Surman’s strikingly reverberated sound upon the opening solo Soprano Saxophone grew effortlessly into a wild flourish of exhilarating musical flames that gushed out onto a warm bedding of electronics.  At the height of the first of many climaxes, the 65 year-old jolted his saxophone from his left to his right in a rapidly noticeably fashion. It was like he was encouraging these powerfully resonating tones to smack into each other, as if playing a rather bizarre game of table-tennis with these echoes.

Then the arrival of long-term collaborator Karin Krog. Before their emotional performance of Seaside Picture Postcard 1953 or 52, the friendly Surman tells us this piece was inspired by those memories we have from childhood holidays. Krog’s fragile voice captured the essences of the English language, appearing reminiscent of a mother talking to her young child about the sights and sounds of a holiday village. Whilst Surman’s busy playing reflected the excited child.

 After the interval, the quartet’s controlled energy sparked up an expressively intense set. Delivering us the European Premiere of Surman’s most recent project just released on ECM, Brewster’s Rooster. Within the opening numbers, the swooping emotional melodic leaps, the repetition of short high pitches and the warm resonating long tones spreading from Surman’s Soprano and Baritone, contributed to making sure every hair on the back of your neck stood up during the frequent climaxes that embraced us. Strayhorn’s Chelsea Bridge seductively rippled through the audience, loosening this tension. And then, the long awaited, ‘edge of your seat’ moment, drum solo from the peerless (as Surman put it) DeJohnette. The politeness of Surman assured us an encore, and there is nothing like a twist on the Blues to draw us back down to earth - the title track from the album, Brewster’s Rooster.  A roller-coaster of a night.

Charlotte Keeffe