Thursday 10th October - Miguel Gorodi Nonet - £10/5 students

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The Nonet is an ensemble Miguel uses to explore various compositional techniques with specific focus on texture, non-tonal melodic structures, polyrhythms, and the relationships between them all. Influences include Steve Coleman, Steve Lehman, Louis Andriessen, Gerard Grisey, Thelonious Monk, Stravinsky, and many others. The band features many of London’s leading jazz musicians who bring their own personalities to the sound through their unique improvisations.

Gareth Lockrane - Flutes
Mike Chillingworth - Alto sax & clarinet
George Crowley - Tenor sax & bass clarinet
Miguel Gorodi - Trumpet & flugel
Kieran McLeod - Trombone
Ray Hearne - Tuba
Ralph Wyld - Vibes
Conor Chaplin - Bass
David Hamblett - Drums

Miguel Gorodi Nonet – Apophenia
(Review by Patrick Hadfield)

Trumpeter Miguel Gorodi has put together a biggish band of some of the most interesting musicians on the London jazz scene for this record of his own compositions. Using nine players has allowed him to extend the usual palette of sounds, creating music which is full of texture and depth, as illustrated by the inclusion of Ray Hearne‘s tuba.
Gorodi’s arrangements make the most of the musicians. Gareth Lockrane on flutes and Ralph Wyld on vibraphone stand out throughout, as does Connor Chaplin‘s bass. But then there are moments at which each musician excels, and ensemble sections which pack a punch, too.

The tension between different instruments and registers builds the excitement, released by the excellent solos throughout the record. The simple, repetitive nature of some of the riffs, such as the openings of both La Nausée and Search, may stem from Gorodi’s rumination on mental health and OCD in particular, but they also serve to wind up the spring, which strains to let go.

“Apophenia” is the process of seeing connections and meaning where, perhaps, none exists; the reviewers’ curse, perhaps! Gorodi’s Apophenia might wish us to infer meaning from his use of titles – such as La Nausée, named for Jean-Paul Sartre’s novel, Time Sigmund (Freud, presumably), and Amygdala (a part of the brain); but maybe he’s just playing with us: Not Nicest Memo, fizzes along exuberantly at a cracking pace, the nonet proving they can swing, too.