Gig review/ Ben Van Den Dungen - jazz

By Narendra Kusnur

Concert: Saxophone Colossus
Artiste: Ben Van Den Dungen
Genre: Jazz
Details: Experimental Theatre, July 13
Rating: ****

In Mumbai, it’s always a pleasure to watch a jazz band led by a saxophonist. In the past, luminaries like Sonny Rollins, Stan Getz, Sadao Watanabe and Illinois Jacquet have adorned the Jazz Yatra. In 2013, Houston Person played a fantastic set at the Jus’ Jazz festival.

Of late, however, there has been a tendency to have more groups fronted by guitarists and keyboardists. As such, one eagerly awaited the appearance of Dutch tenor saxophonist Ben Van Den Dungen at the Experimental Theatre, National Centre for the Performing Arts, on Saturday.

Dungen has played in the city before, and even spent some time learning Indian classical music – without much success, as he announced. But this time his tour is longer, also covering New Delhi, Bengaluru and Goa.

The compact venue was packed, comprising a large number belonging to the older generation. Titled Saxophone Colossus, the show lasted 90 minutes, and Dungen was accompanied by Dee Wood on bass, Karim Ellaboudi on grand piano and Ko Umara on drums.

Dungen’s emphasis was on music from the 1950s and 1960s, besides a couple of tunes from the Great American Songbook. He played only one original – the upbeat ‘Small Detail’ – and one felt he should have done a few more.

His interpretation of jazz classics was amazing, though. The Charles Mingus tune ‘Nostalgia In Times Square’ set the mood, and soon, there was a winner on Billy Eckstine’s romance-filled ‘I Want To Talk About You’.

Other beauties came from Cole Porter’s ‘My Heart Belongs To Daddy’, featuring wonderful interplay between Wood, Ellaboudi and Omura, and John Coltrane’s spiritual piece ‘Psalm’. The tunes ‘Pannonica’ and ‘Hackensack’ were a treat for Thelonious Monk fans.

Dungen concluded with ‘Cape Verdean Blues’, a peppy and danceable Horace Silver tune. For the encore, he chose the Denzil Best composition ‘Move’, joking, “I am serious about the song’s title, not what it means.”

Dungen displayed a very smooth style of playing, varying his time intermittently and making remarkable use of pauses. Each accompanist lent the right support. Wood was sturdy throughout, and Ellaboudi had a vibrant showmanship. The young Japanese drummer Omura, who has also learnt the tabla, had perfect sense of timing and syncopation.

A welcome factor was the way the saxophonist interacted, in his typical European accent, with the audience between tunes, sometimes through narration of stories, other times through humour. For instance, before playing Coltrane's ‘Psalm’, he talked of the legend’s different musical phases. Before Monk’s ‘Pannonica’, he talked of the jazz-promoting baroness after which it named.

If they don't take too much time, such anecdotes add value to concerts. Dungen maintained just the right balance. Half an hour more would have been a bigger delight.