40 Scene
ART MATTERS
ALL THAT JAZZ
) This month I’m happy to introduce you to an artist who arrived in Brighton after growing up in Australia after being first born in Bath. Jack Hardy is now represented by Brighton-based Metropolis Contemporary Gallery (www.metropoliscontemporary.com/jackhardy/), and has already been included in the Troublemakers exhibition there.
REVIEWS
BY ENZO MARRA
Having attended film school for a year, and having realised it wasn’t quite what he had expected, he dropped out looking for a more flexible creative path. Following a painterly interest, an encounter with JeanMichel Basquiat led Jack to then work towards becoming a painter. This inspired him to travel through Europe before moving to Bristol, where he then had his first solo show, Open Hands, which was curated by Martyn Cross and Phil Root at Stokes Croft Gallery in December 2020. Following this initial achievement he then was taken over by the urge to travel again, this time traversing across Egypt where he taught English and painting. Arriving back in the UK, he was given the opportunity to be an artist in residence for the brb project which was implemented by Caraboo. This residency allowed Jack to contact local artists and curators, and allowed him to be able to experiment with the painting and effect of large format canvases for the first time. His mentor Martyn Cross wrote about him: “That same energy is there in Jack’s paintings and drawings. You know what he’s seeing and you know what he’s saying. There’s also a charming sense of naivety about what he creates which stems from his lack of formal training, and this is a good thing. There’s no dead weight. It’s fresh and it’s raw and it’s simple. It’s direct. No flab. The poetry he weaves with the words he introduces to a canvas are beautifully serene. He’s in a certain place and it’s the same place as you, if only you’d stop and look around. Even with some of his energetic mark-making there’s a calmness about their existence which suggests the author is in contemplation about his role in their creation. He’s finding his way in the world and he wants you to come with him.” The directness and confidence seen in his images, especially for someone so young in years. The differing themes he is exploring, whether it may be portraiture, text-based or painted counterploys to said text, shows an enquiring mind that is still searching out ideas to paint and draw into being. The creative community in Brighton is always developing and changing with new voices joining the creative conversation. I’m glad that Jack has settled here and that his artworks will be viewable in Brighton, where we will be able to see them grow and mature as time passes by.
BY SIMON ADAMS
) KEITH TIPPETT & MATTHEW BOURNE Aeolian (Discus). Bristolborn pianist Keith Tippett was one of the great British improvising musicians of the last 50 years, working in every format from solo performance to running the 50-piece Centipede (which had 100 feet!). On this double CD set recorded in 2019, he is paired with fellow pianist Matthew Bourne, the first CD a studio set recorded in Leeds, the second a live set from the Union Chapel in Islington. The music is austere and at times difficult, the two pianists – both percussive in style – improvising in almost abstract fashion, glimmers of light occasionally appearing among the often-dark textures they conjure up. Tippett died in 2020, making the live set his final appearance on disc. It is a magisterial if demanding way to remember him. ) ALICE COLTRANE Kirtan: Turiya Sings (Impulse!). I must be fair and point out that this is not a jazz album, as nothing on it is improvised. Instead, it is a set of nine devotional songs recorded in 1981 in an ashram in Los Angeles run by Alice Coltrane, widow of the great saxophonist John. The songs are all quite simple, sung by Alice in Sanskrit over a quietly played Wurlitzer organ. The music is determinately inspirational and spiritual, spacious and intense in its devotional task. Unlike the Luaka Bop release of her ecstatic music in 2017, it is not overly celebratory or joyous. Its importance, and why this is such a necessary release, is that while her jazz records released on Impulse! define her career, they do not tell the whole story of the musical life of this most extraordinary and inspiring woman. This important album fills that gap.
LIVE JAZZ
) Despite the bleak midwinter, live jazz flourishes in Brighton & Hove. A few visiting stars from London and further afield drop in from time to time, but luckily there is a wealth of local talent to hear, playing free gigs nightly in pubs and bars. The county jazz magazine – for wot I also write! – has a good set of daily listings: www. sussexjazzmag.com/listings. ) The New Generation Jazz Festival takes place at Ropetackle Arts Centre, Shoreham, from February 4–6: Kansas Smitty’s House Band and the wondrous Xhosa Cole on Friday 4, Chelsea Carmichael and Daisy George on Saturday 5, Alex Hitchcock and Binker Golding on Sunday 6. Tickets: www. ropetacklecentre.co.uk
