A Love Supreme, Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival review: 'dazzling'
A quartet of Scotland’s finest new generation musicians created a powerful salute to a jazz landmark, writes Jim Gilchrist
A Love Supreme, Famous Spiegeltent, Edinburgh ★★★★★
John Coltrane regarded his suite A Love Supreme as a gift to God, responding to the spiritual awakening he had experienced some years before. In this 60th anniversary celebration of its release it would have been impossible to replicate the intense spiritual and cultural circumstances surrounding Coltrane at the time. However, this quartet of four of Scotland’s finest new generation jazz players – saxophonist Harry Weir, pianist Fergus McCreadie, double-bassist Ewan Hastie and drummer Graham Costello – created a memorably powerful salute to a landmark work in jazz history.
Echoing the original, a gong ushered in Weir’s tenor sax as it sounded the unignorable clarion call that opens Acknowledgement, the first of the suite’s four movements, and bassist Hastie struck up the famous, almost hypnotic four-note motif, saxophone expounding over it with increasing vehemence before Weir broke off to lead the liturgy-like “love supreme” chant that echoed the bass line.
The following Resolution worked up powerful turbulence with Weir’s forceful attack and pianist McCreadie embarking on a dazzling keyboard excursion, while an industrious drum break led into a thrilling Pursuance, driven by racing bass, with McCreadie releasing further keyboard fireworks, saxophone fairly baying at times with Weir himself urging things on with the odd yell.
Another drum link led to the suite’s final, stately exposition of Psalm, opened by extensively ranging and eloquent bass musings from Hastie before the saxophone sounded out once more, at times growling, at others blistering, over dramatically rumbling toms and cymbal crashes, drawing things toward a mighty conclusion.
The subsequent standing ovation suggested audience’s appreciation that the quartet had managed to strike a happy balance between honouring the piece with respect while adding their own distinctive stamp.
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