Christina Fuchs’ four piece ensemble, NO TANGO, played last night (10th November) at the Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre in the final performance of their Australian tour.
NO TANGO is made up of Christina Fuchs on tenor sax and bass clarinet, Christoph Hillmann_on drums, Ulla Oster on contrabass and Florian Stadler on accordion. The Ensemble are part of the vibrant Koln jazz scene and their tour here included the Wangaratta Jazz Festival, Sydney Sima, Wollongong Conservatory of Music, Adelaide, Melbourne, Alice Springs and Canberra.
NO TANGO are a very accomplished group and have a dedicated approach to their music. They take their influences from a wide range of sources. The opening number had a Charlie Parker or John Coltrane feel to it. This was followed by a more experimental piece which the skilful musicians kept as engaging and accessible as possible. Other pieces have rock, electronica and blues backgrounds.
Christina explained some of the motivations and stimuli for the songs as the evening progressed. She had lived in a remote valley in Switzerland where the transport was the postal bus and its three tone horn was the basis for one song.
A song written when her daughter, Zoe, was three months old conveyed the difficulties and joys of that time.
She had also used the rhythms of a haiku as the basis of another piece which fittingly featured drumming based on Japanese taiko. Christoph Hillmann is one of those drummers who can produce music from his kit. He uses a great collection of sticks and brushes to produce subtle and vibrant rhythms.
NO TANGO produces a big, room filling sound and this is largely due to Florian Stadler’s accordion. Christina enthusiastically explained how much she wanted Florian and the accordion in her band. She enthused about how the instrument breathes. She also explained how a common reaction to a band with an accordion was that it must be a tango band, hence she came up with the name NO TANGO. To play with this name a little the band performed a couple of tango numbers, but as the jazz influences are so strong, the tango is only hinted at in the background.
Bass player Ulla Oster had written some of the songs performed, which had a very different feel to Christina’s music, and added some lovely variety to the performance. Ulla sometimes plays gentle rhythms, at other times driving bass and also some engaging and esoteric solos.
A NO TANGO performance is a very enjoyable experience. It demonstrates how jazz draws on its past and also an evolving nature.
© Mark Pigott
11th November, 2012
Tags: Sydney Stage Reviews- NO TANGO, Cologne Jazz Ensemble, Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre, Sydney Arts Guide, Mark Pigott.