London,

Acoustic Triangle With The Sacconi Strings

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Description: Innovative trio comprising reeds player and composer Tim Garland, double bassist Malcolm Creese and pinaist and composer Gwilym Simcock.

 

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Choral jazzmen hit the cathedrals

 

You can take a boy out of the church, as they say, but you can't take the church out of the boy.

Consider Acoustic Triangle. Three former choristers now accomplished jazzmen, they are returning to their roots for a 14-date tour of English abbeys and cathedrals. Thanks to the Arts Council and Yamaha, the six-piece Sacconi Strings are involved and the results are spectacular.

"If you try to play bebop in these acoustics, it turns to mush," explained double-bassist Malcolm Creese, "so we had to come up with something else." He is being modest. While containing enough rhythmic and harmonic interest for any jazz fan, pianist Gwilym Simcock and saxophonist Tim Garland's unique blend of jazz and choral music was made to measure for the Purbeck stone of this elegant Hawksmoor church.

Garland played flute, bass clarinet and soprano and tenor saxes, while Simcock briefly exchanged keyboard for French horn but only rarely did they solo in a traditional sense. Mostly, their lines entwined with the strings, who themselves kept disappearing into the naves to create an illusion of 17th-century stereo. Even the most irredeemable church-dodging sinner could enjoy this.

• Tour: www.acoustictriangle.com.

Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.

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