Last night I went to the Holy Trinity Church in Leeds for the first LIMA gig since their showcase event last month. Well, actually, I’m not sure whether there has been any gigs in between because their mailing list system doesn’t seem to be working very well. I was one of the first people to add my address to the list but I didn’t get notified of yesterday’s gig. Anyway, it doesn’t matter because the music didn’t disappoint.
This was my 3rd visit to the Holy Trinity Church and the best so far. For once, the musicians really took advantage of the stunning acoustics of the place. Christophe de Bezenac’s solo effort at the beginning of the second part was in my opinion the highlight of the evening. He can do it all: quiet, loud, subtle, raw, powerful, aggressive, experimental… An endless string of surprises. Definitely looking forward to hearing more from him.
Having said that, it would be wrong to focus on a single musician as the quality of the music created last night was consistently high. The first trio which consisted of reed multi-instrumentalist Richard Ormrod, Ricardo Tejero on alto sax and John Barwood on guitar filled the church space with rich, beautiful sounds. The second trio started with Christophe de Bezenac’s solo and a grinding bow-powered sonic attack by Dave Kane and ended with a dizzying group effort with drummer StÃ¥le Birkeland. Birkeland’s muted kit complete with a suitable collection of bells was again perfect for the church’s acoustics. Both trios joined forces to end the evening with a “musical game” initiated by Dave Kane in which each participant was only allowed to make a sound when no-one else was playing.
I was greatly impressed by the LIMA showcase in May and last night reinforced my belief that there is a lot more great music to come out from this collective. Tomorrow, I will be at the Packhorse to see Minghe Morte do their thing. I can’t wait…