiration for the classical musicians they had been working with – in awe particularly of their incredible sight-reading skills. He also expressed his admiration for Tony Haynes (composer/director) and described his groundbreaking compositions and arrangements as inspirational; particularly in the way he expertly incorporates so many different types of music.
As the Grand Union musicians are finishing their sandwiches the BBC Concert Orchestra musicians begin to enter the theatre, there is a real air of excitement building as everyone begins to warm up for the joint rehearsal.
The eclectic ensemble fire into ‘Milon Hobe’ with Lucy Rahman’s powerful voice soaring over all the instruments. It’s a really unique sound, and an amazing sight to see such a collection of experienced musicians, experts in their own fields of music – be it classical, jazz or world music!
Meanwhile, BBC CO conductor Johannes Wildner is overseeing the whole concert from the auditorium. During a 5-minute break, we managed to have a quick chat with two of the BBC string players – Catherine and Cynthia. They mentioned how pleasant it was to have such a relaxed atmosphere between the two groups and how fascinating it was to play with the improvising jazz soloists. Soon after this, Tony Haynes signalled for the next song to begin, at which point Claude Deppa (trumpet) and Chris Biscoe (saxophone) exchange an incredible dialogue of fiery jazz solos to cheers of admiration from the stage.
It has been a very productive day at the Mermaid Theatre with some serious ground covered. One thing that I have noticed after talking to the various musicians is the massive amount of respect each of the musicians has for each other, which I think is reflected in the music – and that I can’t wait to see again in the final performance. The true test will be tomorrow when the complete BBC Concert Orchestra attempts its transition into a world music ensemble of this magnitude for the first time ever!
