Gig review/ NCPA International Jazz Festival, Day 3

BY NARENDRA KUSNUR

NCPA International Jazz Festival/ Day 3

Artiste: Thilo Wolf Jazz Quartett featuring Johanna Iser

Details: Tata Theatre, Mumbai, November 27

Rating: ****

When vocalist Johanna Iser announced she would be going off-stage while the 'boys' played George Gershwin's classic 'Summertime', one didn't know how to react. After all, the German singer had been singing brilliantly all evening, and this was a tune one normally heard from a rich female voice, with audiences knowing only half the lyrics.

To our surprise, the 'boys' - comprising four experienced members of the Thilo Wolf Jazz Quartett - produced one of the most beautiful renditions of 'Summertime' heard in Mumbai. It started with a clarinet by Norbert Nagel, before bandleader Thilo Wolf did a fantastic piano run. The feel was unique.

In a show titled 'A Swinging Affair', which concluded the NCPA International Jazz Festival on Sunday, the German group played a balanced mix of standards and originals. Before vocalist Johanna arrived, the early gems included Benny Goodman's 'Stompin At The Savoy' and the melodious 'Le Chat Sauvage', which Thilo had written for his wife. While Norbert also played saxophone and flute, bassist Christian Diener and drummer Jean Paul Höchstädter completed the line-up. Thilo held the band perfectly together, showing brilliant technique on the grand piano.

Johanna was witty and charming, introducing songs with interesting tales and doses of humour. She didn't have a very deep voice like many jazz vocalists but its beauty lay in its natural texture and spontaneous improvisation. Her scatting came from the heart, without being gimmicky or trying too hard.

She began with the Rodgers-Hart tune 'This Can't Be Love' and followed it with Gershwin's 'The Man I Love'. She then announced that while many jazz standards were about love, all love needn't be about relationships. "All of us here are together because of our love for music," she said, before plunging into the 1930s tune 'There Is No Greater Love'.

A high point of the opening set was Thilo's composition 'Tessa's Waltz'. The pianist had written the tune in the late 1990s without dedicating it to anyone. But when his daughter was born in 2007, he and his wife decided to name her Tessa. Johanna wrote fresh English lyrics to the tune. 

If the first half set the pace perfectly, the show took another dimension post-interval, with more entertainment and energy. It began with Duke Ellington's 'In A Sentimental Mood', where Johanna's vocals and Norbert's flute did a fantastic interplay. This was followed by an interpretation of a traditional German tune to create 'Franca's Love Song'. There was also a hilarious piece called 'Coke Masala Blues', with Thilo mentioning that while he loved both Coca-Cola and masala, they were never great together.

After the marvellous instrumental take on 'Summertime', Johanna returned with Ellington's 'It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)'. She walked off again, leaving Jean Paul to do an astounding drum solo, another programme highlight. Thilo totally surprised the audience by joining him on percussion. For the encore, Johanna sang 'When I Fall In Love', popularised by Nat King Cole.

The show marked the finale of a superb festival, each day providing amazing and diverse repertoire. If the Mingus Big Band did interpretations of the legendary Charles Mingus with a 13-member line-up on the opening day, pianist Monty Alexander and his band did a memorable mix of Jamaican music and jazz on Saturday. Host Brian Tellis maintained the right balance between information and interaction.

Each day had an amazing pianist, with Theo Hill playing with the Mingus Big Band. Each day featured the acoustic upright bass, and each day had a strong horn or reed component. Barring the electric bass in Monty's band, there were no 'modern' jazz instruments or swanky synthesiser effects. The music was raw, sincere and of the highest calibre. An interesting thing was there was no all-star jam session at the end. Thank you for that.