“This is… a sort of game, really”, said the solitary figure in the spotlight, in a soft and self-deprecating Devon burr, announcing his second tune.  The voice seemed to say: so I’m 65 – why all the fuss?  But the question had already been answered after a few phrases from his soprano sax.  Chirruping, snaking, cascading phrases, bounced by electronic delay across the backing track’s glistening surface, like skimmed stones. 

Reluctant or otherwise, John Surman was the undoubted star of his birthday concert.  The saxophonist, clarinettist and composer was (he joked) both support act and headliner. The first half consisted of solo material and duets with Norwegian singer Karin Krog.  The second half featured the mighty quartet responsible for his latest album Brewster’s Rooster: John Abercrombie (guitar), Drew Gress (upright bass) and Jack DeJohnette (drums). 

With a mouthpiece between his lips, Surman is far from bashful. Such is his precision and flair that the 72-year-old Krog struggled to measure up: her vocals lacked definition, and her rendition of ‘God Bless The Child’ (with Surman on piano) made an underwhelming end to the first half.  Only after the interval did Surman bring out his signature baritone sax, demonstrating his fearsome versatility on that instrument as he led the quartet through ‘Hilltop Dancer’, the first of several tunes from Brewster’s Rooster. 

Surman played melodic call-and-response with Abercrombie before launching into a modal solo that swooped between the baritone’s screeching high register and its powerful bottom end. He later brought out a raunchier side of the instrument on a steamy version of Billy Strayhorn’s ‘Chelsea Bridge’, while the mercurial DeJohnette moved playfully from ballad to waltz and back again.  That playfulness suited a birthday celebration, and it suited a man who – for all his accomplishments – still sees music above all as a wonderful game. 
 

Edward Randell