The Nation’s Eleven Answers to an Extraordinelevenary Bluesy Challenge

On the 1st day of the11th month of the 11th year of this millennium, 11 days before its première, a brave and daring composer was faced with the overwhelming task of selecting 11 blues themes, written in 11 time, for his new 11 minute work, “The 11.11.11 Blues”.

11.11.11 - GRAND UNION ORCHESTRA & GUESTS
HACKNEY EMPIRE, FRIDAY NOVEMBER 11TH, 7.30pm
www.hackneyempire.co.uk, 020 8985 2424   tickets £11 (+ concs)

Hard on the heels of the success of If Paradise at Southbank’s Queen Elizabeth Hall and the release of its new CD, the Grand Union Orchestra, London’s unique jazz/world music ensemble, has yet another show up its incredibly capacious sleeves…  A ‘date-specific’ event created especially for the Hackney Empire, “11.11.11” is a celebration of freedom and the art of improvisation, and falls – not accidentally – on Armistice Day.

Alongside the orchestra’s usual exuberant trimmings, with kaleidoscopic colours, mind-altering sounds and of course, the almighty Unexpected – the show will première a brand new work compiled and collated by Grand Union’s composer and director Tony Haynes, from an array of entries to the orchestra’s nationwide “11.11.11 Blues Challenge”.

The quest to find aspiring composers daring enough to attempt an 11-bar blues in 11/8 time began last month.  Entries flew in from far and wide, each begging for the attention of Tony’s eye. The result: “The 11.11.11 Blues”, an 11-minute-long work, featuring 11, 11-bar blues themes, scored for 11 of Grand Union Orchestra’s finest musicians.

These lucky 11 include some of the UK’s most exciting jazz musicians, with exuberant  trumpets Claude Deppa, Byron Wallen and Shanti Paul Jayasinha, internationally-feted saxophonists Tony Kofi, Louise Elliott and Gerry Hunt, Harry Brown and Ros Davies on the trombone, Andy Grappy on the tuba, Andrés Lafone on bass and rhythmic wildchild Cristiano Castellitto on percussion.

Defying the doubtful masses, Mr Haynes has achieved a remarkable musical feat in record time – in precisely 11 hours, of course. The work – the first of its creed in musical history – is bound to break the boundaries of the blues.

“I have been really heartened by the extraordinary response. There were many ingenious and highly original entries, and I found it very hard to select just eleven. The biggest challenge of all was to fit them all together into a coherent whole. The result is simply eleventary!”    Tony Haynes

“11.11.11” has all the ingredients for a memorable, moving and exhilarating occasion.

The 11.11.11 selected themes, which will form Tony Haynes’ very special 11 minute work, originate from the following composers: Hugh Nanikvell, Peter Moser, Rachel Hayter, Tom Lancaster, Joe Peck, Meredith White, Tom Sykes, Guy Turner, Herny Mitton, Ben Jameson and Rachel Bradley. Well done to you all.

After spending several days last month in the studio putting the finishing touches to the If Paradise CD, it’s been interesting getting to grips with the music itself again at first hand – and the subject matter.

I held the first rehearsals last week with the singers, and it struck me very forcibly how much more the voices of Lucy Rahman and Akash Sultan have developed and matured. In an All About Jazz review, Chris May once called them “transcendentally beautiful”, but even that’s an understatement. There is a subtlety and power in Sultan’s voice in particular – and a confidence – that wasn’t there before, but it’s the two of them together that is so magical, each complementing and supporting the other.

These songs were orginally created for them, and their voices and the artistic bond between Lucy and Sultan were the inspiration for them, and the story they tell. I discovered long ago that to preserve the authentic characteristics of any singing style, you have to write in the language familiar to the singer, so we commissioned lyrics to Bengali; they are also mostly composed on Indian ragas.

Nevertheless, singing in duet, counterpoint and against shifting harmony – let alone my idiosyncratic melodies! -  is quite a challenge for a South Asian artist. You can hear them or watch them below -

- but remember these recordings are ‘before’ rather than ‘after’! What you will hear at the QEH when they sing live will indeed transcend the occasion, I can promise you.

The second thing that sent shivers downt the spine was hearing Alison Crookendale sing again the words “Behind them, the ruined towers lie breached and broken, small and careful lives gone beneath the rubble” – a reminder that If Paradise has perhaps even more immediacy and relevance now than when it was first performed eight years ago, as we hear the latest news in the long-running tragedy that is the West’s relationship with the Middle East.

I’m writing this on a day exactly ten years later, but contrary to what you might think, this is not a reference to the destruction of the World Trade Centre in New York. David Bradford actually wrote these words over twenty years earlier, specifically relating to the other ’9/11′ Tuesday -  September 11th 1973, when Allende was overthrown and assassinated in Chile.

Art has an uncanny capacity for anticpating history.

So you can imagine how I’m looking forward to assembling the rest of the performers this week – the joyous brass ensemble, the gifted improvisers, the invention and subtlety of the South Asian musicians, and one of the most exciting and powerful rhythm sections in the business…

Tony Haynes
September 11th

For more details on If Paradise and to book tickets for the show, click here.

You can also visit our website here, and find more live performance footage here.

The highlight, of course, was the incredible show at the Hackney Empire with the BBC Concert Orchestra, broadcast on Radio 3, but it didn’t stop there. The tour of Bengal Tiger, Shanghai Dragon just got better and better. The night at the Vortex was probably our best ever there in terms of audience rapport and enthusiasm; but Oxford was just as memorable – a big crowd, great response and an opportunity to expand the band, with both Zhu Xiao Meng and Rui Jun Hu together for the first time in this context.

Oxford, the Orchestra gig at Harrow and the weekend with the Water City Festival Orchestra also marked the welcome return of Bangladeshi singer Akash Sultan to the GUO fold. His voice is just magical, and the combination of Sultan and Lucy Rahman at the QEH in If Paradise… in September (more in due course!) will surely be one of the transcendent musical delights of the year.

And were you lucky enough to catch our amazing  marching band fronted by trumpeters Claude Deppa, Byron Wallen and Kevin Robinson (pictured below) competing to out-blow the angel Gabriel? What better way to support the Musicians’ Union and other protesters against government cuts on the March for the Alternative…

Meanwhile, there is an interesting gig at the Albany on May 21st, Can’t Chain Up Me Mind. I borrowed the title from our show a few years back commemorating the 200th anniversary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade, but it seemed appropriate for a new venture which aims to explore freedom in as many senses as possible – including of course musical freedom. To me, this not only means exploring improvisation in conventional ways, but bringing unlikely, but resourceful and charismatic, musicians together.

I’ll write more about this in due course, but at the Albany you’ll hear GU regulars like Claude Deppa, Louise Elliott and Yousuf Ali Khan with the amazing Gypsy violin virtuoso Marek Czureja, Turkish singer and saz player Gunes Cerit, Bulgarian percussionist Lili Iontcheva and some older members of the Youth Orchestra. I can promise it will be a free-wheeling, probably anarchic but wholly exhilarating evening!

[Click to enlarge flyer]

After months of travelling the ‘Golden Road’ from London to Dhaka to Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne to South Australia to London, composing in hotel rooms and vineyards, copying and printing orchestral parts at the BBC, sectional rehearsals with singers, Asian instruments and jazz soloists in Premises Studios, full rehearsals with the Grand Union Orchestra and the BBC Concert Orchestra together, technical rehearsals at the Mermaid Theatre, sound-check and final rehearsal at the Hackney Empire, we finish up with…

A full house – hugely varied in age, taste and cultural background but united in their vociferous enthusiasm – for a fabulous Sunday night concert in a wonderful theatre, followed by a great Radio 3 broadcast on top! Small wonder that the musicians see this event as one of the biggest highlights in the Company’s history.

But it’s not only the musicians – GUO, BBC CO and conductor Johannes Wildner – I have to thank, but all the Concert Orchestra staff who worked hard and imaginatively (especially production manager Brian Grogan and the sound team) to get the best out of the music. And of course Radio 3, for commissioning The Golden Road, The Unforgiving Sea in the first place.

A few days down to earth, and then another high – the Grand Union Youth Orchestra’s Carnival celebration ‘Mardi Gras in Bethnal Green’ may have been the other end of the scale in terms of size, but it was no less strong on energy and ambition. And great to welcome newcomers to the melting pot, including some remarkable young gypsy musicians from Newham.

For the next month or so, there’s still plenty going on. I look forward next to continuing the tour of Bengal Tiger, Shanghai Dragon in Colchester – that memorable show in Lancaster back in January will be a hard act to follow, but as we’re on a roll at the moment, I’m sure it won’t disappoint.

And the following week, it will be a rare pleasure assembling the full 18-piece Grand Union Orchestra – complete with trombones this time! – for Bhangra, Babylon & the Blues at Harrow Arts Centre.

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!

Grand Union Orchestra began rehearsing this week for ‘Trading Roots: a musical journey across borders’!  Tom Lancaster and I dropped into the Grand Union  studio yesterday to meet and observe the rhythm and horns in action, and to talk to some of the musicians (Being new to Grand Union I’d never met them before).   We were lucky enough to meet and chat to Tony Haynes (piano/composer), Dave Adams (drum kit), Andy Lafone (bass guitar), Gerry Hunt (guitar), Claude Deppa (trumpet), Paul Jayasinha (trumpet), Chris Biscoe (alto sax), Tony Kofi (tenor sax) and Louise Elliott (tenor sax).

Monday and Tuesday saw musicians from Grand Union come together with the BBC Concert Orchestra concertante musicians for the first time, who will be performing with Grand Union in the first set of the show, and also leading the different sections of the ful BBC Concert Orchestra in the second half’s piece “The Golden Road, The Unforgiving Sea”

We wanted to find out what the challenges faced by both Grand Union and the BBC Concert Orchestra musicians are in working together, coming from very different musical training.  This collaboration between world class jazz and classically trained musicians is a new venture for Grand Union and a new experience for many of our musicians.  During a well earned tea break I chatted to Tony Kofi and Gerry Hunt about the different approaches to performance between the disciplines specifically about the challenge improvisation (a key feature of Grand Unions performances) poses for classically trained musicians.

Tony K - “I’ve been working with quite a few classical musicians and they always say to me, ‘how do you improvise?’ I always say to them, can you play a major scale? A C-major scale. If so, then you can improvise; because improvisation is all about scales and core tones.”

Gerry chimes in - “Just like what we’re doing at the moment, it’s language and you just mix around with it and you make mistakes and go oh, that wasn’t such a good term or phrase.”

Tony K – “…And start to get a vocabulary together! This is what I said to this lady that asked me the same thing this week. When you’re talking to me, you’re asking me all these questions, have you got a script you’re reading from? No, well, that’s what music is like – jazz improvisation.  You’re doing it on the spot, you’re not really thinking too far ahead.  You’re doing everything basically for the moment. “

Gerry – “I think what it is, is that they’re worried about making mistakes! Whereas if you’re like me, I’m really good at making mistakes and I repeat them, then you’re only a semitone away from a good note anyway. “

Tony K -“…And then there’s no wrong notes either.  It’s only wrong if you anticipate it.”

The was a general air of excitement and anticipation about how the collaboration is going to turn out in the finished performance on March 6^th.   I tried to find out how the  musicians were feeling about the collaboration so far.

Andy Lafone “They (The BBC musicians) were very flexible in trying new things, which is good!  It’s great for me to be playing with strings, usually its just brass.  I’m hoping it will be a permanent feature!”

Louise Elliott “I met some of the musicians yesterdayand they are obviously very good at what they do and quite sensitive in trying to come towards what we do.  They’re improvising and listening for the phrasings, I think altogether it will be very interesting.  I’m still looking to myself to see how it actually, physically comes together and we all fit on the stage.”

Claude Deppa “We had two rehearsals and they were on top of it.  Glad to say everybody’s feeling all right, we’re feeling like contemporaries, and no ones looking down on anybody going you should do this.  We’re working well together, we’ve come out on top.”

Tom and I had a great time meeting and interviewing the musicians.  We put together this little video to share with you the delights and comical moments of Grand Union in rehearsal.  Enjoy!

Just as we were leaving the musicians to continue with the afternoon rehearsals Tony Haynes pulled out a caricature of himself that his friend, artist Romi Behrens, had recently drawn of him.  He is quite proud of the drawing & we are adopting it as his bloggin profile picture!

This drawing got both Tonys talking about photography.  There’s a photo of Tony Haynes hanging on the wall in the studio, that Tony Kofi took a few years back.  As well as being the phenomenal saxophonist we all know, Tony Kofi is actually also an accomplished photographer and has had his work exhibited many times, including at the London Jazz Festival!  I learn something new everyday.

Romi Behrens has a free exhibition going on now at the Illustration Cupboard called, ‘Toucan and Friends’.  http://www.illustrationcupboard.com/exhibition_details.aspx?eId=158&ePage=1  Do catch it if you can.

Wishing you all a great weekend.  More blogs from myself, Tony Haynes and the Grand Union musicians next week.

Over and out!

What a great way to start the touring year! A clear, crisp sunny winter’s day, little traffic to speak of on the M1 and M6, arrival in Lancaster half-an-hour ahead of schedule, a great welcome from the promoters and above all a wonderfully enthusiastic audience for the show. So spirits were high, everyone in the van delighted to be on the road again, even a little nostalgic, recalling some of the great touring experiences of the past – it seems inconceivable now to spend two weeks touring the Scottish highlands and islands with 18 musicians, as we did several times in the 1990s…

Some photos from pre-show soundcheck!

In spite of very little rehearsal – or more probably because of it! – this performance of Bengal Tiger, Shanghai Dragon was one of the most spontaneous, lively and varied that we’ve done. It was also a pleasure to work with a terrific Chinese flute player Rui Jun Hu, standing in for our regular gu zheng player Zhu Meng Xiao. (Zhu will be back for Colchester and the Vortex in March, but at the Oxford Playhouse in April, I hope we’ll feature both her and Rui Jun together.)

Lucy, Balu, Yousuf and myself gave a short presentation before the show, talking about the music and the varied backgrounds of Grand Union musicians, and fielded some interesting questions from the audience. To my astonishment, one of the questioners turned out to be someone I knew many years ago when I was doing a post-graduate degree at Nottingham, Hermione Potts, who I remembered as a very accomplished clarinet player. After my year at the University, I had the luckiest break of my life – becoming Musical Director at the Playhouse – which taught me the basics of what I’ve done ever since, through writing music and songs for most of the shows. For performances – we played several shows at a time in repertoire, always with live music – I was able to call on some fine local musicians and students like Hermione.

The Grand Union Orchestra came a lot later, and has developed in a rather different direction, of course, but all this experience has come in handy from time to time on other projects – and none more than the current commission for the BBC Concert Orchestra! I managed to finish the orchestra music a few days after getting back from Lancaster, and delivered the scores to the BBC for printing and binding the parts. Now it’s a matter of rehearsing with the GU musicians and singers before both ensembles get together, but more of that next week…

Tony

‘Trading Roots: a musical journey across borders’

Hackney Empire, March 6th 2011, 7pm

Imagine a journey through space and time – by land to the Orient, by sea to the East Indies and beyond – from that taken by the spice and silk traders a thousand years ago, to the high speed,transglobal communications of today, dealing in questionable commodities and uncertain futures.

Now let the music of the Grand Union Orchestra and the BBC Concert Orchestra carry you along thatroute, exploring many musical cultures with virtuoso performers from Africa, India and China, with all the richness and passion that these two brilliant, but utterly different, orchestras can muster.

With a narrative driven by the power and beauty of songs ancient and modern, this one-off special, Trading Roots performance showcases the versatility of the BBC Concert Orchestra and the global spirit and exuberance of Grand Union’s unique world/jazz collaboration. The evening also offers a unique opportunity for young musicians to perform on stage at the Hackney Empire, when members of the Grand Union Youth Orchestra join forces with other young musicians selected by the BBC Concert Orchestra to form the Fusion Group, an extraordinary multicultural collective of youthful talent, performing a piece specially created for the event.

Another highlight of the night will be the première of The Golden Road, The Unforgiving Sea, a new work commissioned especially by BBC Radio 3 from Tony Haynes, GUO composer/director. Relishing the sumptuous textures that the BBC Concert Orchestra’s symphonic strings, wind and sonorous brass will add to the GUO’s own rich jazz patternings, Tony’s new work features four fine vocalists from around the world as well as the superlative musicianship of Zhu Meng Xiao on gu zheng (Chinese harp), Baluji Shrivastav (sitar and dilruba) and Yousuf Ali Khan (tabla). In combination, this host of internationally-renowned jazz soloists, classical and world musicians that make up the two orchestras will ensure it’s an evening to remember!

And where better to host it than the Hackney Empire, a theatre that carries its own indelible flavour of past imperial splendour, but now with a strong commitment to celebrating the richness and diversity of its local East London heritage. Both GUO (as Associate Artists) and the BBC Concert Orchestra have a long-established special relationship with this legendary venue. True to the Empire’s artistic mission statement, on March 6th, all of life – and all the globe – will be represented on stage.

The concert is being recorded for broadcast on BBC Radio 3.

Tickets: £8, £12, £16.

Online: www.hackneyempire.co.uk | By phone: 020 8985 2424 | In Person at Hackney Empire box office

Grand Union Orchestra musicians for March 6th:

Lucy Rahman ( Bangladesh ) – voice
Victoria Couper (Portugal/England) – voice
Stephen Douse (England) – voice, piano
Richard Scott ( England ) – voice, tenor saxophone
Baluji Shrivastav ( India ) – sitar, dilruba, tabla
Zhu Meng Xiao ( China ) – gu zheng (Chinese harp)
Yousuf Ali Khan ( Bangladesh ) – tabla, dholak, voice
Claude Deppa ( South Africa ) – trumpet, African drums
Shanti Paul Jayasinha (Sri Lanka/Scotland) – trumpet, flugelhorn
Chris Biscoe ( England ) – soprano & alto saxophones, alto clarinet
Tony Kofi (Ghana) – alto and baritone saxophones
Louise Elliott ( Australia ) – tenor saxophone, flute
Gerry Hunt ( England ) – guitar, soprano and baritone saxophones
Andres Lafone ( Uruguay ) – bass guitar
Dave Adams ( England ) – drums
plus Tony Haynes ( England ) – piano, trombone, MD

Notes on performing ensembles

BBC Concert Orchestra

The BBC Concert Orchestra is one of the country’s most versatile ensembles.For more than half a century it’s been the house orchestra for BBC Radio 2’s Friday Night is Music Night, and gives regular broadcasts on BBC Radio 3. Theirwork can be heard on soundtracks to many BBC TV programmes including The Blue Planet and Walking with Dinosaurs. The orchestra is a regular at the BBC Proms, Electric Proms and Proms in the Park, and has worked with artists Dame Shirley Bassey, Maxim Vengerov, Kavita Krishnamurti, Pet Shop Boys, Jonny Greenwood, Nigel Kennedy, Bryn Terfel, and Burt Bacharach.
For more information about the BBC Concert Orchestra visit bbc.co.uk/concertorchestra

Grand Union Orchestra

There is no other musical organisation on the planet quite like the Grand Union Orchestra, with its fluid and multi-talented cast of world-class musicians from across the jazz and world music spectrums. Now well past its quarter century, it has performed all over the world with its repertoire of over fifteen originalshows, and its musical ambitions and inspirations continue to evolve. In the words of All About Jazz: “GUO was formed by the visionary composer and pianist Tony Haynes long before the term world-jazz was invented. His genius has been not merely to bolt colourful ethnic exoticisms onto the exterior bodywork of the jazz tradition, but to create a truly syncretic blend in which it is impossible to say whereone culture stops and another starts.”
For more information about Grand Union Orchestra, go to: grandunionorchestra.org.uk

For GUO press/PR contact Hannah, T 020 7375 1120 (Hannah@grandunion.org) or Veronica, T 07816771464 (ver_simpson@yahoo.co.uk).

What a wonderful backdrop the last four weeks have provided for writing The Golden Road, The Unforgiving Sea! After our Bangladesh tour, I stayed on a while before travelling through Malaysia across to Melbourne (witnessing on the way the pivotal Day Three success of the English cricket team at the Boxing Day Test!), finishing with a few days in rural South Australia.

I’ve been working on the score as I go, and everywhere there is the imprint of history and centuries of maritime trade – some of it of course developed, established and regulated by past British colonisers – to contribute an authentic flavour to the composition. How much of this will come out in the music and songs is hard to say, but the trip has certainly provided inspiration and an important colouring-in of the show’s theme of trading along the Silk Road and Spice Routes past and present.

(There have been delightful small-scale surprises too – like discovering an old friend from the Bairro Alto in Lisbon now running a Portuguese café in the Adelaide Hills!)

The modern world has also been making its presence felt, sometimes in the most dramatic ways. For example, it’s impossible not to see the catastrophic floods that have recently engulfed Queensland in relation to those regularly suffered by Bangladesh – roughly the same size in area, while one numbers its population in millions, the other in thousands.

This is not of course itself one of the themes of The Golden Road, The Unforgiving Sea, but I can imagine it as a natural sequel, and a characteristic Grand Union Orchestra project – dramatising the effect of climate change and rising sea-levels on some of the societies around the world that we have a musical and cultural connection with – like the West Indies, the African coast, New Orleans and the whole of Bengal and the Ganges and Mississippi deltas…

Meanwhile, back to the present – just three weeks to finish the score, and coping with the reality of London’s winter weather!

- Tony Haynes

Grand Union will be performing Tony Haynes’ latest work in the exciting collaborative show with the BBC Concert Orchestra on 6th March. Make sure you book your tickets soon to avoid disappointment! You can get your tickets now at www.hackneyempire.co.uk/?lid=2108#book.