Music Review: Scottish National Jazz Orchestra

Published on Sunday 16 November 2008 18:31

SNJO – NEW TANGO *** QUEEN'S HALL, EDINBURGH

I HAVE to confess I came away with mixed feelings from this often incandescent outing from the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra. There was no doubt in my mind that I had just heard a remarkable band that continues to blossom in a fashion that simply could not have been envisaged a decade ago when they first launched, but one or two irksome problems took a little of the shine off the evening.

For one thing, Leo Blanco's End of the Amazonia, a work I had looked forward to hearing, was simply dropped without explanation (director Tommy Smith hinted that the inclusion of an extra duet in a first half devoted to Piazzolla's music was the reason, but they played both in Stirling recently).

The sound balance was also problematic at times, culminating in the succession of horn soloists featured in the last section of Mario Caribe's colourful and often compelling (but rather overstretched) Brazilian Scenes being almost inaudible under the churning six-piece rhythm section.

The Homage to Piazzolla was undeniably impressive, with glorious playing from the enlarged band and Italian accordionist Giuliana Soscia, but I found Fred Sturm's complex arrangements – while easy to admire in their manipulation of musical textures and rhythmic shifts – over-cerebral and uninvolving, as if holding Piazzolla at a distance. The duet between Soscia and pianist Pino Iodice came closest to the authentic feel of the Argentine's music.