BY MATT BODEN
Gershwin Reimagined
Melbourne International Jazz Festival
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Laura Mvula and José James (voice), Troy Miller (conductor)
Hamer Hall, 1 June
This concert was part of the opening night celebrations of the Melbourne International Jazz Festival, and I was there for the second showing on the Saturday eve. The gig promised to be an interesting blend, featuring British vocalist, pianist, songwriter, and producer Laura Mvula; American vocalist José James; and British multi-instrumentalist, composer, and conductor Troy Miller.
The concert focusing on the works of Gershwin (with a couple of originals penned by Mvula), I found myself anticipating an engaging evening of ‘cross-over’ collaboration.
The show began with the first movement from Catfish Row, Gershwin’s orchestral symphonic suite drawn from Porgy and Bess. The work reflected the composer’s intent to give his (arguably) most well-known work further legs by drawing the essentials out into a suite. This was a good move by the show’s producers, playing it out into a logical sequence highlighting Gershwin’s strengths. In point of fact, Gershwin authorities Robert Wyatt and John Andrew Johnson state that “the 557 pages of orchestral score of Porgy and Bess represent Gershwin’s orchestration at its most assured. (Just think of Summertime: the opening descending clarinet arpeggio; the shifting string harmonies which form the accompaniment; the English horn obbligato to the first verse; the murmurous violin accompaniment to the second verse; the tranquil final cadence.)”
Moving onto another staple of the Gershwin repertoire: Miller’s arrangement of Fascinating Rhythm appeared to phrase the accompanying orchestral parts in 7/4 (mirroring the melodic shape), losing some of the impact of the original (and its deliberate crossing of the time) – clever orchestration and arranging, no doubt, but this one missed the mark for me.
As the show progressed, I couldn’t help but feel that there were several film music tropes poking through the textures and orchestrations. John Williams and Alan Silvestri would both have recognised elements of their oeuvres at certain points, such as the filmic ‘moving chords around by major thirds’, and the Back to the Future lydian sound, respectively. While this didn’t necessarily impinge upon proceedings, it did draw attention away from the songs themselves.
While I’m on the subject of the songs themselves, it is a given that some of the orchestration and arranging was masterfully done. However, I felt that at times the sophisticated reharmonisations interfered with the melodic intent of the songs, and with the melodic intent of the vocalists. This was especially evident in the rendering of Embraceable You, when James’ powerful and moving delivery of the melody was hampered by reharmonisations that didn’t permit much deviation from the dots. It almost felt as if these arrangements weren’t selected with his voice, obvious love of the songs, and specific delivery in mind. Before I move away from Embraceable You, I must mention the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra concertmaster’s magical playing – the violin solo moment on the melody was pure aural deliciousness.
Local guitar legend Doug de Vries made a cameo appearance, lending some serious banjo authenticity to a moment in I Got Plenty of Nothing.
The absolute highlight of this evening’s concert was Laura Mvula performing her own compositions Kiss My Feet and Show Me Love. In particular, Show Me Love was astonishing – an incredible work with deeply moving lyrics, and beautiful orchestration. The press has compared Mvula to Nina Simone, and this makes sense in part, but I can’t help but feel there is much more here as well – Mvula’s depth of feeling, mastery of art and craft, and deep connection captured the entire hall. Her voice speaks directly to the heart, and her piano playing was beautiful and visceral. I can’t help but wonder as to her input into the orchestrations – suddenly, there was much more room in them for the voice to bloom.
Without wishing to gripe, I was hankering for more of a nod towards the jazz canon (especially given this was a headlining concert at the Melbourne International Jazz Festival), and Gershwin’s place amongst it, aided and abetted by these two star vocalists. While I understand the premise of the show was a reimagining of Gershwin’s work, I feel this was slanted towards his concert works and their original contexts (and the reharmonising thereof), rather than to the lasting influence his compositions have had in the jazz world.
This show was certainly a reimagining of Gershwin’s works, and it was exhilarating to hear Mvula’s artistry in full flight. It would have been great to have heard her, and James, talk about their relationships to Gershwin’s works, as it was clear they both love the repertoire, and possess a serious command of it. An entertaining and revealing show.
Images supplied. Credit: Laura Manariti.
