Tim explained that it was an abandoned lighthouse near Whitley bay that was the inspiration his new CD called, If The Sea Replied (rather than Poole’s Arts Centre which is now called the Lighthouse). He started by recording some bass clarinet improvisations inside the lighthouse and that then led him to interview a former Lighthouse keeper (side note: all Lighthouses are automated). Via the magic of CD, the voice of Dave Appleby (the former Lighthouse keeper) and The Northern Sinfonia Orchestra’s strings joined us in Poole but these ‘electronics’ didn’t overwhelm as this was mostly a Jazz trio gig; Tim (tenor and soprano saxophones and bass clarinet), Gwilym (Piano) and Asaf Sirkis (drums, udu and hang).

“Hang?” I hear you say. It’s pronounced Hung and it’s a new (less than a year old) instrument invented in Switzerland. It looks like a UFO of two woks welded together. It produces a gamelan type sound and when combined with the ‘bass player’ udu, the affect can take on a digital keyboard quality. Asaf is still learning what it can do as we only heard the top side, apparently the other side can also be played. Needless to say the crowd were impressed.

Talking of impressed, that’s the reaction Gwilym has been receiving in his relatively short professional musical career as pianist, composer and French horn player. Winner of the 2005 Rising Star BBC Jazz Awards there will hopefully be a FLY feature soon. In the meantime, see link below to Jazz on 3 as they broadcast a specially recorded session the following night.

Back in Poole, we are treated to two near hour-long sets with many tracks taken from the CD.

The first set’s highlight was ‘Tide Races’ and Tim’s ‘Bajo del Sol’ written for Bill Bruford’s Earthworks. This track is on last year’s Earthwork’s live album, ‘Random Acts of Happiness’ which featured Tim. However, my favourite was ‘Young In The Fifties’ which had Gwilym miles away from The Lyceum Ballroom, Asif on some sort of D’n’B jazz trip and Tim somewhere near Albert Ayler.

Time for the interval and a pint. Chatting at the bar, I was told this isn’t Tim’s first visit to Poole as he’s been on the main stage as support to Joe Zawinul! Even though Tim has been on the International jazz circuit, he says Gwilym and Asaf are two of the best musicians he has ever worked with. Undeniably, this trio works well as a unit.

The second set started with Kenny Wheeler tango, ‘Sly Eyes’ (Gwilym using the internal area of the piano as an improvised bongo at the end). The ‘standard’ chosen wasn’t an obvious pun such as ‘How Deep Is The Ocean (Tim’s suggestion) but ‘Blue In Green’ from Kind Of Blue (Miles Davis). From the CD we had ‘St. Mary’s Light’ and ‘Going Ashore’ [full album review to come I hope]. The other two tracks were an untitled modern jazz tune and finished off with ‘Nostalgia In Times Square’.

Six months on from the last time I was at Poole Lighthouse for Steve Melling, another excellent evening when all three musicians were on top form. Whilst we only heard a couple of tracks from Asaf on the drum kit, it was brilliant to hear him produce such deep atmospheric sounds and it was amazing how he played a solitary inverted cymbal on the floor. Gwilym is the Rising Star and as for Tim, I think Ian Carr’s quote says it all, “Astonishingly Brilliant, a world class virtuoso”. Hectic recommends the live experience and the CD.

Tim Garland with the Northern Sinfonia Strings - ‘If The Sea Replied’ Cat. No. SJL1031 (Sirocco Music)

Photos: Mik Parsons

Links
Tim Garland - Earthworks biog
Asaf Sirkis
Gwilym Simcock
Bill Bruford’s Earthworks - ‘Bajo Del Sol’ (8:28) A track picked for a compilation - Moondo Presents “Music For The World, Vol. 1.
Hang
Kenny Wheeler
Daedelus - another bass clarinetist
Acoustic Triangle
Jazz on 3: Gwilym Simcock, Friday 7 October 2005 23:30-1:00 (Radio 3) “Jez Nelson presents an exclusive session with the winner of the rising star category of this years BBC Jazz Awards, Gwilym Simcock..a specially recorded session by Gwilym and featuring Tim Garland in an “all-star cast” of sextet & strings
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