But Richard, did you stick around and see Jaga Jazzist? Who, thanks to Burnt Sugar playing for 90 minutes and some major fuck ups with the changeovers, didn't come on until 10.15? Whilst not entirely Burnt Sugar's fault - a start time of 8pm (QEH gigs normally start at 7.30 or 7.45), the aforementioned inefficiency of the QEH technicians and it being a Sunday didn't help - playing a 90 minute set as a support act robbed many punters of the chance to see the full Jaga Jazzist set, having to leave to catch last trains home. I managed to see the hour that they played but have no idea whether they played any encores (or had to curtail their set in any event because of the overrun) as, like most people, I had to get to work the next day. I think the extra half hour - completely taken up by what I thought was a turgid, overextended, soulless version of "Castles Made Of Sand", but our opinions obviously differ - showed a complete lack of respect to their fellow musicians. I don't think I was the only one was felt this was all too much either - when I escaped to the bar between sets a large amount of people had beaten me to it. I was also a little upset by the disingenuous ad in "The Wire" which suggested that Pete Cosey and Melvin Gibbs would be appearing. I thought the drummers were excellent and the sampler player useful when given the chance but the rest left me cold. And why, pray tell, was there a turntablist on stage? Any contribution she may have been making was inaudible. The night Richard went to see the Residents (last Monday), I went to see the Britten Sinfonia play the music of Johns Adams and Zorn, conducted by Stephen Drury. The Zorn pieces played were "Angelus Novus" and "For Your Eyes Only", and whilst I'm not qualified to state that these were excellent performances they sounded pretty good to me, having made sure to listen to earlier recordings of them before I went. I thought the programming worked well, with Adams' "Chamber Symphony" having strong cartoon and americana themes to complement Zorn's work. The same with John Woolrich's "Music From A House Of Crossed Desires". I didn't enjoy Janacek's "Rikadia" as much, but "classical" voices singing folk themes leave me cold. Sing naturally! Zorn was supposedly in the building, but didn't show up for the "author! author!" moment. I wasn't surprised as I really wouldn't expect it of him. That's a compliment by the way. Rant over. Alastair -----Original Message-----

From : Richard Gardner <richard.gardner@colourtone.co.uk> To : zorn-list@mailman.xmission.com Date : 10 March 2003 08:40:16 Subject : Burnt Sugar At last Burnt Sugar has made it to London. I went to their gig at the Queen Elizabeth Hall last night and loved it.

I have always been interested in Greg Tate since his ground breaking articles on Miles Davis mid 70's music in Downbeat 1982. When the Wire reviewed Burnt Sugar a few years ago I tried to get their stuff but it is impossible in the UK. Now they play a largish venue in London and I finally get to see what its all about.

At the risk of annoying NY residents who probably see this group regularly here are a few brief words about Burnt Sugar.

First off last night it was a big band: 2 drummers, bass, 2 guitars, sax/clarinet, flute, keyboard, turntables, violin, cello, trumpet and 2 female singers (one of whom distorts her voice - and I suspect the PA output of the whole band - with some gizmo). The band are conducted by Greg Tate, and I mean conducted, with a baton. To cut things short 3 elements immediately came to mind: God Speed You! Black Emperor, Miles' Agharta band and Sun Ra. The music clearly has heads and organised sections but then free improvises while controlled by Tate. At its most dynamic he achieves that sudden stop start of the beginning of Agharta. Often I was searching around trying to work out where a sound, rising in the texture, was coming from. They do a great version of Castles Made of Sand that, at one point, dropped to a single vocal underpinned by stuttering drums that matched her beat for beat.

The ensemble has that loose feel of some Sun Ra performances, players scamper up to Greg Tate for a quick discussion before leading off the next part. At the end they seemed to have played long over the allotted time and frantic looks were being exchanged to the side of the stage. This was followed by a less than elegant finish - but I like that.

I see from the album sleeves that Vernon Reid features among the huge collective but I haven't heard the CDs yet.

Greg Tate also proved a very nice guy. Very willing to chat and clearly very pleased by how it had gone.

The Residents tonight.

Richard Gardner

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